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EDITORIAL BOARDVivien DeBack, RN, Ph.D., EmeritusNurse ConsultantEmpowering Change, Greenfield, WIBonnie Allbaugh, RN, MSNMadison, WICathy Andrews, Ph.D., RNAssociate Professor (Retired)Edgewood College, Madison, WIKristin Baird, RN, BSN, MSHPresidentBaird Consulting, Inc., Fort Atkinson, WIJoyce Berning, BSNMineral Point, WIMary Greeneway, BSN, RN-BCClinical Education CoordinatorAurora Medical Center, Manitowoc CountyMary LaBelle, RNStaff NurseFroedtert Memorial Lutheran HospitalMilwaukee, WICynthia WheelerRetired Nursingmatters Advertising Executive, Madison, WI Deanna Blanchard, MSNNursing Education Specialist at UW HealthOregon, WIClaire Meisenheimer, RN, Ph.D.Professor, UW-Oshkosh College of NursingOshkosh, WISteve Ohly, ANPCommunity Health Program ManagerSt. Lukes Madison Street Outreach ClinicMilwaukee, WIJoyce Smith, RN, CFNPFamily Nurse PractitionerMarshfield Clinic, Riverview CenterEau Claire, WIKaren Witt, RN, MSNAssociate ProfessorUW-Eau Claire School of Nursing, Eau Claire, WI

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Nursingmatters

Kaye Lillesand

EDITORIALNMBy Kaye Lillesand, editor

“There can be no complaining with-out responsibility,” someone once said to me. I thought it was very appropri-ate for an election year. What is the connection, you

ask? Think about this. Where are deci-

sions made about such things as licen-sure, prescriptive authority, entry into practice, reimbursement for nurses, cut-backs in Medicare and Medicaid (look at what is happening in Wisconsin today), and money for education and research? Decisions like these directly affect a nurse’s practice on a daily basis. These decisions impact what nurses can do, how and what they are paid, how their work setting is staffed, whether there is money for education and how much research is done. Who makes these decisions? Our elected officials!

So let us choose to use our energy in a positive way by accepting our responsibility rather than in a nega-tive way by complaining. As profes-sionals, what is our responsibility to our elected officials? There are many

responsibilities, but two of them seem to leap right out at me.

First, it is our responsibility to help the legislators understand the tremendous contribution that profes-sional nurses make to the health of this nation. We must tell our stories. We must show how our work helps people to attain and maintain high-level well-ness, how we prevent illness, how we heal body, mind and spirit rather than just cure a body. We have a responsi-bility to demonstrate, with “facts and figures” and with “anecdotal notes,” how we have saved this nation billions of dollars by teaching people good nutrition; good exercise habits; how to cope with chronic illness; how to breastfeed properly; how to avoid get-ting pregnant; how to deal with grief and loss; how to deal with stress; how to maintain balance in our lives; how to parent; how to get through the “pas-sages” in our lives in a positive man-ner; etc., etc., etc.

When the legislators understand the facts, they will make decisions that will support professional nursing practice. We are, INDISPUTABLY,

the best solution to this nation’s health care crisis. We just have to get the word out. We have to value what we do enough to take action.

Second, it is our responsibility to get those candidates who understand and value nursing’s contribution to society elected. It is not enough just to vote. The best way to get to know a candidate and to have his/her ear after an election is to work on the campaign. There are many ways you can help: hold fundraisers, distribute literature, make calls, help with mail-ings, give and get money, and many more. It is really fun to get caught up in the fervor of the campaign. Better yet, encourage nurses to run for office, local, state, or national! If nurses get elected, it will help us get our value articulated in the legislature.

I still hear nurses say, “I’m not political,” or “I don’t like get-ting politically involved.” Getting involved is not a matter of wheth-er one “likes it” or not. IT IS A MATTER OF PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY. If you choose not to accept this responsibility, your for-feit the right to complain!

