A l u m n i N e w s
Nancy Naucke Buist
From
the Alumni President
You cannot be
alive in 2001 and not be concerned about the status of health care. The
well-being of our families and communities and the future of our profession
all rest upon how well we face the critical challenges ahead. Those of
us who serve on the Nurses Alumni Association (NAA) Executive Board find
great strength in supporting one another and our students, faculty, and
alumni.
Physicians, nurses, and other health care providers must continually adapt
to the principle of “do more with less.” Administrators of health
care institutions are charged with the task of improving financial accounting
systems and balancing budgets in the face of cutbacks from Medicare and
other third-party providers. At the same time, they must ensure the delivery
of safe, quality care in a rapidly changing industry. To be successful,
businesses must meet the needs of their customers in a cost-efficient,
safe, and friendly manner. Health care must provide quality service and
good value as well.
More than ever, caregivers and health care institutions must support each
other and work together to achieve this end. Collective strength and wisdom
make for better problem solving and better outcomes for everyone—especially
patients.
The NAA is all about collective strength and wisdom. Part of our strategic
plan this year was to offer a second clinical update symposium for advance
practice nurses. The symposium will be held on Saturday, January 12, 2002,
in the Alumni Auditorium at the School of Nursing. We have taken the event
one step further than last year’s by including and honoring our nurse
preceptors, who provide a wide range of learning opportunities and give
much to our students in the clinical setting. The symposium will provide
a day of learning (along with continuing education credit) and networking
with faculty, students, alums, and participants from across the Southeast.
The alumni board is truly “doing more with less”—and having
fun serving students, faculty, and our community. We welcome your presence!
Nancy Naucke Buist, 88MN
President, Nurses Alumni Association
Talk
to the President
NAA
President Nancy Naucke Buist can be reached at (404) 843-3127 or by e-mail
at
nbuist@home.com.
Let us hear from you!
The
School of Nursing wants to hear from alumni! Please share your latest
news and tell us how the nursing school can better serve your needs. To
contact us, call the Office of Development and External Relations at (404)
727-6917 or e-mail us at alumni@nursing.emory.edu.
Past issues of Emory Nursing magazine are available online at www.nursing.emory.edu/enurse/.
We welcome your interest in the advancement of nursing education.
Hold
That Date in January!
Nursing
Symposium Tackles ‘Genes, Bugs, and Drugs’
More than ever, it’s important for nursing professionals to keep pace with the latest advances in the field. Please join us on Saturday, January, 12, 2002, for “Genes, Bugs, and Drugs” in the Alumni Auditorium of the School of Nursing building. Sponsored by the Nurses Alumni Association and the School of Nursing, this one-day conference (8:00 AM to 3:15 PM) will provide scientific updates on genetics, hepatitis A and C, and pharmacology (pain, antibiotics, and psychotropics). It is open to alumni and practitioners from the Southeast, who will receive continuing education credit. The cost is $45 in advance, $55 on site, and $20 for students with ID. For registration information, call (404) 727-6923.
1950s
Marian H. Leslie, 56N, has retired from a 37-year career in nursing
and helped plan the 45th reunion of the Class of 1956 during Alumni Weekend
2001.
1970s
Jane Clark, 71N, 80MN, of Decatur, Ga., has received
her doctorate from the Medical College of Georgia. Her dissertation explored
issues surrounding the measurement of cancer-related fatigue.
 |
| Deborah Dobson Moore, 75N |
Now a family nurse
practitioner, Deborah Dobson Moore, 75N, graduated summa cum laude
from Clemson with a master of science in nursing in May 2000. Moore practices
with General Electric Comprehensive Health Services in Greenville, S.C.
Jessica Hofer Aiken, 77N, spent a month traveling with her husband,
Gil, and their son, Christopher. Locales visited include East Africa,
India, and England. In Kenya, Aiken experienced Masai life firsthand during
an extended stay with a tribe of about 50 people. She learned that the
Masai treat everything from snake bites to blood loss with herbal remedies,
turning to Western medicine only in dire emergencies.
