official newsletter of CON Faculty & Staff | November 2015

University of Colorado College of Nursing

In This Issue2 | Message from The Dean: Sarah Thompson

2 | Spotlight on Finance: John Moore

3 | The Intranet: Updates and Progress

3 | Continuing Education & Professional Development

4 | Photo Features: Gala - NP 50th (10/02)

Decades Day (10/29)

Halloween Potluck (10/30)

6 | Pulse on Excellence: Celebrating Faculty and Staff Achievements

9 | What’s Going On: Events Around the CON

November Birthdays

10 | Welcome New Employees Meet all of our new faculty and staff, since June 2015

Breaking GroundWelcome to The Pulse, the brand new, official news-letter of CU College of Nursing Faculty and Staff. This is your hub for all of the latest news and events from around the College. Explore this issue to learn more about the latest happenings and events, get updates from key departments, take pride in the achievements of our faculty and staff, and meet all of the newest mem-bers of our team.

How to ContributeAs our very first issue, we’re still working on making this news-letter the best it can be and welcome your feedback and sug-gestions. Have something exciting you’d like to share with the College? Please send any news, photos, events, accolades and suggestions to CON-NEWS@UCDENVER.EDU

Breaking GroundThe PulseProduced by the University of Colorado College of Nursing Department of Marketing and Communications

Holly E. KasparDirector of Marketing and Communications

Trisha BuckDigital Media Coordinator

Katherine Tippins SylvestreMarketing and Communications Specialist

CONTACT USCON-NEWS@UCDENVER.EDU

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John W. Moore, MBAAssociate Dean for Finance and Administration

The College of Nursing (CON) is financially sound. As represented in the charts below, the majority of CON revenues are reflected in the CON’s General Fund. The College is actively developing and diversifying sources of revenue, in order to allow for continued growth and development of new initiatives, and to plan for potential reductions in state appropriations. Where does it come from?

College of Nursing, Fiscal Year 2016 (July 1, 2015 - June 30, 2016), Periods 1-3 (July, 2015 – September, 2015), Sources of Revenue

And where does it go?

College of Nursing, Fiscal Year 2016 (July 1, 2015 - June 30, 2016), Periods 1-3 (July, 2015 – September, 2015), General Categorical Revenue Allocations

Sarah Thompson, PhD, RN, FAANDean and Professor

Effective communication in a fast-paced environment is a never-end-ing challenge. Thus, I am very ex-cited to introduce our first newsletter, The Pulse. For a while, I have wanted an approach to communicating that would pull together the multi-faceted aspects of the College in one place. I am so pleased that Holly and her team, Katherine and Trisha, also see the value of this type of communication as well.

I frequently hear comments such as, “I don’t know who that person is” and “I don’t know what is going on in the College.” All of us participate in a lot of meetings, but it is hard to fully capture the totality of who and what we are in individual emails, brown bags, and staff/faculty meet-ings. The Pulse will provide a place for us all to learn and appreciate who new people are, share accolades, see the breadth and depth of what different areas of the Col-lege are engaged in, and to gain vital information at the same time. There is so much that we do as a community –I stand in awe of what is accomplished.

Please join me in thanking Holly, Katherine, and Trisha for the first edition of The Pulse. This is your newsletter – I know our communications and marketing team will appreciate your input to produce a newsletter that is not only useful, but fun!

Another effort underway to enhance communication and information sharing is the College’s Intranet. These efforts are also vitally important to our everyday work – creating a place where we can find information and im-portant updates in a timely manner. Please refer to this issue of The Pulse to see the progress on our Intranet.

Finally, I want to give a shoutout to our staff who organized two amazing events this week: Decades Day and the Hal-loween Potluck. Although I did not personally “dress up,” I so appreciated the creativity, the laughter, the desire to cre-ate community, and the overall positive, feel good energy.

I am proud to be a member of this amazing community!

Sarah

a message from The Dean

spotlight on Finance

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College of Nursing Intranet ProjectUpdates and Progress

Significant progress is being made on the Intranet as planning and work on the framework continues.

A small task force of CON staff has been established to build the foundation of the CON intranet. This team is currently gathering content, establishing security set-tings, and working through some of the nuances of building the foundation. This group has been diligently working and is gathering momentum.

When it launches, the CON Intranet will become your one-stop-shop information hub, housing forms and in-formation for key departments, a CON events calendar, directories, communications and more.

Key stakeholders will be consulted as progress continues and additional information will be communicated as we get closer to the initial launch.