Stop complaining, start doing

WNA participates in Governor’s Healthcare Workforce Policy Academy

Wisconsin is one of seven states selected to participate in the National Governor’s Association (NGA) Center for Best Practices Policy Academy. The NGA Policy Academy is providing support to Wisconsin in the development of a coordi-nated health care work force plan.

The overall goal of “Building a Transformed Healthcare Workforce: Moving from Planning to Implementation” is to ensure that the health care work force can meet the needs of the people of Wisconsin into the foreseeable future. The Academy will focus on recognizing and anticipating changes in health care delivery and the future population in Wisconsin in order to design a delivery system capable of providing the highest quality care in the most efficient manner.

The NGA Policy Academy is a highly interactive process meant to serve as a

catalyst for policy change. Participating states work with experts within the NGA Center, other national experts, and peers to produce action plans based on research and the practical experience of state policymak-ers facing similar issues across the country.

NGA Policy Academy success requires a substantial commitment on the part of state and core teams. By the end of the process, states will have developed and begun implementing an action plan. Past policy academies have resulted in execu-tive orders, new legislation, changes in regulations, pilot programs, and the cre-ation of formal working groups.

As an invited member, WNA serves as part of the core team led by Senior Policy Advisor Jon Hoelter from the Office of Governor Scott Walker. The core team is comprised of state department agen-cies, associations representing health care

professionals, providers, and education institutions. WNA President, Lea Acord RN, Ph.D. and WNA Executive Director, Gina Dennik-Champion MSN, RN, MSHA attended the first meeting of the core team June 18 where they were provided with the background of Wisconsin’s proposal to the NGA and introduced to the process used for developing the planning strategy. Team members are participating in five Core Areas; each will have a vision statement, goals, objectives, strategies and outcome measures/indicators for the particular area.

The five Core Areas and the vision statements are identified below:

Core Area 1: Coordination. Develop a coordinated health care work force plan and stable funding for collecting and analyzing the data essential for implementing and tracking the success of that plan through

continued on page 5

October • 2014www.nursingmattersonline.com Page 3

By Emily KumleinRIO – The light was fading a recent

Friday night as Deb Brausen and Tracy Weber were settling in to enjoy their camping trip at Silver Springs in Rio.

But at 8:30 p.m., they heard cries for help from the neighboring campsite.

Brausen, the recently-appointed vice president of UW Health specialty care clinics, and Tracy Weber, a nurse in gen-eral surgery at UW Health, were in the right place at the right time. And they knew exactly what to do.

The sound led them to find 48-year-old Tammy Schroeder of Caledonia, lying on the ground, with no pulse. She had fallen while carrying firewood. They immediately began CPR and told the family to call 911.

“It felt like second nature. I have been a nurse since 1990. You have to do CPR in the hospital, but this was the first time we had ever done CPR in the field. We could see the life going out of her eyes. We had to keep her alive,” Brausen recalled.

The campsite had purchased an auto-mated external defibrillator, AED, just two weeks ago and it was put to good use right away. “It was getting dark out, so

the families used their cell phones to give us light as we shocked her,” Weber said.

They shocked her four times but she never got a stable pulse. When the EMS arrived 15 minutes after CPR started, they were able to get a pulse. She was rushed to Divine Savior Healthcare in Portage. Once she was stabilized, they transferred her to UW Hospital.

The next day, the family told Brausen and Weber that she was in stable condi-tion and expected to make a full recovery. They were extremely thankful for the life-saving measures. “I don’t remember anything about that night; I did not wake up until Saturday when I was at UW Hospital. I know I would not be alive without them,” said Schroeder, who has a pacemaker.

Brausen and Weber credit the yearly training at UW Health. “It is remarkable how calm we felt. It’s really a feather in the cap of UW Health for all the time, energy and resources they put into their training. I’m a director now, but I still felt prepared,” said Brausen.

“We have to get recertified in CPR every other year and then we have train-

Deb Brausen, VP of UW Health specialty care clinics, and Tracy Weber, a UW Health nurse, were on a campout when they wound up saving the life of a woman who had fallen.

PHOTO COURTESY UW HEALTH

Right place, right time, right skills: Two UW Health employees save a life on camping trip

ing exercises the other years that really keep us prepared,” said Weber.

