February 2021 Issue
Message from the Dean | Highlights from the School of Nursing | Alumni News | Faculty News | Student News
Message from the Dean
The World Health Organization has extended the Year of the Nurse and Midwife into 2021. We are hopeful that we will be able to celebrate in person this year. As the number of vaccinated people increases, we should see a drop in COVID cases and a slow return to normal. 2021 is also a special year for the Mount School of Nursing. Fifty years ago, in May 1971, the first Baccalaureate nursing degrees were awarded to 14 young women. Prior to that, 16 students had completed an associate degree course of study. To celebrate the 50th anniversary, we will be sealing a time capsule that will be opened 25 years later, on Florence Nightingale’s birthday in May 2046. It is hard to imagine what nursing and health care will be like then, but I don’t doubt that the values of compassion, empathy and equity will remain a core component of the curriculum. For a history of the School of Nursing, click here.
Yours in nursing,
Susan LaRocco PhD, MBA, RN, FNAP, CNE
Highlights from the School of Nursing
Calendars Available
Faculty Accomplishments
- Dr Christine Berté has been selected to serve on the editorial board of the newly created Journal of the American Nurses Association New York, a peer reviewed journal dedicated to disseminating to scholarly works of their members.
- Professors Vera Rubeo and Lynette DeBellis, Dr Colleen Fleming-Damon, Dr Marilyn Lashlee, Dr Linda Kelly and Dr Bernadette O’Halloran passed the Certified Nurse Educator (CNE) exam sponsored by the National League for Nursing. Funding for this came from a Strategic Initiative Grant provided by the College. With our latest test takers, 47% of the faculty now have this prestigious credential.
- Stacia Donaldson has been selected to replace Ann Corcoran as the Director of Simulation and Kerryann Gough will be the Interim Lab Manager this spring. Stacia also qualified as a Certified Healthcare Simulation Operations Specialist (CHSOS) from the Society for Simulation in Healthcare.
- Professor Rhonda D’Agostino, with co-authors, published “Developing and Expanding APRN and PA Teams” in American Nurse Journal (December 2020). She also presented "Burnout and Resiliency during COVID-19" at the Vanderbilt University 2020 Advanced Practice Leadership Summit (virtual conference).
- Dr Bernadette O’Halloran presented "Are You Ready to Take the NCLEX-RN?" at the Connecticut League for Nursing (CLN) 40th Annual Student Day (virtual conference).
- Dr Susan LaRocco presented a live and on-demand webinar for the American Nurses Association Early Career Series entitled "How to Ace Difficult Conversations with Patients, Families, and Co-workers."
- Professor Jennifer Dillon and her husband Todd had a new son, Noel Alexander on December 5.
Traditional Program
The traditional program continued mostly virtually for the fall semester with limited clinical placements. The college had two pauses (no students on campus) which made scheduling in-person simulation and skills labs difficult. We also had to cope with clinical partners who made changes throughout the semester regarding student access. Faculty worked especially hard to engage students in virtual classes. We all missed the camaraderie and support that occurs when we are meeting in person. In spite of the obstacles, our students showed resilience and most have continued to progress in their academic program.
- General Excellence-Christine Galarza
- Leadership-Larissa Dutkanicz
- Clinical Excellence-Monique Wanzer
- Spirit of Nursing-Yaneke Richards
- Perseverance-Cyndee Santiago
- Sigma Award-Jenny Ortiz Dulanto
This cohort also produced two local heroes when they responded quickly and appropriately to a medical emergency while they were shopping with their family. (Click here to read the story.)
The students who began in the revised curriculum in January 2020 are expected to graduate in August 2021. The college has recently agreed to allow these August graduates to participate in May commencement ceremonies. Working through COVID restrictions, the non-traditional students were placed in clinical settings when possible while lectures continued virtually. Another cohort of 43 students begin on February 1. Irene Belen-Jones works closely with the students who are preparing for selection into this program as well as the students who are in both the cohorts.
The RN to BS program is still mostly dormant, waiting the return to normal after the COVID restrictions end. Nurses interested in obtaining a BS degree from the Mount should contact Irene Belen-Jones (Irene.belen-jones@msmc.edu) for more information. Students can begin taking any general education requirements or medical ethics before the RN to BS courses are offered.