Your Intranet Task Force Team:Rodney Huddleston | Trisha Buck | Juli Carey Holly Kaspar | John Moore | Michelle PorterAndra Price | Al Schmidt | Marissa Sotiriou

Continuing Educationand Professional DevelopmentUpcoming Events

Twelve Lead ECG for Advanced Practice Providers November 6, 2015 www.regonline.com/ECG15 Recognize abnormalities on the 12 lead ECG. Best Practice Pharmacotherapeutics in Primary Care November 12-13, 2015 www.regonline.com/bestinpc Pharmacotherapeutic content for primary care to underserved populations. 6th Annual Pediatric Advanced Practice ConferenceFebruary 8-9, 2016 www.regonline.com/pedsap16 Clinical updates in evidence-based care for pediatric diagnoses.

Introduction to Motivational Interviewing February 26, 2016 www.regonline.com/IntroMI Motivational interviewing techniques to support health behavior changes. Advanced Motivational InterviewingMarch 18, 2016 www.regonline.com/AdvMI Master advanced techniques through practice exer-cises and experiential learning, to support client health behavior changes. OB/GYN Clinical Skills for Advanced Practice Providers June 2-3, 2016 www.regonline.com/OBskills16 Didactic and “hands-on” skills performance training essential to primary care.

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NP Program Celebrates 50 Year AnniversaryOn October 2, 2015, the College of Nursing and School of Medicine celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the Nurse Practitioner Program with a Gala honoring Loretta Ford, EdD, RN, FAAN, FAANP and Henry Silver, MD, FAANP(H).

Check out our Facebook Page to see all of the photos from this event! facebook.com/cucollegeofnursing

Retro Rewind for Decades DayOn October 29, 2015, the Student Affairs and Diversity team hosted Decades Day, invit-ing faculty and staff to get creative and dress up to celebrate the timeless looks from their favorite eras.

Halloween PotluckOn October 30, 2015, the CON Staff Governance Council hosted a Halloween Celebration with a Potluck and Costume Contest for faculty and staff.

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Pulse on ExcellenceCelebrating the achievements and accolades of our College of Nursing Faculty and Staff

Karen Sousa, PhD, RN, FAAN, Professor, Associate Dean for Research and Scholarship, has been named an AACN-Wharton Leadership Fellow. In late August, The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) announced the fourth class of nursing deans and academic leaders who have successfully completed the AACN-Wharton Executive Leadership Program. Karen is among 40 academic nursing leaders who were selected this year by a competitive process to par-ticipate in the AACN-Wharton program, which convened in Philadelphia, PA.

Cheryl A. Krause-Parello, PhD, RN, Associate Professor; Director, C-P.A.W.W. (Canines Pro-viding Assistance to Wounded Warriors), Health Research Initiative for Veterans, has been cho-sen by The Friends of the National Institute of Nursing Research (FNINR), an independent non-profit group that advocates for and advances nursing science, to be an FNINR Ambassador. The FNINR Ambassadors Program was launched in 2014 to foster political, social and professional awareness of the work of the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR), and its research priorities. Cheryl

will help to influence the leaders in the State of Colorado by educating and advocating on behalf of the goals and vision of NINR.

Nancy K. Lowe, PhD, CNM, FACNM, FAAN, Professor, Chair for Division of Women, Children, and Family Health, was among the authors of a review recently published in The Journal of Mid-wifery & Women’s Health (JMWH). The study, Labor Dystocia: Uses of Related Nomenclature, aims to 1) summarize definitions of active labor and dystocia, as put forth by leading professional obstetric and midwifery organizations in world regions wherein English is the majority language, and 2) describe the use of dystocia and related terms in contemporary research studies. (J Mid-wiferyWomens Health 2015;60:485–498 c 2015 by the American College of Nurse-Midwives).

Nancy was also published in another review in JMWH, Labor Dystocia: A Common Approach to Diagnosis (J MidwiferyWomens Health 2015;60:499–509 c 2015 by the American College of Nurse-Midwives).

Fara Bowler, MS, APRN, ANP-C, Senior Instructor, Director Clinical Education Center and Simulation, has a multitude of recent publications as part of an International web-based course authored collaboratively with physician colleagues in the US and UK, covering clinical education training modules for faculty.

Bowler, F., Aagaard, E. and Corral, J. ‘Clinical teaching and learning’ Teaching and Assessment for Nursing and Allied Health Educators (TANAHE). (2015) London: Epigeum.

Bowler, F., Aagaard, E. and Corral, J. ‘Clinical assessment, evaluation and feedback’ Teaching and Assessment for Nursing and Allied Health Educators (TANAHE). (2015) London: Epigeum.

Aagaard, E., Corral, J. and Bowler, F. ‘Clinical teaching and learning’ Teaching and Assessment for Medical Educators (TAME). (2015) London: Epigeum.

Aagaard, E., Corral, J. and Bowler, F. ‘Clinical assessment, evaluation and feedback’ Teaching and Assessment for Medical Educators (TAME). (2015) London: Epigeum.

Linda Flynn, PhD, RN, FAAN, Associate Professor, has been honored by Rutgers University as an Outstanding Alumnus. Linda earned her MS in Community Health Nursing (1990) and a PhD in Nursing Research (1995) from Rutgers University. Linda has also been appointed to the Board of Directors of the Colorado Center for Nursing Excellence.

