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| May 2008 | Vol. 6, No. 2 | ||||
| Celebrating National Nurses Week: May 6-12 |
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“It was difficult giving up half a term,” Duncan admitted. “So we made a joke of it. We called ourselves Duncan Hines (after the baking company). Each time we met to discuss the curriculum, we’d have to decide symbolically whether we were making cupcakes or bunt cake, and how we were going to frost it.” She said they shared the journey with their students who also participated in the symbolic discussion. On the last day of class, the students gave their professors a Duncan and Heims decorated cake. “Now, when Marsha and I see one another, we stop, look each other in the eye, bow, and say, ‘Esteemed colleague.’” A scan of Heims’ professional record reveals a prolific researcher, author and lecturer on topics in nursing education, pediatrics and family health. In fact, if you wish to print Heims’ CV, you’ll need lots of paper because it’s 22 pages long. You’ll learn that in her 30-plus years as a faculty member, she won many teaching awards and was voted by students to fulfill the honorary position of faculty marshal at graduation about a dozen times, according to Sheila Kodadek, RN, PhD, associate dean of undergraduate programs. Heims stated that child and family health, and nursing education are the two dominant themes and joys in her professional life. “I’ve walked in downtown Portland with Marsha and Marie Duncan when a former student would come up to them and say, ‘I’ve never forgotten you. You were the best teacher I ever had,’” Kodadek said, citing the experience as evidence that their former students understood how fortunate they were to have the "esteemed colleagues" as faculty. It’s not only the undergraduates who acknowledge her finesse as an instructor. Around the school, they call her a teacher of teachers, said Vivian Gedaly-Duff, RN, DNSc, another colleague. “She advocated for students but also reminded teachers of their responsibility to help students learn.” Heims has a long track record of service on curriculum committees, including the statewide one that created the original statewide curriculum in the early 1990s. She co-chaired the group that met in Bend – the symbolic and geographic middle of the state, Heims pointed out. When Ann Beckett, RN, PhD, was a new faculty member in 1994, she said she’ll always remember how Heims eased her transition. “Marsha shared her circle of influence with me and included me as one of her colleagues.” And, she added, “Marsha always gave me good counsel whether I wanted to hear it or not.” Focusing on clear and relevant communication is important to Heims. “People trust me to say what’s on my mind,” she acknowledged. “I don’t mince words.” To her students, she said that even if you find a more efficient and faster way to do things, don’t get sloppy in your practice, for example with medications, infection control or other people’s feelings. “That’s dangerous, and you’re going to hurt someone.” To her colleagues, she said, make us as nurses visible. “Post a bulletin board the size of a large screen TV in the school lobby that shows what our graduates are doing for the profession, for research, for humanity.” She recalled a leadership conference where she walked the aisle, stating out loud and asking the nurse attendees to repeat the words, “I am a nurse, I have a voice, I will use it.” Heims spoke recently from her home where she’s nurturing her own health after a right breast amputation – her word, and chemotherapy and radiation. It’s her second encounter with breast cancer – the first occurring 19 years ago in her left breast. She had a lumpectomy then and returned to work without taking leave. But this time she’s facing a more aggressive situation. “It was a big tumor, and it scared me. But I tell myself, my family and my co-workers that I’m going to survive.” She said the huge theme in her life is that people are the most important, and powerful. “Stay connected with one another, and share your power.” Always the teacher, Heims has taken her own experience with breast cancer into the classroom. “When you put your own personal or other example into it, students listen. Emotions and events tend to stick in their minds,” she explained. “This past summer I shared with the beginning nursing students what was happening to me – here’s my port, this is what it looks like, feels like, here are the medications I take and this is what they’re doing to me.” She also discussed the nausea and fatigue – two realities she continues to deal with today. As for the future, Heims isn’t sure whether she’ll return to work or retire. “I love teaching and my students. I love nursing. I love my life, and I love my family. I’m still figuring out what that balance will look like in the next few years.” And from all the people whose lives she’s touched, it’s clear they’ll be standing next to her – hoping for the chance to give something back to this extraordinary teacher, mentor, friend and colleague. Research Spotlight: NIH Funds Grant to Study Women with Physical Disabilities and Depression The National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health, awarded $254,490 for a project titled, “Women Physical Disability and Depression: Communities Responding Now!" Dena Hassouneh, PhD, RN, associate professor, OHSU School of Nursing, is the principal investigator. The aims of the project are to modify and pilot-test an existing group therapy intervention to address the specific needs of WPD (women with physical disabilities) who experience depressive symptoms. Also to develop a peer-mentored, train-the-trainer program to promote the sustainability, accessibility and affordability of the intervention.
If you answered yes to these questions and you have the necessary qualifications and experiences, you may be an ideal candidate for the Master's Program in Nurse Anesthesia. For more information about this program and other program offerings, click here. Or contact the office of admissions at 503 494-7725 or e-mail proginfo@ohsu.edu. Interested in Reaching New Nursing Students? The Office of Admissions accepts requests from community members to participate in an information fair at new student orientation. For more information, contact the office of admissions at 503 494-7725 or e-mail proginfo@ohsu.edu. Save the Date -
Reunion Luncheon 11:30 a.m. Registration in the third floor lobby Class of 1958 - Save the Date Class Reunion Coordinators Needed
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