As the graduate program grows, we are always in need of preceptors for our nurse practitioner students. If you are an NP and would consider precepting a student, please contact Dr Christine Berté, Graduate Program Director, at christine.berte@msmc.edu
Alumni News
Mount Alumni at West Point
By Shannon Christiano (2020)
COVID has changed many things in 2020, but the Mount’s desire to help the community is not one of those things. When I heard from current students that they were unable to go to West Point to give flu shots because the college would be on an in-person pause that week, I knew I had to do something to help. It would be a huge undertaking with short notice for West Point to vaccinate all of their cadets as well as faculty and families on campus without the help of the Mount students.
Professor Brewer who is instrumental every year in facilitating the event provided me with the contact information for several people at West Point. From there I began to reach out to co-workers, alumni, family, and friends who are nurses. Within a week, we had over 15 nurses, mostly Mount alumni, ready to lend a helping hand. During our time at West Point, we were able to help vaccinate over 2,000 people! Mount alumni are truly something special. Almost everyone I reached out to said yes without hesitation. This goes to show the continued desire to assist the community and volunteer your time even after graduation.
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
Anne Rich
Anne (Wolff) Rich was a member of the first BS in Nursing class at MSMC in 1971. After graduation, Anne and classmates Marie Looser and Linda Manglass took off for Washington, DC, to ‘spread their novice nurse wings’ by tackling staff nurse positions at the famous Georgetown University Medical Center. They lived in a cosmopolitan high-rise building jam-packed with young professionals seeking the social and professional adventures only found in the Nation’s Capital. They loved the challenges of their work as well as the opportunity to meet many other young professionals from around the globe.
A few years later when living Connecticut, Anne received a Masters’ in Nursing Education from Teachers College, Columbia University, on a federal traineeship. Anne has a proven track record of excellence over the years in many varied nursing positions of increasing responsibility. She was employed for nine years as a Public Health Nurse in Greenwich, CT. Then, after graduate school, she taught at Norwalk Community College and Fairfield University, CT. While raising her family she did private duty nursing and staff nursing per diem. When she returned to full-time employment, she served as a Nursing Staff Development Coordinator at Greenwich Hospital, the Home Care Supervisor at Greenwich Hospital, and the Home Care Branch Manager for the Connecticut VNA. Anne loved the challenges of home care nursing and the autonomy this practice environment provided. For seven years she served as the Executive Director, Visiting Nurse and Hospice Care (VNHC) in Stamford, CT.
Anne is a recognized expert in the fields of home care and hospice nursing. She currently serves as a Surveyor for the Community Health Accreditation Partner, traveling around the US surveying home health, hospice, private duty, and palliative care facilities. She enjoys traveling and getting to see the diversity of how care is delivered across the country. She frequently connects with classmates for dinner while she is ‘on the road’ such as Mary Ann (Conway) Harris in New Jersey, Linda Manglass in Washington, DC, Gerri (Walotsky) Cass in Arizona, and Marie (Looser) Cavanaugh in Pennsylvania.
Anne met her husband of 40+ years on a ‘blind date’ arranged by another couple. John teaches high school and has also worked in the technology industry. Their son, Stephen, graduated from Manhattan College. He and his wife, Terri, have blessed them with one grandchild, six-year-old Brendan. Unfortunately, Anne and John’s daughter, Carolyn, died at the age of three. The Carolyn Rich Memorial (endowed) Scholarship is given every year in her honor to a MSMC nursing student.
Anne stays in touch with many classmates and she, Marie (Looser) Cavanaugh, Sue Dowling-Quarles, Mary Anne (Conway) Harris, and other non-nursing MSMC graduates are known to have frequent ‘reunions’ at Marie’s Jersey Shore Beach House or other locations. When recalling her experiences at MSMC, Anne always reflects on the amazing faculty that nurtured that first class of BS in Nursing students. Sister Leona DeBoer, the Nursing Chairperson ‘shepherded her flock’ through the challenges of learning nursing theory, writing care plans, and mastering APA format. Sister Mary Louise and Sister Ellen Eugene supported their students through the perils of ‘first bed-bath, first IM injection, first urinary catheterization,’ etc. Garnet McGrath carefully prepared these novice caregivers to venture out onto the streets of Newburgh and Poughkeepsie for their first community health home visits.
We are fortunate and proud to have Anne (Wolff) Rich as an exemplary role-model of what a seasoned professional MSMC graduate looks like. She has accomplished a great deal since leaving the halls of MSMC. We wish her continued personal and professional success.