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Pulse on ExcellenceCelebrating the achievements and accolades of our College of Nursing Faculty and Staff

Sarah J. Schmiege, PhD, Assistant Research Professor, Statistician, had an article published in October 2015, entitled, Heterogeneity in the Relationship of Substance Use to Risky Sexual Behavior Among Justice-Involved Youth: A Regression Mixture Modeling Approach. Justice-in-volved adolescents engage in high levels of risky sexual behavior and substance use, and under-standing potential relationships among these constructs is important for effective HIV/STI preven-tion. Findings are discussed in terms of understanding profiles of risk behavior among at-risk youth.

The article is available at: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10461-015-1219-3#

Paul Cook, PhD, Licensed Psychologist, Associate Professor, has been awarded a subcon-tract with the Frontier AIDS Education and Training Center based at the University of Washington to provide training on HIV care to faculty and students, for workforce development in a 10-state western region. Paul, as the evaluator, is the PI for this new HIV Inter-professional Eduction Project. The 4-year award was funded at $283,000 per year. In addition to some new staff who will be joining the CON, Laurra Aagaard and Lisa Krug-Avery will also be part of this project.

Paul and Sarah Schmeige also have a new publication from his intramural study using smartphones to improve HIV medication adherence: Cook, P. F., Carrington, J. M., Schmiege, S. J., Starr, W., & Reeder, B. (2015). A counselor in your pocket: Feasibility of mobile health tailored messages to support HIV medication adherence. Patient Pref-erence and Adherence, 9, 1-14. Associated video content available at: https://youtu.be/7tbYkroHe-w

Paul would also like to introduce the staff on his new HRSA grant:

Samantha Meiring, Evaluation Project Manager. Samantha has worked with Paul on evaluation projects at the Mountain Plains AETC (formerly based in the CU School of Medicine) since 2007, and has joined the CON as a professional research assistant (PRA). As Evaluation Project Manager for both the CDC subcontract and the Frontier AETC regional office, she will be responsible for developing new evaluation strategies on novel projects like practice transformation and interprofessional education.

Marla Corwin, LCSW, CAC III, Behavioral Trainer. Marla has a long history with the Mountain Plains AETC, and has joined the CON as a Senior Instructor. Marla is a clinical social worker with HIV sub-stance abuse and mental health care experience. She leads the IPE site’s training efforts and develop-ment of enduring materials on these topics, and she is also collaborating with Paul and Laurra on other motivational interviewing training activities.

Lindsay O’Connell, MS CHES, Distance Education Specialist. Lindsay came to the Mountain Plains AETC in 2012, and has joined the CON as an Instructor. Lindsay is a public health professional with expertise in both HIV care/prevention and distance education methods. She led a telehealth program for the Mountain Plains AETC for the past 3 years, and is now helping to develop IPE print and online tools that can be disseminated throughout the Frontier AETC region.

Whitney Starr, NP, Medical Trainer. Whitney is a nurse practitioner at the CU School of Medicine with HIV primary care expertise. She practices at the University of Colorado Hospital’s Infectious Disease clinic, and will be on the IPE grant one day per week as the medical trainer. Whitney serves as the lead on IPE clinical preceptorships in Denver, and leads the development of enduring products and IPE training materials on medical topics.

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Pulse on ExcellenceCelebrating the achievements and accolades of our College of Nursing Faculty and Staff

Mona Pearl, PhD, RN, CNS, CCRN, Colonel (Ret.), USAF, NC, Professor, Veteran and Military Health Care, has been presenting in various forums across Colorado, including a presentation at the DCoE TBI and Psychological Health Summit, where there was great interest in the CON’s Vet-eran and Military Health Care program. The event had more than 600 people in attendance, and 80% saw VMHC as a clinical specialty. Mona also held a brown bag lunch presentation at the CON entitled, “Veteran and Military Health Care as a Clinical Specialty and Themes from the International Congress of Military Medicine.”

Thelma Rodriquez, Administrative Assistant/Receptionist, the new front desk receptionist at Sheridan, was among those volunteering at the 9News Health Fair on October 10. She was featured in the Anschutz newsletter: http://cuanschutz-today.org/9health-family-fair-at-anschutz-medical-campus-serves-community/?-source=todayAMC

Thelma (left). Photo by Vicki Hildner, University Communications.

