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Nursing Dean Dayle Joseph (right) chats with Nancy Tucker and Thomas Blaszkowski at the Friends of the College of Nursing event |
College of Nursing announces $100,000 gift, launches 60th anniversary celebration
The College of Nursing launched its 60th anniversary celebration in December by announcing a $100,000 gift that will help young nurses prosper in their careers.
Nursing Dean Dayle Joseph made the announcement about the anonymous gift during the annual Friends of the College of Nursing ceremonies. She said the donor wants to help young nurses succeed early in their careers by helping them deal with frustrations and obstacles that hinder workplace success and satisfaction.
“The donor believes that young nurses are often not shown the appropriate respect when they start their careers,” Joseph said. “The donor wants these young nurses to get what they need to be prepared, to assert themselves and to be confident in their new careers.”
Joseph said the gift will allow the college to become a leader in educating the nursing profession about communication issues that arise between young nurses and seasoned professionals.
“This donor cares about nurses and the future of nursing leadership,” Joseph said. “The donor wants nurses to stay in the field and become leaders who have a new, dynamic and respectful approach.”
Joseph also announced that The John A. Hartford Foundation and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing honored URI Nursing Professor Patricia Burbank with its 2004 Stand-Alone Baccalaureate Geriatric Nursing Course Award. Burbank and the undergraduate faculty in the College of Nursing have created a stand-alone course for geriatric nursing. “This award distinguishes the University of Rhode Island’s College of Nursing and demonstrates the faculty’s commitment to teaching students the best practices in caring for the elderly,” Joseph said.
The Friends event kicked off the college’s 60th anniversary celebration, which officially begins in January 2005.
“The anniversary celebration gives us an opportunity to highlight the wide-ranging accomplishments of our 3,600 alumni and contributions of the College of Nursing,” Joseph said. “It also gives us a chance to focus on the critical shortage of nurses in the state and the nation and what we are doing about it at the University.”
The dean said about half of the college’s graduates remain in Rhode Island.
“At URI, we are admitting more students, hiring more faculty thanks to additional funding from the General Assembly, and we are running on-site programs at The Miriam and Rhode Island hospitals to help nurses solidify and advance their careers,” said Joseph.
The college is a leader in providing midwifery care to women through its center at The Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island in Pawtucket, and a national leader in geriatric nursing education. It has played a leadership role in helping the University and the state prepare for biological attacks by terrorists through mock exercises and is recognized nationally for a long-term study of premature infants. URI nursing faculty members and students volunteer at the Rhode Island Free Clinic in Providence and they provide nursing support for agencies that serve the homeless.
URI’s nursing program was lunched in 1945 in the Home Economics Department with a small group of students and one part-time nursing instructor.
By Dave Lavallee