Faculty News
Faculty Spotlight
Professor Lynette DeBellis
When Lynette (Scianna) DeBellis (class of 1985) walked across the stage at MSMC to receive her diploma, she never dreamed that years later she would return as a full-time faculty member. On that day she was worrying about taking state boards, as they were then known, and dreaming of her first professional nursing job at Westchester Medical Center.
Lynette currently teaches Pharmacology and Complex Health (critical care nursing) in the BS in Nursing program. Lynette returned to MSMC in January 2019 after many years of nursing practice and teaching. She worked in medical-surgical and critical care nursing at Westchester Medical Center and taught for 25 years at Westchester Community College. During her tenure at Westchester Community College, Lynette served as Chairperson of the Department of Nursing for six years.
When Lynette is not teaching or practicing nursing, she can be found in her kitchen cooking delicious Italian main courses and baking cakes, pies, cookies, and other culinary delights. Lynette recently prepared the ‘Feast of Seven Fishes’ on Christmas Eve for her family. She is also Mother to two grown children. Her son, Steven, just graduated from Fordham University and plans to attend medical school in the future, and her daughter, Julianna, graduated from MSMC in 2015 with a Bachelor of Arts in English and Childhood/Special Education and received a Master of Science in Literacy in 2017. Lynette is very proud of her children and their accomplishments and eager to see where life’s path takes them. She has been happily married to David DeBellis for 32 years. They met at Westchester Medical Center when he was a first-year medical intern, and she was a new graduate nurse. They were married at the Chapel in the Dominican Center on the MSMC campus in 1988.
Lynette has obtained the Certified Nurse Educator (CNE) credential from the National League for Nursing and is scheduled to complete her Doctorate in Education (Ed.D) from Nebraska Methodist College in the summer of 2021. Lynette states, “I love teaching nursing at MSMC. I have come ‘full-circle’ from student to graduate to faculty member. I feel like I am ‘back home’ where I belong in the School of Nursing at MSMC. The School of Nursing leadership provides a supportive and nurturing environment where students and faculty can grow as people and professionals.”
Lynette enjoys her interactions with nursing students. She finds her students to be eager to learn and inquisitive, as well as respectful of her years of nursing practice and teaching that she brings to the classroom. Lynette summarizes how she feels about MSMC and the nursing programs, “The Mount has played a big role in who I am and who I’ve become as a Registered Nurse and Nurse Educator.” Mount Saint Mary College and the School of Nursing are very fortunate to have Lynette DeBellis, a seasoned RN, and expert educator on our team!
Sigma theta Tau, Mu Epsilon Chapter Induction During the Pandemic
Sixty undergraduate and graduate nursing students accepted membership into the Chapter with recognition on November 19, 2020 during a virtual induction. Highlights of the ceremony included the Chapters’ Celebration of the 30th Anniversary of its founding with appreciation to Sr. Leona DeBoer for her contributions in establishing the Chapter. Addresses by Dr. Jason Adsit, MSMC President, Dr. George Abaunza, Vice President of Academic Affairs, Dr. Susan LaRocco, Dean of the School of Nursing, and Fr. Gregoire Fluet, MSMC Chaplain, added to the celebration. Congratulatory remarks were offered by a charter member, Professor Lynette DeBellis, who returned to her Alma Mater as a faculty member at Mount Saint Mary College, as well as Dr. Andrea Ackermann, Professor Emerita and longtime Sigma member, Dr. Christine Berté, Dr. Linda Kelly, and Professor Kathleen Pecoraro. Dr. Teresa Hurley presented “Who we are! And what we do!” Special gratitude is extended to Erica Torres, Administrative Assistant and Professor Pecoraro for their contributions in making this presentation possible.
Dr. Susan LaRocco shared her experience of being inducted as a RN to BSN student and the impact of being a member. She emphasized the benefits of membership as continuing education, presenting scholarly work at conferences, and the availability of research grants and connecting with nurses globally. She also stressed the importance of becoming active in the Chapter.
Student News
Mount Students Vaccinating for COVID-19
Mount Saint Mary senior nursing students eagerly answered the call for volunteers for the COVID-19 vaccination clinics in the Hudson Valley. Since December 21, 2020 nearly half of the senior nursing class staffed the vaccine clinics at Vassar Brothers Medical Center, Northern Dutchess Hospital, and Putnam Hospital Center. Under the guidance of a nurse educator, students have been responsible not only for the actual vaccinations, but also for initial triage, vaccine education, and post vaccine assessments. Since January 11, 2021 MSMC nursing students have also volunteered two days per week for the vaccine clinic at Montefiore- St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital. By late January, students have volunteered over 400 hours and have vaccinated nearly 1500 individuals. Professor Lynette DeBellis has coordinated the project and worked throughout the winter break to assure that the students were well prepared to participate in this tremendous effort.
