Graduate Programs Still Accepting Applications!

The following graduate programs in the School of Nursing and Health Professions are still accepting applications:

The Master of Public Health program, starting January 24, 2012

The Clinical Nurse Leader program, starting January 24, 2012, at the Sacramento campus

The Executive Leadership Doctor of Nursing Practice program, starting February 29, 2012.

Please contact our recruiter, Rob Horgan, if you have any questions about submitting an application.

ELDNP Students Receive Grant Funding for Program Proposals

Mary Lynne Knighten's proposal to support smoking cessation programs will be funded by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.

Jian Zhang's Hepatitis B program will be funded funded by Gilead Science.

Congratulations to Mary Lynne and Jian!

SF Health Director Applauds USF’s Move to Train Health Professionals

The University of San Francisco’s new master of public health (MPH) program received a ringing endorsement recently from Barbara Garcia, San Francisco’s public health director, who called the program a much-needed training ground for the next generation of public health leaders.
Read more...

TONIGHT, 10/19 -- Liberation Health with Barbara Garcia

Liberation Health, the University of San Francisco's School of Nursing and Health Profession's inaugural event in celebration of the university's new Master of Public Health Program.

Following a reception, Barbara A. Garcia, M.P.A., San Francisco's Director of Health, will be the featured guest for a provocative talk on the state of public health in the Bay Area. She will speak about trends and challenges in urban healthcare, followed by Q and A with the audience. This exciting, interdisciplinary event marks the launch of the new Master of Public Health program, designed to prepare the next generation of global health managers, public health practitioners, and leaders in health promotion and education.

The event is from 5:00-7:00pm
Lone Mountain Room 100, USF Lone Mountain Campus--2800 Turk Blvd
RSVP to Christina Tai, 415-422-6681 or tai@usfca.edu
Parking will be available at the Koret Center at Turk and Parker Streets

SONHP is the Answer, #9

Which School of Nursing and Health Professions has a student who received a "2011 Heroes in Healthcare" award?

You bet -- The USF School of Nursing and Health Professions!

We are very pleased and proud that one of the 2011 "Heroes in Healthcare" for Fresno, California is DNP student and USF faculty member Debbie Zamora!

Please see heroesinhealthcare.com for the announcement.

$1.7 million Research Grant Goes to School of Nursing

We are pleased to share that Dr. Judith Lambton and her team in the School of Nursing and Health Professions have received $1.7 million from a US Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity grant to help build a simulation research lab for the School of Nursing. The new state-of-the-art lab will engage in research to determine how best to teach nursing students to improve patient safety and avoid medical error by using sophisticated clinical learning equipment. Nursing faculty will research which simulation strategies can be adapted across disciplines that share high-stakes error consequences. The research design of this three year grant includes both assessment and training and will allow faculty to measure the cognitive and affective levels of the students’ ability.

School of Nursing Adds Health Professions

The University of San Francisco’s School of Nursing has changed its name to the School of Nursing and Health Professions.

The name change reflects the college’s recent expansion to include a master of public health (MPH) degree beginning this fall.

The MPH program is expected to draw recent graduates and professionals interested in careers in fields such as health promotion, community organizing, and healthy lifestyle leadership, allowing them to choose an emphasis in community health, global health, or health promotion education.

“Advancing health professions programming at USF has become a university priority,” said Judith Karshmer, dean of the School of Nursing and Health Professions.

Read more...

Master of Public Health Degree

The School of Nursing at the University of San Francisco is set to launch a Master of Public Health degree beginning in fall 2011.

Students will study epidemiology, biostatistics, public health care leadership and administration, social science applications to behavioral health, and environmental health considerations.

“We want to provide an advanced degree option to those who are interested in the health care field but do not want to seek a licensed degree,” said Kia James, program director and assistant professor of nursing at USF.

As the U.S. moves to rein in health care costs and deliver health care to more people through preventative medicine, the School of Nursing’s MPH degree will prepare students to move into this expanding field, working closely with communities.


Read more...

The SON Guatemala Women's Health Project

USF Guatemala Immersion Project from carina johnson on Vimeo.

HRSA Funding Confirmed for 2011-12

The USF School of Nursing has received $343,000 in funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration of the US Department of Health and Human Services to be used as student funding for the 2011-2012 Academic Year. This represents a 15% increase from 2010-2011. Students will have access to this funding by filing their yearly financial aid application.

SON Dean Judith Karshmer to Lead the USF President's Commission on Health Professions Education

Building on current strength in the delivery of professional education in nursing, the commission will seek to expand the scope and depth of health professions education at the graduate level with a focus on emerging fields, high demand areas for national and global health priorities, and areas of practice that will link the educational endeavor to providing health-related services in innovative and sustainable patterns of outreach.

Potential outcomes may include increased collaboration between health-related programs, initiation of new health and human-services programs, development of strategic ties with external partners, and increased resources.