In a case where seconds matter, every-one was grateful this story had a happy

ending.“If it had to happen, I am glad it hap-

pened with two trained medical profes-sionals right next door,” said Brausen.■

GREEN BAY, WIS. - Margaret “Peggy” Gauthier was selected as the recipient of the 2014 Distinguished Alumni Award at Bellin College’s Alumni Homecoming on Sept. 11. Peggy is the team leader at the Bellin Health Center for Digestive Health, and she graduated from Bellin College’s diploma program in 1970. Peggy went on to obtain her Bachelor of Science in nurs-ing degree from UWGB and her Master of Science in health administration from Silver Lake College.

Peggy has been instrumental in pro-moting safe, effective professional devel-opment of nurses and associates in gas-troenterology at local, state, national and world levels during her 40 plus year career. She served as the president of the National Society of Gastroenterology from 2010-2011, and still remains very involved today. She was also a member of Bellin College’s Alumni Council group

during the 1970s and 1980s, where she served on many committees and held the offices of secretary and president during separate years. Peggy reached the highest level attainable in her profession and has traveled world-wide, always promoting professional leadership and development in the fields of health care.

The Alumni Council is thrilled to pres-ent the first ever Distinguished Alumni Award to Peggy Gauthier on behalf of the entire college and its body of alumni. Peggy fully exemplifies the College’s mission and values of excellence, com-munity, caring and integrity. The Council believes that Peggy’s community service and professional accomplishments within the field of nursing are remarkable, and believe that she will continue to leave a lasting legacy in the Green Bay commu-nity and beyond.■

Peggy Gauthier wins Bellin College

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Adam Schneider, BSN, RN

ers how to develop more effective preven-tion techniques while working with this population.”

Schneider, a student in the DNP program, works for the University of Wisconsin Organ and Tissue Donation (UW OTD) service as an organ procure-ment coordinator. “My interests closely align with the rewarding work done at UW OTD in the areas of critical care and palli-ative care,” Schneider says. “I have found it to be very gratifying to provide support to families who have often experienced a tragedy. After working for UW OTD, I have discovered that I have a strong pas-sion for teaching not only patients’ fami-lies, but also hospital staff.”

Crooks and Schneider join nearly 600 future nurse educators and leaders at 110 schools supported by Jonas Center pro-grams, the Jonas Nurse Leaders Scholars Program, and Jonas Veterans Healthcare rogram (JVHP). These scholarships sup-port nurses pursuing PhDs and DNPs, the terminal degrees in the field. The grants are part of a national initiative to address

nursing faculty shortage.“I am extremely honored to have been

selected for this award,” Schneider says. “It will assist me greatly in my goal to attain my Doctor of Nursing Practice degree. I’m eager to collaborate with peers who share a strong passion for nursing development and want to work to create a more efficient and effective health care system.”

Crooks concurs. “It’s an honor to receive this award, and I am hopeful that I will make a difference within the field of nursing by educating others through my research and sharing my experiences,” she says.

The Jonas Center, the leading philan-thropic funder for nursing, is addressing a critical need, evidenced by troubling data from the AACN showing that 2013 saw the lowest enrollment increase in profes-sional RN programs in the past five years. This is due primarily to a shortage in quali-fied faculty.

–Kathleen Corbett Freimuth

October • 2014 NursingmattersPage 4

UW–Madison School of Nursing selects two Jonas Scholars

The University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Nursing recently announced that, with a new grant of $10,000 from the Jonas Center for Nursing and Veterans Healthcare, matched by $10,000 of its own monies, it will fund the scholarship of two doctoral nursing students in 2014. As a recipient of the Jonas Center grant, the School of Nursing is part of a national effort to stem the nation’s dire shortage of doctorally prepared nursing faculty.