Local students, as well as students living in the tri-state area, traveled to the hospitals. Some traveled over two hours to take part in this community service activity.
Katherine Kennedy Spiliotis, MSN, CDE, RN, Professional Development Educator at Putnam Hospital Center and MSMC alumna shared, “The Mount students have been wonderful! They have worked very hard and are always happy to help.”
We anticipate the need for student volunteers to continue through April.
Mount Nursing Students Spring Into Action
By Anthony Garzone
On Sunday, December 13, 2020 at approximately 5:15 pm, Heather Park and I were shopping at Walmart with our children when a person coded right in front of us. We saw him drop and hit his head. The person was clearly unconscious with definite head trauma. Heather and I immediately checked for a pulse, and there wasn’t one. We initiated CPR. This was probably the 10th time I have done CPR on a human and each attempt prior to this was unsuccessful. We asked for someone to call 911 and to bring us an AED. They didn’t have an AED, but I'm still sure it was there and it was just that no one knew where to find it.
Another ER nurse came over and the three of us took turns giving chest compressions. After 10 minutes, she asked us why we continued to check the pulse on this patient, as he was “definitely” dead. Even if he only had a 1% chance, we continued CPR, but every time we checked for a pulse there wasn’t one. A police officer came over, took over chest compressions, then stopped CPR and turned the patient to his side because he thought he was having a seizure. I knew I had to nicely intervene, so I told him to put the patient back down so we could continue CPR as I explained to him how it helps. We finally checked the pulse again five minutes later and there it was—a faint pulse.
Student Nurses’ Association News
By Sydney Natkiel, President
Although campus is looking different this year, Student Nurses’ Association and its members are still holding our annual events, as well as creating new events for this upcoming semester. Still being the largest club on campus, our first “Big Meeting” of the semester was held over zoom, with more than 75 members in attendance. This was the most attendance we have had at any of our Big Meetings ever. Although we may be struggling in other aspects of our lives right now, the willingness of our members to get involved on campus and in the community remains strong!
SNA has worked with the staff of Health Services as well as several Professors in hosting our second annual Mount Saint Mary flu clinic. Under supervision of Health Services and School of Nursing faculty, senior nursing students vaccinated over 160 students, faculty, and staff from the Mount community over the course of 2 days. Anyone who received the vaccine was able to acquire a 2-ounce antibacterial hand sanitizer to be clipped onto their bag.
SNA hosted skill competency reviews via zoom for sophomore nursing students. The officers of SNA volunteered their time to provide tips, tricks, and ease for their midterm competency exams. We had over 50 sophomore nursing students attend the review on zoom, where we discussed with them the key components they will need in order to succeed on their first competency test.
We are looking forward to more events in the future, including our tri-annual blood drive and our 4th Narcan Training event before the end of our semester.
Student Spotlight
Anthony Garzone II
Anthony Garzone II is a just graduated non-traditional nursing student and a ‘powerhouse’ of aspirations and enthusiasm toward his future career as a Registered Professional Nurse. He will be the first member of his family to attain a Baccalaureate degree. After receiving an Associate degree in pre-nursing studies, Anthony worked as a certified Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), an Electroencephalogram (EEG) Technician, and a Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) Instructor. He found these positions fulfilling, but he wanted more for himself and for his patients. Hence, his decision to pursue a BS in Nursing at the Mount.
After graduation, Anthony plans to pursue a career in trauma and critical care nursing. He would ultimately love to become a Flight Nurse where he could use all his skills in a myriad of clinical situations. A serious and highly motivated student, he has been named to the Deans’ List several times and inducted into Sigma Theta Tau, Mu Epsilon chapter at MSMC in the fall 2020.
Father Gregoire Fluet, Director of Campus MinistryA Prayer from Father Greg - We seek Your embrace Lord our God as we begin this new year. It is filled with challenges, but also filled with hope. Allow that we not see the challenges to overwhelm us: allow us rather to remember that You are always in our midst. Allow us to even see Your presence in the challenges we face and thereby see the hopes and dreams that are a part of this new year. Please send Your blessings upon the entire MSMC family. Please be present in a special way to all of our MSMC nursing students. May we follow Your will today and every day! In Your Name we pray, Amen.
Father Gregoire Fluet, Director of Campus Ministry