Scott B. Harpin, PhD, MPH, RN, Assistant Professor, was a part of a team with the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine that developed an app for college- and high school-aged youth wellness. It has useful tools for talking about health issues as they transition, especially for those with kids in college/moving out of the home. Content is written to be useful for youth and parents. iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sahm-thrive/id1031367507?ls=1&mt=8Google: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.adolescenthealth.thrive.sahm

October Grant SubmissionsScott Harpin Feasibility and effectiveness of mental health brief intervention with homeless youth

Kathy Jankowski DHEA augmentation of musculoskeletal adaptations to exercise in older women

Mona Pearl Boot Camp your Dog-Mindful reintegration to battle combat stress

Wounds of War and The Challenges of Coming Home: Dialogues on the

Experiences of War

Blaine Reeder HomeFIT

Madalynn Neu Mother-Infant feeding interaction in first 7 weeks and disruption at 4 months

Mustafa Ozkaynak Expanding workflow into lifeflow and developing health IT

Bonnie Gance-Cleveland StartSmart: Health information technology to improve adherence to prenatal guidelines

Oliwier Dzaidkowiec UCH/AACN Nurse Residency Program and quality indicators

Mary Kay Meintzer Sheridan Health Care Substance Abuse Care

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What’s Going On: Events Around the CON

November BirthdaysEmenet Abera 2

Mona Pearl 3

Tanya Sorrell 4

Kristin Paine 5

Nicole Price 6

Cheryl Gibson 11

Marilyn Stember 11

Amy Sturrock 12

Laurra Aagaard 14

Jennifer Lake 15

Glendon Butterfield 16

Ginger Raterink 16

Erica Schwartz 16

Regina Fink 19

Nancy Lowe 19

Margaret Nicholson 19

Ernestine Kotthoff-Burrell 20

Roger Reeves 21

Stacey Copeland 22

Linda Wassner 22

Merrilynn Artman 24

Joan Magilvy 24

Joyce Verran 25

Sarah Clairday 26

Allison Moravec-Rice 26

Chantel Schoneboom 26

Adrienne Wolf 27

Marisela Arcineda 28

Tabitha Fricke 28

Catherine Jankowski 28

State of the College with Dean Sarah Thompson(11/23) ED 1, Room 3500, 11:30am-12:45pm

Flu Shots On-Campus:11/2 (1:00-4:30 PM) UPI Lilly Marks Board Room, 1st Floor11/16 (1:00-5:30 PM) Anschutz Outpatient Pavilion, Room 2005

Bow Tie Tuesdays Every Tuesday! Have fun and wear your favorite bow tie! It’s a new CON tradition!

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Welcome New EmployeesOur team is growing! Please give a warm welcome to all of our newest faculty and staff. As part of this first issue of The Pulse, we’re highlighting all new employees to join the College since June 2015. If you see someone you haven’t met yet, be sure to stop by and say hello.

Frank Gold, Assistant Professor (Dentist)Location: Sheridan

Fanta KuhlmanPost-Award Grants and Contracts Specialist

Molly Yeoman Certified Nurse-Midwife, CFMDegrees: BSN, Villa Maria College, Erie, PA, 1981; MS in Nursing, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, 1988; Post graduate certificate in mid-

wifery, Frontier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing, 1997.

Molly has been a midwife for 18 years, working mostly in small midwifery practices in Dayton, Ohio, as well as Planned Parenthood of Southwest Ohio. After moving to Colorado in 2011, she worked at Mountain Midwifery Center. She also worked as a labor and delivery nurse at University hospital in the early 80’s while earning an MS in nursing, and is happy to be back in Colorado.

Molly says she and her husband enjoy traveling, espe-cially going to music festivals. “We have four children aged 24-29,” says Molly, “and three out of four of them live within walking distance of our house. This makes for incredibly fun Sunday dinners!” Litzze Garcia, Dental Care AssistantLocation: Sheridan

Eleni Padden, Professional Research Assistant at C-P.A.W.W. Degrees: BA in Cognitive Science, BA in Psychology, and a BA in Writing Semi-nars; all from Johns Hopkins University.

Eleni previously worked as an Undergraduate Research Volunteer at the University of South Florida Byrd Alzhei-mer’s Center & Research Institute. She also served as a Research Trainee in the Neuropsychology Research Lab at the Kennedy Krieger Institute.

Eleni says she gets to do something different every day, from organizing research projects and helping draft grant

proposals, to coordinating puppy donations with veter-ans programs. “My main focus is on helping to make sure all of our research projects run smoothly, but I also really enjoy engaging with the veteran community in Denver and beyond at various events,” says Eleni. “Talking to, and getting to know, the folks who we ultimately hope to serve through our research has absolutely been my favorite part of this job.”

In her spare time, Eleni enjoys slam poetry, dodgeball, and cooking massive amounts of tomato sauce for her friends, from scratch. She also says that she thinks jelly-fish are seriously the coolest things ever!

Michael GrattonTemporary PRA for Mona PearlDegrees: BA in Psychology and an MS in Health Promotion; both from the University of Memphis, TN.

Michael’s previous work focused on adolescent empow-erment and substance use prevention with Job Corps, spirituality and suicide/bereavement, public health pro-gramming to ameliorate childhood obesity rates of dis-advantaged populations, and mental health promotion. The majority of his work centered around research, pro-gram and laboratory management, as well as teaching and training with Apple, Inc.