Doctoral students Natasha Crooks, BS’13, RN, and Adam Schneider, BSN, RN, selected as Jonas Nurse Leaders Program Scholars, will each receive

$10,000 in scholarship funding awarded over two years ($5,000 per year) to sup-port pursuing a doctoral degree with a strong interest in becoming nursing fac-ulty or a leader in primary care and clini-cal faculty. The School of Nursing has also committed to provide up to $2,500 for both Crooks and Schneider to attend a leadership conference in October 2015 in Washington, D.C.

Crooks, a student in the PhD program, focuses her research on women’s sexual health—specifically, transmitted infection prevention in young women of color. “I am passionate about sexual health within this population because of the health dis-

parities that exist among women of color as well as being a young w o m a n of color m y s e l f , ” Crooks says. “I believe that using q u a l i t a t i v e methods will help inform

nurse research-Natasha Crooks, BS’13, RN Bellin College faculty recognized at international conference

Dr. Lori Kulju, of Bellin College, Green Bay, was awarded second place for her poster presentation at the 13th Annual International Nursing Simulation/Learning Resource Centers Conference sponsored by The International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning on June 19 in Orlando. Dr. Kulju’s presentation was entitled “The Effect of Simulation on BSN Students’ Knowledge, Attitudes, and Clinical Judgment Regarding Pain.” She was one of 96 poster presentations focus-ing on research, education, and practice. This was Dr. Kulju’s first time attending this conference, which is the primary venue for nursing simulation in the United States.

Bellin College organization earns national recognition

Bellin College, in Green Bay, has

announced that the Bellin College Chapter of the American Assembly for Men in Nursing (BAAMN) has earned the 2014 “Newcomer of the Year” award from the AAMN national organization. In a short period of time, the Chapter has demon-strated remarkable progress in member-ship recruitment, outreach and program-ming. BAAMN is being recognized for promoting positive role modeling for men in nursing and for encouraging more men into the profession.

This Chapter was established in October 2013 and its goal is to provide resources, knowledge, and opportunities for individuals interested in gender equal-ity and advocating for men in nursing. The Bellin College chapter will serve as a place of social connectedness for nurses/nursing students interested in promoting gender equality in nursing.

If you are interested in promoting gen-der equality in nursing, no matter what your gender, join this new and nationally-recognized organization. For more infor-mation contact Dr. Jason Mott at jason.mott@bellincollege.edu.■

Dr. Lori Kulju

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WNA members working on the Governor’s Healthcare Workforce Policy Academy include, counterclockwise from center, Nancy Sugden, Assistant Dean UW School of Medicine and Public Health (her back to the camera); George Quinn, Wisconsin Hospital Association Senior Advisor; Debbie Rickelman, Vice President WHA Infor-mation Center; Nancy Nankieil, Wisconsin Medical Society Senior Vice President Quality; Gina Dennik-Champion, Wisconsin Nurses Association Executive Director; and Jodi Johnson , WHA Vice President Workforce and Clinical Practice.

cooperation with a wide group of stakehold-ers who are informed and engaged in the success of the project, including the public.

Core Area 2: Data. Wisconsin will have a sufficient and sustainable health care work force through the collection, analysis and reporting of health care worker data.

Core Area 3: Work Redesign/Changes in Care Delivery. Understand new service delivery models and other changes in the organization of health care delivery as they affect work force needs, clinical training opportunities, and needed changes in the regulatory environment, in order to ensure that the future health care work force meets patient care needs.

Core Area 4: Pipeline. A plan to ensure that education/training programs fit work-force needs.

Editor’s Note: A must-read for all nurses and nursing students.

In many ways, Kristen Elliott is a normal, seventeen-year-old girl. Kristen loves her family. She works hard academ-ically, and tries to please her mother. She takes care of her twin siblings, and ideal-izes her best friend, Lexus. However, as is the case with many teenagers, Kristen feels frustrated, isolated, and confused. In other ways, explains Felicia Johnson, author of “Her,” Kristen is not like other kids her age. She knows something is wrong with her. Kristen feels like an utter failure. She is unable to please her

abrasive mother, and scared to confront Jack, her abusive stepfather. She knows she will never be as beautiful Lexus. Kristen finds solace in self-injury, and the company of Mr. Sharp, her imagi-nary friend who encourages her feelings of self-loathing. After an uncompleted suicide attempt, Kristen is placed in the Bent Creek mental hospital, where she is diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder.