Katy Heinen Tindall, 77N, entered politics this summer after being
appointed to fill the unexpired term of the first district commissioner
for Hamblen County in Tennessee. “I’m really looking forward
to representing the people of the first district and also the residents
of Hamblen County,” Tindall says. Her goal is to work toward positive
changes for the county, which includes serving on the finance and education
committees. “My job has just started. With 20 years experience living
in Morristown, I think I’m ready for this.” Tindall will serve
as commissioner until the next election in August 2002.
1980s
Ruth Anne Evans Weeks, 80N, is director of health services for
the Methodist Home for Children and Youth in Macon, Ga.
 |
| Ruth L. Yerkes, 88N |
Before retiring from
the Visiting Nurses Association of Eastern Pennsylvania,
Ruth L. Yerkes, 88N, established a cooperative nurse advocate
program with the county children’s welfare bureau. The program, which
has grown to serve two counties, pairs nurses with county caseworkers
who are working with children and families at risk for abuse and neglect.
Yerkes credits her time at Emory for providing her with the inspiration,
experience, and gumption needed to get her community health program off
the ground. Recently relocated to rural Maine and supposedly retired,
Yerkes already has applied for a nursing license in that state.
Soon after graduation, Pamela J. Smith, 89N, attended medical school
at Mount Sinai in New York. A board-certified emergency medicine physician,
she and her husband, Marc DeBell, completed their residencies at Baystate
Medical Center in Springfield, Mass., which has a 55-bed emergency room.
This past year, the couple volunteered their medical services in the Amazon
region of Peru and in Africa. They also spent seven months in the Australian
Outback, where a newly opened emergency facility was in need of doctors.
Pamela and Marc have relocated to Nantucket Cottage Hospital in Massachusetts
and are looking forward to their next adventure.
1990s
 |
| Darrell Owens, 90N |
Darrell Owens,
90N, is director of end-of-life services for the Swedish Health System
in Seattle, the largest multi-hospital system in western Washington. The
first to hold this position, Owens also designed, developed, and launched
the program, which is the only inpatient palliative care service in the
state. Having worked in end-of-life care for nine years, Owens will share
his experiences at the National Hospice and Palliative Care Management
Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C., this fall. In addition, Owens
has served on the faculty at San Jose State University, where he taught
research and technical writing and health care organization systems management.
In 1995, he conducted the first research study in the United States that
examined access to hospice care for terminally ill residents of skilled
nursing facilities. His survey tool, the “Owens Hospice Knowledge
and Attitude Survey for Nursing Facilities,” has been used in more
than 10 states. Owens has just begun a doctoral program in management.
Born: To Alicia V. Casucci, 92N, and
her husband, Jeffrey, a son, Robert Michael, on March 16, 2000. Robert
joins an older brother, Joseph Anthony. The family resides in Fairfield,
Conn.
Ellen Datz-Lewis, 94N, 97MSN, and her husband, John, have adopted
two children from Kazakhstan—Max Jacob, born in March 1999, and Annika
Elisabeth, born in October 2000. The family resides in Tucker, Ga.
Heather Townsend, 95MSN, has moved to Orlando, Fla., and is a corporate
advanced registered nurse practitioner with the Rosen and Balon Medical
Center, which is a division of Rosen Hotels and Resorts.
Married:
Kimberly Davis, 98MSN, and John McCurry, on June 24, 2000. Davis
has relocated to Tulsa, Okla., where her husband is pursuing a commercial
pilot license and she is a clinical research associate for a pharmaceutical
services company.
An international nurse
at heart
Last
fall, Colleen Browne, 97MSN/MPH, and other nurse practitioners traveled
to South Africa to learn about the nation’s nursing practices as
part of the People to People Ambassadors Program. The group visited Pretoria,
Johannesburg, and Cape Town to exchange ideas with nursing faculty and
public health, rural, urban, and suburban nurses in private and public
practice. They also met with Democratic Nursing Organization of South
Africa leaders to compare practice laws, regulations, scope of practice,
licensure, and issues relating to nursing and the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Browne is no stranger to nursing in Africa. From 1989 to 1991, she lived
in Nigeria, where her husband served as a diplomat with the US Embassy
in Lagos. During that time, Browne volunteered her services in infectious
disease, family practice, cardiology, and obstetrics and gynecology at
several clinics in Nigeria. She also served as the mental health coordinator
for the embassy in Lagos.