Michael works alongside Dr. Mona Pearl, Colonel (ret.) with the Veteran and Military Health Care academic pro-grams. “Our research goals involve helping veteran and military populations with new interventions that aid psy-chological health, reintegration after war, and Post-Trau-matic Stress Disorder,” says Michael. “I am ecstatic to be a part of the University of Colorado, enriching scientific literature, and plan on continuing my research endeavors as a doctoral student in the near future.”

Michael says that two summers ago, he sold his car and backpacked 26 European cities for several months. He’s also an avid landscape and travel photographer, and some of his artwork will be displayed in the CU Health Sciences Library Gallery beginning in November. In his spare time, he enjoys trekking mountainsides, swim-ming, camping, listening to jazz and oldies, and cooking.

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Pam Jones, PhD, MSS, Assistant Professor and Executive Director for the CON Faculty Practice PlanDegrees: PhD in Public Administration, University of Colorado Denver, 1998; MSS, Applied Communication, University of Denver, 1988; BS, Health and Physical Ed-ucation, Colorado State University, 1975.

In addition to her current role at the CON, Dr. Jones also serves on the CU Denver School of Business Health Ad-ministration Graduate Program faculty where she teach-es Healthcare Marketing. Prior to joining the CON, she held the positions of Executive Director of the Center for Systems Transformation at McREL International, Direc-tor of the Office of Grants and Contracts for the Univer-sity of Colorado Denver and Anschutz Medical Campus and Director of Managed Care and Marketing for Univer-sity Physicians, Inc/CU School of Medicine. She actively participates in regional healthcare policy initiatives and currently serves on the Practice Transformation Work Group for the Statewide Innovation Project funded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) to Gover-nor Hickenlooper and the State of Colorado.

Dr. Jones says she is honored to work with an incredibly talented faculty to help them expand their clinical pro-grams and practices. “We are collaboratively develop-ing and implementing strategic initiatives to grow current CON clinical practices and establish new clinical pro-grams throughout the State of Colorado,” she says.

In her spare time, Dr. Jones enjoys cooking French food, watching college football, spending time with family/friends and helping students gain confidence in them-selves.

Cheryl Meade, Graduate Clinical Placements Temporary AideDegree: AAS, Criminal Justice

Cheryl previously worked for Arapahoe County Residential Center, a transition-al residential facility for women, as well

as an Immigration Law Office that fought to keep fam-ilies together in the country. “My experiences with the different jobs I had were all important in some way to me,” says Cheryl. “They all involved actual people and impacted their lives in some way, which was super re-warding both professionally and personally.”

As part of the team at the Graduate Clinical Placement Office, Cheryl will assist with agency paperwork, affilia-tion agreements, student compliance, Typhon uploads, and site paperwork for our students to be able to attend

clinical. She says she’s very excited to be part of the CON, especially for the students. “I enjoy assisting stu-dents in their continued education and strive to make their clinical seamless, effortless, and enjoyable. They already have a lot going on as it is and I want their expe-rience with us to be fulfilling, informational, and as con-venient as possible.”

In her spare time, Cheryl likes to read True Stories and watch movies. She loves to spend time with her 13-year-old daughter, going to sporting, school, and family events.

Christopher Foster, Interim Program Assistant, Professional Development, NEXus Campus Staff CoordinatorDegrees: BA, University of Oregon;MBA, Willamette University.

Christopher previously served as a Volunteer Coordi-nator at the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. In his current role, he assists students in registering for non-degree courses, manages the NEXus program and works with other universities to educate students in a national knowledge-sharing network. “I am excited to be working here because we do so much good for the community and region at large and I am proud to play a role in that good work,” says Christopher. “I always wanted to work in a place that tries to make the world a better place and I think I have that working here.”

In his spare time, Chris is very active in soccer, football, golf and outdoor activities such as snowboarding, hik-ing, and riding his bike. He also enjoys spending time with his wife, Elizabeth, and his labrador puppy, and loves traveling, taking pictures, going to sporting events, and supporting the Oregon Ducks.

Rebecca Evans, Instructor - UNM

Ana Davis, Medical AssistantLocation: Sheridan

Alexandria Newton, Temporary EmployeeLocation: Sheridan

Anna Padgett Seigel, Temporary EmployeeLocation: Sheridan

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Kesa Herlihy, MS, RNInstructor, Clinical Education CenterDegrees: ADN, Penn Valley Community College; BSN, University of Kansas;MS with emphasis in Nursing Educa-tion, University of Utah; PhD with em-phasis in Nursing Education and minor

in Leadership, University of Kansas (in progress).