BPD is a little understood and com-plicated psychiatric illess. Also known as Emotionally Unstable Personality disorder, it is characterized by perva-

‘Her,’ by Felicia Johnson, explores world of Borderline Personality Disorder 

WNA continued from page 2

sive patterns including franti-cally avoiding real or imagined abandonment, unstable personal relationships, impulsive danger-ous behaviors such as sexual pro-miscuity and reckless driving, and recurrent acts of suicidal behavior.

While in the hospital, Kristen meets a group of peers suffer-ing with their own mental ill-nesses, and a compassionate staff of doctors and counselors. From there, Kristen begins her journey to survival. She discovers the cir-cumstances that brought her to this breaking point, struggles to understand her mental illness, and fights to be a survivor against her own worst enemy: her self-blame.

Kristen’s tale of endur-ance illustrates the complex illness of Borderline Personality Disorder. Readers – including those suffering from BPD and their friends and family – can glean insight into the illness from Kristen’s

Core Area 5: Mental/Behavioral Health. Gain a clear picture of the status of mental health resources in Wisconsin com-munities, assessment of gaps in services, and a plan for addressing those gaps.

Acord and Dennik-Champion have divided their time to participate on each workgroup. There are established timelines where progress reports are to be submitted to NGA for review, feedback and advice. The entire project is to be completed by December 2015.

WNA will be working closely with the Wisconsin Center Nursing, the recognized nursing organization in Wisconsin whose purpose is to ensure an adequate, compe-tent and diverse nursing work force for the people of Wisconsin. WNA will also be working with its members to review and provide input on the various drafts to make sure professional nursing care and leader-ship is visible and effective.■

humanity. Her story is an example of how, if we try to push the past away, we are either doomed to repeat it or let it haunt us to our graves.

The book is available at www.amazon.com.■

Nursingmatters

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When Signe Skott Cooper Hall opens for the fall semester 2014, the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Nursing will have green space to call its own. “It’s a very important aspect to the future of this amazing school,” says Dean Katharyn A. May. “For the first time in 50 years, this school has a sense of place – a sense of ownership and pride among students, faculty, staff and alumni.”

Green space means the culmination of the dream to build Signe Skott Cooper Hall; it also signifies the healing philoso-phy upon which Cooper Hall was built. “Nursing, as a discipline, acknowledges the relationship between human health and the natural world,” May says. “Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nurs-ing, understood this. ‘It is the nurses’ fore-most responsibility to put patients in the best possible position for nature to work her healing art,’ Nightengale told her stu-dents. Cooper Hall reflects Nightingale’s belief, now supported by scientific evi-dence, that human health and well-being are enhanced by natural light, access to the outdoors, and environments that support a sense of connectedness.”

The School of Nursing, by way of Cooper Hall, has positioned itself for what May calls “a boundless future.” Cooper Hall embraces the principles and values that the School of Nursing has held throughout its long history centered on research and innovation, outreach, service, collaboration and leadership in education. “Indeed, these values, while not unique to the School of Nursing, continue to influ-ence the work of its faculty, staff, students, and graduates,” May says.

May points to research and innova-

tion. “Over its long history, the School of Nursing has fostered leadership in sci-ence, education, and practice,” May says. “Dean Helen Bunge, the school’s first dean, established the very first research journal for nursing, Nursing Research, which continues to be the gold standard. Today, the digital age drives nursing’s dis-covery enterprise. Manifest in the design of Cooper Hall is the notion that nursing must push past conventional thinking to remove the barriers to person- and family-centered care.”

