Achievements from our Students
Tarah Gramza is the President of GCU's Student Nurses Association (SNA) and sits on the Arizona Student Nurses Board (SNAAZ). Tarah has been devoted to working closely with the new GCU simulation center to assist new students in learning about becoming nurses. She has a background in business and is pursuing a future as a nurse leader.
Brian Bearese is the Vice President of the GCU Student Nurses Association. Though born in America, Brian grew up abroad and is therefore interested in world health and safety. He worked with Habitat for Humanity and Rebuilding Together to assist in providing safe and healthy homes for low-income families. He currently plans to move back to the Middle East, where he grew up, after graduating.
Cari Anderson is Director of Communications for the GCU Student Nurses Association. Cari has booked interesting and intelligent guest speakers to provide students with insight into different parts of nursing and allied health. She also organizes the GCU team for the Arizona Heart Walk. Cari is interested in pursuing trauma nursing.
Meghan Hartmann is Director of Community Service for the GCU Student Nurses Association. She has developed a service project for students to travel to Mexico and serve the needs of those living in poverty. Meghan is also involved in a program called Team of Physicians for Students (TOPS) that allows GCU nursing students to take vitals at local high schools.
Tarah Gramza and Brian Bearese both served as delegates for the National Student Nurses Association.
Tarah Gramza, Brian Bearese and Cari Anderson were invited and participated in the 2011 Promise of Nursing Event in Phoenix, Arizona.
In the 2010-2011 school year, the GCU's Student Nurses Association:
Achievements from our Faculty
College of Nursing Dean Anne McNamara has been appointed to a two-year term on the 10-member board of directors of the American Nurses Credentialing Center. The ANCC certifies nurses in specialty healthcare areas such as cardiac rehabilitation and gerontological nursing.
Two members of GCU's Tucson faculty were honored recently at the Tucson Fabulous 50 Nurses Gala. The winners were selected from more than 150 applications based on professionalism, education, research and personal vitality. Chosen from GCU were Kay Lehman and Anita Gallardo. Lehman, a nurse for 25 years, is the skills lab coordinator for our Tucson campus. Gallardo is a full-time family nurse practitioner for the University of Arizona Family and Community Medicine Mobile Health Program. She is teaching in the Tucson FNP program this summer.
International Exchange with China: Four College of Nursing faculty members, including Dr. Cheryl Roat, Dr. Kay Turk, Jennifer Brody, and Anne Wendt, along with 11 graduate students, will be traveling to China from June 24-July 11, 2011. Faculty members and students will be making formal presentations in conferences to nurses and student nurses in the Beijing area and at Changchun Medical College in Changchun. GCU graduate students will be working in clinics alongside Chinese physicians to complete a total of 80 clinical hours toward their Family Nurse Practitioner clinical education. At the same time, the four nursing faculty members will be lecturing to Chinese undergraduate nursing students. This exchange experience will allow faculty and students the opportunity to learn about primary care and the nursing education system in the People's Republic of China in a direct way as they work with healthcare providers. GCU is excited to partner with Changchun Medical College with plans for an ongoing exchange for years to come.
As an Assistant Professor for GCU's College of Nursing, Debra Haber is pursuing a post master's Adult and Geriatric Nurse Practitioner degree at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Debra is currently in the Primary Care of the Adult clinical rotation with a Family Practice Physician and a Pulmonary Nurse Practitioner. She will graduate with the ANP/GNP in 2012 but will still be taking classes toward her DNP. By furthering her education, Debra is taking the next progression in her nursing practice, which improves her ability as a professor in the pre-licensure program.
As a GCU Assistant Professor of Nursing, Linda Hemmila is currently working on her Ed.D. from Walden University and is scheduled to graduate in January 2012. Linda's doctoral project will involve exploring students' test taking experiences in lower-level nursing courses and how it affects their academic success or failure. Part of the project will include a plan to develop a remediation program specifically for students who are at risk for academic failure on the first two levels of the nursing program. The ultimate goal would be to improve retention rates and provide students with the guidance they need to be successful. Linda is passionate about this topic because of her experiences with nursing students at a higher cognitive level who have experienced difficulty with multiple-choice test questions.
Achievements from our Alumni
Crystal Ericksen graduated from GCU in May 2010 with a degree in nursing. While at GCU, Crystal was an active member of the Student Nurses Association, serving as treasurer for a year and then becoming a student mentor her senior year. Crystal also worked at Mayo Clinic as a student assistant while in school for a year. After graduating from GCU with her nursing degree, Crystal moved with her husband to Joplin, Missouri where she worked on a Cardiology floor of a hospital. Crystal was in Joplin during the time of the catastrophic tornado in May of 2011.
According to Crystal, "Some say your training leaves you when a crisis happens and others find out where their strength is and determine that they are in the right calling. I found my calling that evening [of the tornado] and know that God moved my husband and I to Joplin because that was where he was going to use us."