Kesa has been a full-time Nursing Educator since 2010, with experience in Simulation education; Classroom teaching in Peds, OB, Gero, Nutrition, Pharmacology; Clinical teaching in OB, Peds, med-surg, leadership, community health; and Lab teaching in IV, foundations, and health assessment. She also has floor experience as an RN in Pediatrics, NICU, ante-partum, post-par-tum, and med-surg float pool.

Kesa serves as the lead faculty for Pediatrics, Commu-nity Health Nursing and Older Adult in the Clinical Ed-ucation Center as well as helping in all other courses taught in the CEC. “I am excited to be a part of the college because it is great to be a part of such a won-derful team of highly educated nurses who are working together to instruct the next generation,” she says.She is also happy to report that she has just started in the dissertation phase of her PhD with plans to graduate in December 2016.

Mary Beth Flynn Makic, PhD, RN, CNS, CCNS, FAANAssociate ProfessorDegrees: PhD, University of Colorado College of Nursing, 2007; MS, University of Maryland School of Nursing, 1992;

BS, University of Wisconsin School of Nursing, 1985.

Mary Beth is focused on nursing-driven interventions that optimize outcomes of critically ill and acutely ill pa-tients. She has been a clinical nurse specialist in critical care for more than 20 years and is recognized as a leader in evidence-based practice.

Mary Beth was in the clinical area as a research nurse scientist until recently coming to the CON full-time to grow the CNS program. She has held previous posi-tions with University of Colorado Hospital as a Clinical Nurse Specialist/Educator, and Critical Care Clinical Nurse. She also served as a Critical Care Consultant and Clinical Nurse Specialist/Nursing Supervisor for Vencor Hospital of Denver. Additionally, Mary Beth held multiple, previous positions throughout Florida, Maryland, and Virginia.

In her spare time, Mary Beth enjoys hiking, snow skiing, swimming, and golf.

Heidi Baldwin-Kirchoff, PRA for Cheryl Krause-Parello

Lorri M. Phipps, Specialty Director, Primary Care Pediatric Nurse Practitioner programDegrees: BSN, Marquette University; MSN, Marquette University; DNP, University of Arizona.

Lorri has 20 years of experience as a practicing pedi-atric nurse practitioner in both primary and critical care settings. She served as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Air Force and was awarded the Air Force Achieve-ment Medal and the Air Force Commendation Medal. She also served as an Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of Arizona for the last 5 years — actively teaching in the BS-DNP program. Simultaneously, she served as an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine with a full-time clinical practice at Children’s Hospital Colorado.

In her role here at the CON, Lorri will be directing and revamping the Primary Care PNP program, which is something she says she’s very excited to be a part of.

In her spare time, Lorri enjoys working out. “I have re-cently started Barre classes and I have a bit of an addic-tion to T25!” she says. “I have 3 English Bulldogs and 2 English Mastiffs (crazy, I know!). I also have a beautiful, black Corvette Stingray (mid-life crisis purchase!).”

Marisela Arcineda, Temporary EmployeeLocation: Sheridan

Nathan Jamison, Classified Temporary Employee,Office of Student Affairs and Diversity

Lisa O’Neal, Health Care Tech I/Medical Assistant Location: Campus Health Center

Patricia Abbott, Assistant ProfessorLocation: Campus Health ClinicDegrees: PhD, University of Washington (UW) School of Nursing; MSN/FNP, California State University.

Prior to joining the CON, Patricia served as the lead NP for 13 years at the University of Washington Med-ical Center (UWMC) Emergency Department. She also spent 10 years as UW School of Nursing faculty, 10

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years as a College health NP, as well as worked for 2 years in Urgent Care and 2 years in a Retail/Episodic care clinic.

In her current role, Patricia serves as an NP in the Cam-pus Health Center at the Wellness Center and an As-sistant Professor at the CON. “I am excited to be back in the academic setting seeing students and teaching nursing students,” says Patricia.

In her spare time, Patricia enjoys spending time with family, the great outdoors and says she’s continually de-lighted with her large dog.

Leslie Geer, Instructor/Licensed Clinical Social WorkerLocation: Campus Health Center

Stephanie Booco, Behavioral Health/SUD ProviderLocation: Behavioral Health at Sheridan Degree(s): MA in Counseling with a spe-cialization in forensic psychology, Adler School of Professional Psychology.

Prior to joining the CON, Stephanie worked as a forensic psychotherapist at the National Institute for Change, the Boulder Community Hospital, and the Adams County Jail.

In her new role, Stephanie serves as a behavioral health provider specializing in substance use disorders at the Sheridan Community Clinic and is responsible for facil-itating individual and group therapy, as well as evalua-tions. Stephanie says she’s excited to be a part of the CON. “It is a diverse program with a social justice piece that resonates with my personal interests, and I am a part of an amazing team of professionals!” Outside of work, she’s currently in an herbal medicine program and studying Spanish.