The Commission will meet four times, June, September, January, and March.
The final meeting (date TBD) will be a presentation of the commission’s recommendations and strategies for implementation to USF President Steven Privett, S.J

RN-to-MSN Launches in Sacramento and Online

The School of Nursing’s popular RN-to-MSN program is expanding, this time to the University of San Francisco’s Sacramento regional campus.

The program, which has established itself at USF’s campuses in Cupertino, San Ramon, and Santa Rosa as well as with a cohort in Fresno as demand has grown in recent years, is now enrolling at USF’s campus in the heart of California’s capital city for January 2012.

Read more...

The Answer is the School of Nursing, #8

Which School of Nursing is one of only two selected as QSEN (Quality & Safety Education for Nurses) Exemplar School?

You guessed it -- the USF School of Nursing!

Based on the data provided on the QSEN Institute Annual Post Assessment, the University of San Francisco has been selected as a QSEN Exemplar for its implementation of the QSEN competencies into the curriculum. Out of 22 schools participating, only 2 were selected as exemplars.

This is wonderful news and indeed a deserved recognition of the great work
of our QSEN team and a way to affirm our commitment to continue to advance the QSEN priorities.

AACN's CNL Coach Meets with Bay Area CNOs at USF

Linda Rusch, MS, RN, is AACN’s new CNL Resource Coach who is available to help advance the CNL role at the local and national level. Linda can assist you in planning, in the communication-and-roll-out phase, and in the actual implementation of the CNL within the practice environment. She can also assist with financial justification, outcome measurement, and advise you on how to support the CNL over time. Linda has over 30 years experience in nursing administration and has served as the chief nursing officer (CNO) and vice president of patient care services at Hunterdon Medical Center in Flemington, NJ. Because of her efforts, Hunterdon Medical Center was at the forefront of the CNL movement and employed the first group of graduates from the College of New Jersey’s CNL program. Linda has given countless presentations across the country on various nursing topics, including “Making the Business Case for the Clinical Nurse Leader” at the recent CNL Conference in Tucson, AZ.

4th Annual CNL Conference: An Implementation Toolkit for the CNL Role

From June 10th - 11th, the University of San Francisco School of Nursing
will host the 4th annual CNL Conference: An Implementation Toolkit for the CNL Role. This year, USF will be joined by the Clinical Nurse Leader Association (CNLA) in
presenting a dynamic conference highlighting the impact of the role
as well as developing a toolkit for CNLs to use.

Our goal is to provide a working toolkit for implementing the CNL role.
The conference offers a platform for CNLs, managers, educators, and practice partners to share their successes, challenges, and outcomes of the CNL model. Articulate and knowledgeable individuals associated with the CNL role on a national level will be featured including: James Harris, Daniel O’Neal, Linda Rusch, and Mary Stachowiak.

For more information or to submit an abstract:
www.usfca.edu/nursing/cnl2011

Check out the University of San Francisco

2011 Faculty Loan Repayment Program (FLRP)

The Health Resources and Services Administration is pleased to announce the opening of the 2011 Faculty Loan Repayment Program (FLRP) application cycle. The application cycle opens today and will remain open until 5:00 pm May 6, 2011.

Visit the FLRP website (http://www.hrsa.gov/loanscholarships/repayment/Faculty/index.html) for more information and to begin the application process. If you have specific questions, please call us at 1-800-221-9393 or email CallCenter@hrsa.gov.


Faculty Loan Repayment Program
Bureau of Clinician Recruitment and Service
Health Resources and Services Administration
Rockville, MD

Master's Degree in Public Health Offered in Fall 2011

The University of San Francisco is launching a new degree program which will combine our strength in health professions with our commitment to community with a new Master's degree program beginning in Fall 2011. The Master of Public Health (MPH) degree will be housed in the School of Nursing and is designed to prepare graduates as leaders in public health practice.

Upon completion of the MPH program, the graduate will be able to:

1. Enhance health in human populations through organized community effort.

2. Identify and assess public health needs of populations with a focus on strategies and practices with a prevention orientation.

3. Utilize an ecological approach that recognizes the interactions and relationships among multiple determinants of health, including environmental conditions and locale.

4. Utilize epidemiology data to assess community needs and policy program implications, including distributions and determinants of disease, disabilities and death in human populations, the characteristics and dynamics of human populations, the natural history of disease, and biologic and nutritional basis of health.

5. Demonstrate competence in collection, storage, retrieval, analysis and interpretation of health data, design and analysis of health-related surveys and experiments.

6. Successfully plan, organize, manage and evaluate culturally competent public health programs including consideration of the policy and legal aspects that advance or inhibit effective implementation.

7. Utilize knowledge and skill from the social and behavioral sciences to identify and create solutions to public health problems and propose and address research questions.

8. Employ effective problem-solving skills, interprofesssional communication and collaboration in public health practice.