Another core value, leadership in nurs-ing education, stems from a long tradition of nursing leaders at Wisconsin who have moved the field forward. “Signe Skott Cooper was first and foremost an innova-tive teacher,” says May, “using radio as a way to deliver nursing education to remote places in Wisconsin. Over time, faculty continually has sought new ways to teach nursing to undergraduates. Cooper Hall provides students with learning opportu-

Signe Skott Cooper Hall at the UW-Madison School of Nursing.PHOTO BY CHRIS FRAZEE/UWSMPH MEDIA SOLUTIONS

Signe Skott Cooper Hall: Honoring the school’s legacy, embracing its future

nities to study person-centered care from inspired educators knowledgeable about consumer-health technologies.”

Enter the Center for Technology-Enhanced Nursing, or CTEN. May calls this second-floor area “the place to hear the heartbeat of clinical instruction.” CTEN’s environments – hospital, clinic, home and eHealth digital technologies that allow interaction to transcend time and space – provide students with the opportunity to immerse themselves in the challenges of the continuum of care sequence.

In tandem with CTEN’s learning envi-ronments, Cooper Hall’s active learning classrooms (ALCs) offer students and fac-ulty the best available tools for engaging, team-based, interactive, problem-based learning. “We have to talk about col-laboration very specifically as a critical competency in health care today,” May says. “Understanding the relationship of high-performance teamwork and safety adds yet another dimension to nursing in the Cooper Hall era.

“High-performance teamwork among nurses, physicians, pharmacists, other health professionals, and family members is necessary in this complex health care system, not only to improve outcomes, but also to prevent harm,” May says. “Because the School of Nursing is part of one of the world’s great universities, nursing at Wisconsin has always capitalized on part-nerships in research, service, and educa-tion across a wide array of fields. Now, Cooper Hall is equipped for this dynamic.”

The school’s core value of engagement and outreach is inextricably connected to

the Wisconsin Idea. Since its founding in 1924, the School of Nursing has built a legacy of excellence shaped by this princi-ple that the university should improve peo-ple’s lives beyond the classroom. “From Signe Skott Cooper’s traveling to remote places in Wisconsin to provide nurses with continuing education to today’s eHealth technologies,” May says, “we are com-mitted to asking the questions, ‘What difference does it make that we do this?’ ‘Does it serve the people of the state, or the nation, or the world?’ The Wisconsin Idea drives so much of what happens here at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.”

Service – serving the common good – is part of nursing’s genetic code, May says, as evidenced in Nightingale’s legacy. “She was one of the world’s first bio-statisticians, pacing through the wards in the Crimean army hospitals at night, not just administering, but also counting the dying and the dead to understand the relationship between care practices, time of year, and battlefield deaths. She demon-strated clearly using this evidence that the practices of nursing increased the likeli-hood that the soldiers would survive their wounds in contrast to traditional practices that doomed many of them to a death,” May explains.

“Today, our graduates reach across the globe to serve the health needs of popula-tions – caring for the homeless in a respite care facility in Washington, D.C., provid-ing primary care for orphaned children in Kenya, staffing disaster relief efforts in the slums of Haiti.” The UW has a tradition of educating the largest number of Peace Corps volunteers – more than anywhere in the country, May adds. Nursing has played its part in this effort.

Cooper Hall ushers in a new era of pos-sibility in nursing and health care at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, May says. “Its powerful story stretches behind us, and we use those inspirations as a way to take innovation and excellence forward. Nursing is primed to tackle the grand challenges, the wicked problems affecting human health.”■

–Kathleen Corbett Freimuth

October • 2014 NursingmattersPage 6

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By Jay HeckWisconsin nurs-

es, like all citizens, are deeply affected by decisions made by their elected rep-resentatives in the Wisconsin Legislature and in the U.S. House

of Representatives on public policy mat-ters important to nurses. It follows that whom those elected officials are, and how they were elected, is critically important in determining what public policy is advanced and what is rejected in both Madison and in Washington, D.C.

But it is a good bet that not many nurs-es (and not many other citizens) know or care much about non-partisan redis-tricting reform in Wisconsin. After all, redistricting – or “gerrymandering” as it is often called – is an activity that seems to matter only to political “insiders.” It is a process undertaken in total secrecy and directed by partisan leaders with taxpayer money with no information about what they were doing available to the public or with any public input. But that is exactly the problem – on every count!