Elizabeth (Mary) Waggoner, PMHNPLocation: Campus Health CenterDegrees: BA, Religious Studies and Bi-ology, BSN, Regis University; MS in the PMHNP program, University of Colorado.

For the past 9 years, Elizabeth worked at Children’s Hospital Colorado as an RN, and the last 7 years on the float team. When she achieved her APN in 2012, she went into private practice psychiatry in Denver.

At the CON, Elizabeth serves as the psychiatric NP at the new campus clinic. “I’m excited to be part of the CON because of the mission to improve access and

utilize an integrated model in health care,” she says. “As the NP in the behavioral health clinic, I can model ex-cellent clinical skill for our healthcare professionals and decrease stigma of utilizing behavioral health services. I also want to teach our future medical providers to take good care of themselves!”

In her spare time, Elizabeth says she really loves to cook and eat. “It’s one of my favorite things to do!”

Holly Kaspar, Director of Marketing and Communications Degrees: BA, Florida Gulf Coast Univer-sity, Ft. Myers, FL; MBA in Marketing, University of Colorado (in-progress).

Holly has over 14 years of experience in strategic marketing, communications, and graphic design. Prior to joining the CON, she served as the Di-rector of Auxiliary Services Marketing for the University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS). Additionally, she served as the Assistant Director of Marketing for Rocky Vista University, College of Osteopathic Medicine in Parker, CO, as well as worked in marketing and design for Colorado Springs Health Partners. Prior to moving to Colorado, Holly also served for over 7 years as the Director of Membership and Marketing for the Naples Yacht Club in Naples, FL.

“I am extremely excited to have joined such an incredi-ble team of talented professionals here at the College,” says Holly. “I am looking forward to establishing stra-tegic marketing and communications initiatives that will help to move the College forward, building upon our brand and community, while highlighting the immense achievements of our faculty, staff, students and alumni.”

Outside of the office, Holly is a published artist and works as a professional fine artist and graphic designer for her own company, Painted Leaf Design, as well as for Blue Mountain Arts, a nationally recognized greeting card company in Boulder, CO. She enjoys hiking in the mountains, travel, art, music, vegan/vegetarian cooking and baking, and spending time with her husband and their 2 pomeranians.

Tyler Dull, IT ProfessionalDegrees: Associates in Applied Sci-ence (Network Administration), Lake Land College, Matton, IL; Bachelor’s in Information Studies, University of Wis-consin, Milwaukee, WI.

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Tyler previously worked for 2 years as a PC Technician for the College of Letters and Science IT Office at UWM. He also worked there for 1 year as a Dispatch Super-visor and for 1 year as a Mac Technician. Tyler says he worked many odd jobs since being a kid, working in fast food, a few in retail, and at a bakery. For anyone famil-iar with rural living, he says he also “walked beans” for farmers in the area.

In his current role, Tyler provides technical support for all technology needs of the CON Faculty and Staff, as well as supports the Sheridan Clinic and School Based Health Clinic. “I am excited to work here because tech-nology has so much potential to enable great people to do great things. I want to enable others to be the best they can be through the technology they work with ev-ery day,” Tyler says.

Outside of work, Tyler enjoys trail running and sport climbing/bouldering. “The end goal is to be able to run a marathon; I am doing 10K’s on the weekends. I volun-teer for the City of Golden during any of their local events (Farmers Market, Festivals, etc.). When I get older I want to own and run a Bed and Breakfast in the mountains.”

Jennifer Lake, Instructor - CFM

Allison Boyrer, MA, BSN, RNGraduate Clinical Placement CoordinatorDegrees: BS, Syracuse University, College of Nursing; MA in Physical Ed-ucation, University of South Florida, School of Education.

Allison says her interests were immediately directed to-ward pediatrics. She has worked in the areas of labor and delivery, newborn care, post-partum, and children with medical issues and handicaps. She completed her certification course of Coaching Principles through the American Sport Education Program and recently was a podium presenter for the National Association of School Nurses Annual Conference in San Antonio, Texas.

Allison is an avid dog-lover, especially Dachshunds, and her warmth and compassion for animals is an asset to the CON’s canine research initiatives. She recently moved to Colorado from Florida, where she owned a complimentary alternative medicine practice with her husband. She is the proud mother of Dean William and Dakota Ellen, and her little Dachshunds Maggie, and most recent rescue, Molly. Allison just bought her first EPIC pass and has officially traded in her water ski poles for ski poles, and flip flops for winter boots! You can also

watch her play Wheel of Fortune on Fox 31 on Decem-ber 15, 2015!

Tracey Phillips, Finance and Accounting,Sr. Professional/Billing CoordinatorLocation: Sheridan

Betsy (Elizabeth) Brunk, Medical AssistantLocation: Campus Health Center Degrees: Medical Assistant Diploma, Everest College; BA in Visual Arts, University of Northern Colorado. Currently enrolled at Arapahoe Community College.