Born in Jamaica, Browne has lived much of her life in England and Europe
and has practiced nursing in England and Panama. Since graduating from
Emory, she has been a family nurse practitioner with Emory’s Student
Health Service, the Infectious Disease Center with the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, and the Family Health Center, Inc. in Orangeburg,
South Carolina, where she is director of nursing services and quality
assurance. She also serves as a member-at-large for the South Carolina
Advance Practice Nurse Council and as health director of her church.
Alumni Deaths
1920s
 |
| Arizona Belle Dean Harvill, 29N |
Arizona Belle Dean Harvill, 29N, of McDonough, Ga., on April 26, 2001, at age 94. One of the first nursing graduates at Emory, Harvill practiced in the Atlanta area until she and her family moved to Athens, Ga., in 1940. She was a housewife and mother, who was also a private duty nurse until her husband, Jackson, retired. Harvill was active in her church, Forest Heights Baptist in Athens, and was a member of the Order of the Eastern Star for more than 25 years. She is survived by two sons, J.C. and Avery.
1940s
 |
| Mary Elizabeth Hurwitz, 48N |
Mary Elizabeth
Hurwitz, 48N, of Mount Vernon, Wash., on March 12, 2001. An active
member of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Mount Vernon, Hurwitz died while
vacationing at the Fellowship House on Whidbey Island, a time-share cabin
established with members of a previous congregation to which she and her
husband belonged. At Emory, Hurwitz was a member of the last cadet nursing
class selected by the government during World War II. After graduating,
she became an operating room nurse, working at US Public Health hospitals
in New Orleans, Cincinnati, and Seattle. She met her husband, Don, a Boeing
engineer, in Washington. After retirement, Hurwitz served as a volunteer
at the Mount Vernon Senior Center, performing blood pressure checks and
other needed services. Her favorite activities included traveling, performing
popular music with her husband, and being with friends from her church.
Survivors other than her husband include daughters, Kathleen Hofrichter
and Sandra Haddad, sons, David and Gary, and three grandchildren.
 |
| Betty Ann Mason Metzger, 48N |
Betty Ann Mason
Metzger, 48N, of Savannah, Ga., on August 31, 2000. Born in Charlotte,
N.C., Metzger grew up in Atlanta, receiving her BSN from Emory and her
CRNA from Duke. She married Bill Metzger in 1957 and moved to Savannah,
where she raised a family and continued to work in anesthesiology. Her
daughter, Susan, followed in her footsteps and became a nurse. In addition
to her husband and daughter, Metzger is survived by her son, Marvin.
Carolyn Douglas Munro, 48N, of Mableton, Ga., on February 25, 2001,
at age 88. During World War II, Munro served in the Army Nurse Corps at
Fort Rucker, Ala. Afterward, she worked as a private duty nurse in Columbus,
Ga., and later became a nursing supervisor at St. Francis Hospital. After
attending Emory, she joined the faculty at Columbus College, where she
was a nursing instructor until her retirement in 1982. Survivors include
two sisters-in-law, three nieces, and five nephews.
Addie Mae Page Elomaa, 49N, of St. Augustine, Fla., on January
30, 2001.
1950s
Sue Horne, 50N, of Brecksville, Ohio, on February 8, 2001. She
is survived by her husband, Samuel.
Robin Diehl Lore, 55N, of Greensboro, N.C., on April 3, 2001. While
at Emory, Lore met a young dental student and her future husband, John.
After graduation, the young couple spent two years in the US Army Dental
Corps, moving to Greensboro in 1958. An active member of First Presbyterian
Church, Lore spent several years teaching Sunday youth classes. Also a
member of the US Power and Sail Squadron, Greensboro Chapter, she attained
the organization’s highest rank, senior navigator, and taught several
advanced boating courses. Survivors other than her husband include two
daughters, Susan Dario and Amy Mohorn, a son, John Jr., and three grandchildren.
Edna P. Arrington, 56N, of Hogansville, Ga., in March 1999.