The U.S. and Wisconsin Constitutions mandate that every 10 years, following the Census, that states reconfigure the district boundaries for congressional and state legislative districts to reflect the changes and movement of the population in each state that occurred during the pre-vious decade. But this process can, and has, become increasingly partisan and unfair and has a significant detrimental effect on citizens of all political persua-sions and on public policy.

The 2011 redistricting process was the most hyper-partisan, secretive, expen-sive and outrageous in Wisconsin’s his-tory. Majority Republicans, in less than a week, introduced and rammed through the Legislature their new, secretly-drawn state legislative and congressional dis-trict maps – designed to ensure them majorities in the Wisconsin Legislature and in Wisconsin’s eight-member U.S. House delegation for the decade. And they charged the taxpayers of Wisconsin over $2.1 million to create far fewer com-petitive general elections for the State Senate, State Assembly and for the U.S. House of Representatives.

Republican legislators even had to sign “secrecy oaths” during the process to keep their gerrymandering from the press and public.

The same thing happened in our neigh-boring state of Illinois. But there, the process was totally controlled by parti-san Democrats. In both Wisconsin and Illinois, the citizens were the losers.

In Wisconsin, we now have only 15 of 99 competitive Assembly districts, 4 of 33 competitive State Senate districts and none (zero) of our eight U.S. House dis-tricts are competitive. That is a travesty and it is greatly diminishes the power of you, the voter, to effect change.

The problem when legislators choose their voters in a partisan redistricting pro-cess, rather than voters picking their leg-islators – as it should be, is that legislators seek to create “safe” seats, particularly for members of their own party, in dis-tricts devoid of competition. Legislators who occupy safe districts are not and do not have to be as responsive, or even have to listen to all of their constituents because if they have no fear of losing in a general election, they can ignore the concerns of citizens with whom they dis-agree. There is none of the accountability and search for bipartisan solutions that are critical for a legislator who represents a competitive district.

The bottom line is that now in Wisconsin, the overwhelming majority of state legislators and Members of the U.S. House of Representatives can ignore you and your concerns if they don’t agree with you. Why? Because they have “safe” seats and need to please only those of their own political party and philosophy. That is not democracy.

The 2011 gerrymandering process has polarized Wisconsin politics in a way we have never seen before and has made for an ideological, dismissive and unre-sponsive Legislature bent on achieving only their own narrow, divisive agenda instead of working in the interest of all Wisconsinites in a bipartisan, reasonable and cooperative manner.

Redistricting reform would greatly help to reduce this hyper-partisan polar-ization because it would force legisla-tors to be more responsive to all of their constituents through more competitive general elections instead of just to the

Why nurses (and all citizens) should know and care about non-partisan redistricting reform in Wisconsin

Jay Heck

most extreme voters of their political base in primary elections – as is increasingly the case now.

Fortunately there is a solution to this problem. During the 2013-2014 legisla-tive session a measure was introduced that would remove the redistricting pro-cess from the direct control of parti-san legislative leaders and delegate the redrawing of new district boundaries after the next Census (in 2020) to the non-par-tisan state Legislative Reference Bureau (LRB), without partisan considerations. The Legislature could only vote the new maps created by the LRB up or down without amendment – they could not interfere or change the district line drawn by the LRB.

This plan was put into effect in Iowa in 1981 and elections in Iowa are competi-tive, legislators are much more respon-sive to all of their constituents, it costs the taxpayers of Iowa next to nothing and Iowans have confidence in their elections and elected officials.

For an Iowa-type redistricting process to be in effect in Wisconsin for 2021, we need to get it passed and enacted into law next year because the closer we draw toward the 2020 Census, the more difficult it becomes to get the necessary

support from legislators to change the system.

The good news is that almost every newspaper editorial board in Wisconsin supports non-partisan redistricting reform and thousands of citizens now realize how important it is to every other concern that they have. Obviously, this includes the concerns of Wisconsin nurses.