Betsy previously served as a Medical Assistant at Ridge Gate OB/GYN, and a Medical Assistant at Highlands Ranch Family Medicine.

“I am really excited to be here as I enjoy working as an MA, and working and learning from the providers in a team environment,” says Betsy. “I also enjoy meeting and working with the patients; and I’m excited to see the Campus Health Center grow and watch it bloom as time progresses.”

In her spare time, Betsy says she enjoys activities out-side, reading, and cheesecake.

Cheryl Gibson, Temporary Employee, Graduation Coordinator

Marisa Seitz, Temporary Employee, Veteran and Military Health Care Academic Program

Merrilynn Jo Artman, CNMDegree(s): MS in Nursing, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Nurse Midwifery, 2001.

Prior to joining the CON, Merrilynn worked in private practice on the West-

ern Slope in Grand Junction. She also worked for Peo-ple’s Clinic in Boulder, and founded a private practice in Boulder that she named Boulder Nurse Midwives. She’s also currently working per diem for Rose Midwifery and University Nurse Midwives.

“I am a Nurse Midwife with University Nurse Midwives and I am so excited to be a part of this practice and the CON!” Merrilynn says. “I love being a midwife and sharing this knowledge with students. I am enjoying be-ing around the enthusiasm of a college campus, and I am looking forward to the teaching aspect of my new position!”

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Merrilynn says she loves being outdoors and hiking or riding her bike. She has two boys, ages 20 and 12, who keep her very busy as well. “I would also like to continue to improve my Spanish language skills and I am con-sidering taking continuing education classes next year.”

Thelma Rodriguez, Administrative Assistant/Recep-tionist; Location: SheridanDegrees: Colorado Women’s College at DU, Business Administration;, Red Rocks Community College Busi-ness designation (in-progress).

Thelma has more than 15 years of experience in provid-ing exceptional customer service. She previously served as a Lead Teller at Denver Community Credit Union, a Member Service Representative at Kaiser Permanente, and an Investment Analyst II at Wealthtouch.

“I’m excited to have been given the opportunity to greet and welcome our patients in person and by phone, whether it be in English or Spanish,” says Thelma. “I schedule appointments and bill patients, amongst many other duties. I can already see the growth in our com-munity; it’s so exciting and I’m just getting started!”

Thelma says she loves watching movies and tends to quote movies a lot, “but don’t ask me what the actor/actress’s name was!” she jokes. She says her newest passion is going on baby hikes, and that soon she will conquer a 14er. She also enjoys reading good books and likes to volunteer. “Giving back to my community brings me a lot of joy!”

Tabitha Fricke, Health Care Tech I/Medical Assist/Receptionist

Gretel Skelton, Registered Dental HygienistLocation: SheridanDegrees: Associates of Applied Science in Dental Hygiene, Community College of Denver; BS in Biology and BA in Chem-

istry, Metropolitan State University of Denver.

Gretel has 2 years of prior experience as lead hygienist at a private practice in Lakewood. She’s also currently working as a full-time hygienist in Littleton.

As the Dental Hygienist at the Sheridan Health Services dental clinic, Gretel says she is focused on providing the best oral hygiene treatment and education for unde-served patients in our community. “I am excited to be a part of the CON and have the opportunity to work with other dental professionals whose sole desire is to pro-

vide the best dental care possible for their patients,” says Gretel.

Outside of work, Gretel enjoys watching Broncos games, listening to jazz, and gardening.

Shane Hoon, Assistant Dean of Student Affairs and DiversityDegrees: EML, McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University; MA in Communication, Culture and Tech-nology, Georgetown University; BA in International Studies and Spanish, Uni-

versity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Before joining the CON, Shane served as the Director of Admissions and Communications for a graduate pro-gram at Georgetown University. He has worked with a number of colleges, universities, organizations, and programs, all dedicated to student education and larger community development. “I’ve had the fortunate oppor-tunity to have worked with numerous and diverse pop-ulations of students over the course of my career, and have learned a great deal in terms of communication, cultural engagement, and collaboration, throughout these experiences,” says Shane.

In his current role, Shane will provide creative and stra-tegic leadership to students, staff, faculty, and alumni, to ensure the overall progressive development of each member within our community. “My hope is to be an ad-vocate for our students, a collaborator with our faculty, and an active contributor and leader within our adminis-tration,” says Shane.

In his spare time, Shane is an avid traveler, both domestically and internationally, having been to 49 states and 65 countries. He loves being active and outdoors, whether hiking, kayaking, skiing, camp-ing, or any kind of recreational sports. “I have re-cently also gotten more involved with photography, and am excited about all of the amazing areas to explore and photograph. And just for fun, I am a left-handed, only child, born on Halloween! Spooky indeed,” says Shane.

Thank you for reading our first edition of The PulseWe welcome your feedback and suggestions at

CON-NEWS@UCDENVER.EDU

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