9. Develop and evaluate effective strategies for managing the ethical dilemmas inherent in public health practice, advancing information technology, and conducting public health research.

10. Develop leadership, career, and professional development skills in order to promote lifelong learning.

11. Focus on the global and locale factors impacting public health of communities and demonstrate cultural competence as a practitioner.

12. Advance the mission and core values of the University of San Francisco.

Applications will be accepted from March 1 until June 15. Apply here!

The Answer is the School of Nursing, #7

Which School of Nursing has launched the first executive-level Doctor of Nursing Practice program in the United States? That's right, the USF School of Nursing!

The ELDNP program is a dynamic and engaging 6-semester academic exploration that prepares the nurse executive for the multiple dimensions of administrative responsibilities within varied healthcare environments. Content is structured in an innovative hybrid format, integrating the best practices of classroom and computer-assisted instruction.

This program is designed specifically for current nurse executives at the division level or above with supervisory oversight of a group of essential services or functions. This degree extends and enhances the knowledge, skill and performance of these healthcare system leaders in a wide variety of clinical and administrative environments. The curriculum for executive leadership is based on the AACN Essentials for DNP, in addition to the AONE core competencies for nursing executives. The curriculum also conforms to the standards and expectations set forward by Council on Graduate Education for Administrative Nursing (CGEAN), the American Nurses Association, and the National Center for Healthcare Leadership (NCHL) Health Leadership Competency Model.

Effective executive practice requires substantial knowledge of business, finance, labor relations, strategic leadership, organizational development, and healthcare policy, and the ELDNP is an advanced-level practice degree that emphasizes application of research to clinical nursing practice at the highest administrative levels.

The second cohort of the ELDNP program will begin in January 2012. Applications will be collected in Fall 2011.

GOT LOANS??? $4 million available for loan repayment

The California State Loan Repayment Program (SLRP) has approximately $4 million to award in 2011 for loan repayment of outstanding government and commercial loans for expenses incurred during undergraduate or graduate education! Up to $100,000 in funding available for primary healthcare providers who commit to a three-year service obligation at a public or private non-profit medical facility that is located in a Health Professional Shortage Area. Each facility is required to pay a matching grant, meaning that up to $50,000 is paid by the State, and up to $50,000 is paid by the facility.

In order to participate, you must be providing full-time direct patient care in a medical facility. Full-time, except for Ob/Gyn, is defined as 40 hours per week. Qualifying licensed, non-residency, primary care health professionals in following disciplines only may apply:
· Allopathic or Osteopathic Physicians specializing in Family Medicine, General Pediatrics, General Internal Medicine, General Psychiatry, Gerontology, or Obstetrics and Gynecology
· Primary Care Nurse Practitioners
· Primary Care Physician Assistants
· Certified Nurse Mid-Wives
· Dentists
· Dental Hygienists
· Licensed Mental or Behavioral Health Professionals: Clinical or Counseling Psychologists, Clinical Social Workers, Professional Counselors, Marriage and Family Therapists, or Psychiatric Nurse Specialists
A facility must meet the following criteria in order to qualify for the SLRP:

• Be either publicly-funded or a private non-profit
• Be located in a designated Health Professional Shortage Area
• Facility Health Professional Shortage Area
• Be willing to match the state award
• Commit to a minimum of two years of employment for each provider
• Pay prevailing wages
• Direct patient care performed in an outpatient setting
• Enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with the State of California
• Be listed on or apply to be listed on the California SLRP Certified Eligible Site list

In order to get your facility on the Certified Eligible Site list, your facility will need to submit a Certified Eligible Site application every four years in order to participate in the SLRP. Each clinic must submit a separate application if they would like to employ SLRP providers, even if the clinic is part of a larger parent organization with an automatic designation. A list of the current eligible sites may also be found on the SLRP website and is sorted in three categories: primary care, mental and dental.

If your site is not on this list, it may still qualify if it is located in a Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA). Please use the following steps to determine if your facility is located in a HPSA:
1) Find the census tract number. Visit http://www.ffiec.gov/Geocode/default.aspx and type in the street address and state and hit search. Write down the number in the "Tract Code" box; this is your census tract (CT) number.
2) Visit http://hpsafind.hrsa.gov/ to see if your census tract is listed on the HPSA Web site. Using the "Advanced Search..." in the right hand corner, select appropriate information for your State, County, and Discipline. Under Status, choose "Designated." When all information is entered, hit "Show me the HPSAs" and search for your CT or MSSA.


3) If you do not see if your site’s census tract number listed, also check to see if the site itself is listed as a HPSA.
The application cycle opened on January 7, 2011 and will be open continuously until funds are expended. Contracts will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis.

Please note that you can only commit to one service obligation at a time and must complete any existing service obligations prior to accepting a new contract for this program. You may find additional program information at: http://www.oshpd.ca.gov/HWDD/SLRP.html . Please review the website and online application.