You can send a powerful message to candidates for the Wisconsin Legislature and for Congress this year by telling them that you support a non-partisan redistricting process for Wisconsin like the one Iowa has. This common sense, fundamental reform will enhance and greatly empower the voice and concern of nurses in Wisconsin – and the voices of all Wisconsin citizens.■

Jay Heck is the state director of Common Cause in Wisconsin, the state’s largest non-partisan political reform advocacy organization with nearly 3,000 members. Contact them at (608) 256-2686, commoncausewisconsin.org, or ccwisjwh@itis.com.

October • 2014www.nursingmattersonline.com Page 7

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October • 2014 NursingmattersPage 8

Susan Zahner, DrPH, RN, FAAN, Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor and professor of nursing, was appointed associate dean for academic affairs in June. A faculty member with the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Nursing for 14 years, Zahner began her new position after return-ing from a yearlong sabbatical focused on academic-practice partnerships, academic leadership, and quality improvement in pub-lic health and public health nursing.

The position, Zahner says, allows her to apply her previous experience – and passion – to management and process improvement to benefit the organization as a whole, rather than just her own research program. “It’s an exciting time in the life of the school with the development of a new strategic plan and the opening of Signe Skott Cooper Hall,” she says, “and I am eager to help the school move forward.”

Zahner grew up on a farm in Iowa with seven brothers and sisters and the clear parental expectation that each of them would attend college. An interest in health care and science led her to the nursing program at the University of Iowa, where she discovered a passion for public health. She began her nursing career as a post-surgical nurse at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Marshfield, Wisconsin, but soon decided

she would prefer to be working “upstream” – that is, addressing the causes of disease and disability through prevention rather than treatment. She took a public health position in rural Minnesota, confirm-ing her interest in the field and allowing herself the opportunity to realize her own aptitude in manage-ment.

After receiving a mas-ter’s degree in public health from the University of Minnesota, Zahner worked in a refugee camp in Thailand and then moved to Madison, where she took a position in the city’s public health department, eventually becoming the department’s director of nursing. She later enrolled at University of California Berkeley, earning a doctorate in public health.

Though Zahner was unfamiliar at the time with the Wisconsin Idea, the concept of improving lives beyond the classroom began to germinate in her practice as a doctoral student; her dissertation project provided research that proved beneficial to

public health in the state of California. In 2000, she returned to Wisconsin as a faculty member with the UW-Madison School of Nursing and continued her commitment to the Wisconsin Idea through the LEAP project (Linking Education and Practice for Excellence in Public Health Nursing) and the development of the Wisconsin Public Health Research Network.

In both cases, Zahner says, “I feel an obligation

to make sure that my work is guided by the needs and experience of public health practitioners in the state and can be used by them to help improve public health education and practice in Wisconsin and beyond.”

Now, as associate dean for academ-ic affairs, Zahner is responsible for the administrative structure of the school, including human resources, budget, infor-mation technology, and facilities. “It’s the scaffolding that supports academic and research programs.” In addition to oversee-ing the operational functions, Zahner will

lead the strategic planning effort and help explore more extensive partnerships.

Zahner begins her new position aware of the challenges ahead – from find-ing sufficient resources to maintain and grow education and research programs to extending partnerships with key organi-zations. Improving communication about innovative research, new teaching meth-ods, and diversity and equity initiatives is also essential, she says, so that “our faculty, staff, students, and alumni can take pride in our enterprise and contribute to it.”

Anticipating what she would like to accomplish during her tenure as associate dean, Zahner sets the bar high. “I would like the school to have a strong strategic plan and direction and stronger partner-ships with other important organizations that are productive for both parties. I want to see Cooper Hall as a resource that we manage not just for nursing, but for the campus. I’d like to see a lot more inter-professional education taking place and alumni excited about coming back. I’d love to see our research and education programs flourishing. I’ll be quite content if I can leave the position with the school in an even better position than it already is.”■

– Mary Anderson, UW-Madison SON Relations Specialist

Zahner appointed associate dean for academic affairs

Susan Zahner, Ph.D., RN, FAAN