Leslie Larson, RN, CNP – Certified Brain Injury Specialist, was named the 2012 Mental Health Nurse of the Year from March of Dimes.  Larson, a 2003 MS graduate of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Children with Special Health Care Needs, is a pediatric nurse practitioner, specializing in working with children who have developmental delays, cerebral palsy and traumatic brain injuries at Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare. The March of Dimes celebrated Nurse of the Year at a dinner and awards program, October 27, 2012 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Minneapolis.  The honorees’ leadership and contributions have made a significant impact on their community and to the profession of nursing.

Center for Adolescent Nursing Director, Linda H. Bearinger, PhD, RN, FAAN, FSAHM, co-authored “Adolescence: A foundation for future health”, one of four papers found in the special Lancet series on adolescent health.  The Lancet series was launched at the 45th Session of the United Nations Commission on Population Development (April 23-27, New York, NY).

To read all the articles in this special adolescent health series, go to:
http://www.thelancet.com/series/adolescent-health-2012

Linda H. Bearinger, PhD, RN, FAAN, FSAHM, Professor in the Schools of Nursing and Medicine, and Director of the Center for Adolescent Nursing, is featured in The Lancet.  Bearinger is featured in the Perspectives Section of the current Lancet issue, volume 379, issue 9826, page 1581. Recognizing her 40+ years of service to young people, Bearinger’s career trajectory is described in the Lancet article, including her passion for teaching, her appointments with the Institute of Medicine and other global organizations, and her current position as President of the International Association for Adolescent Health.

To view Bearinger’s profile, go to: http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2812%2960664-3/fulltext

2012 Summer Institute in Adolescent Health
Equal Access, Equal Say: Achieving Health Equity for All Young People

When: July 30th – August 1st, 2012
Where: Minnesota Department of Health, Snelling Office Park Building, St. Paul, MN
To register: http://www.nursing.umn.edu/Adolescent_Nursing/Continuing_Education/home.html

For more information: Go to our website at www.nursing.umn.edu/can and click on the continuing education link.

Change – the one word that best epitomizes adolescence – changing bodies, changing schools, changing friends. While change is essential for healthy transitions to adulthood, it can also increase vulnerability. For young people, inequitable conditions in families, schools, and communities can lead to dramatically differing pathways to adulthood, some healthier than others. Inequities in social determinants of health abound – socio-economic status, housing, physical environment, food security, neighborhood safety, social support, health care services, transportation, and working conditions, to name a few.

What helps all young people achieve their highest level of health? Assuring optimal health for all requires equalizing the conditions for health – life-skills, access to quality services, educational attainment, readiness for gainful employment, and opportunities to participate as citizens. This means that we must pay attention to creating services and programs that are accessible, acceptable, appropriate, and effective.

During the 2012 Summer Institute in Adolescent Health, consider the myriad of social, political, educational, environmental and economic conditions that underlie disparities in health. Visit settings that are successfully addressing avoidable inequalities that impact adolescents. Talk with young people and their program leaders along with health providers and educators who have walked the talk of health equity in just, creative, and empowering ways. Learn strategies for assuring supportive environments, sustaining authentic relationships, and providing services that are responsive to the uniqueness of each young person. Gain new skills to effectively advocate for health equity for all young people.

For questions, please contact Jenna Baumgartner, Program Coordinator, at ude.nmunull@2720muab or 612-626-0606.

2012 Summer Institute Brochure

Congratulations to Luz Huntington-Moskos, MS, RN, CPN, who is among the 2011 cohort of Johnson & Johnson/AACN Minority Scholars. Huntington-Moskos is a current PhD student in the UAB LECHN program and MS graduate of the UMN Center for Adolescent Nursing. The program supports scholars who plan to segue into full-time academic teaching roles after graduation. Huntington-Moskos currently teaches at Indiana University Southeast. For more information about the Minority Scholars program: http://www.aacn.nche.edu/students/scholarships/minority.

On Dec 17th, the House Appropriations Committee approved H.R. 2055, which includes fiscal notes for nurse education, nursing training programs and nurse faculty loan repayment programs. Details can be found here: http://www.appropriations.senate.gov/news.cfm?method=news.view&id=c77b528b-623c-405f-8b54-55f076cf4605.

Scott Harpin (Colorado) and Ann Johnson (UA-Birmingham) were invited to participate in the 2012 Making Lifelong Connections Annual Meeting, January 19-20th in Orlando FL. This annual meeting brings together current and former MCHB trainees from across training programs to hear leadership presentations and to network. Harpin and Johnson will both be sharing their experiences in MCH Nursing training programs (Minnesota and UAB, respectively) on panel presentations to all attendees.

Information about the meeting is available here: http://makinglifelongconnections.wordpress.com. Participants will be live-Tweeting, using #MLC12 and @MCHLifeConn.

New and updated standards to keep children healthy and safe in early care and education are available from the University of Colorado College of Nursing, National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care & Early Education (NRC). NRC recently published “Caring for Our Children: National Health and Safety Performance Standards; Guidelines for Early Care and Education Programs, 3d Ed. (CFOC3).” The book is considered the benchmark document on children’s health and safety in out-of-home care and education.

CFOC3 was developed under the direction of CU Denver’s Marilyn Krajicek, working with more than 300 volunteer experts: 10 technical panels and panel chairs, a steering committee, and close to 200 stakeholder reviewers. Families, child-care providers, educators, and health professionals look to the University of Colorado NRC for the CFOC3 guidelines on children’s healthy development in a safe environment, whether in family child care homes or in early care and education centers. Available in print and in searchable, downloadable formats on the NRC website, www.nrckids.org, CFOC3 contains 686 early care and education health and safety standards.

Drs. Anne Turner-Henson and Marti Rice of the University of Alabama at Birmingham LECHN program, were asked to represent MCH Nursing training programs at the two-day Invitational Forum for Pediatric Nursing. The title of the conference is: Enhancing the Preparation of the BSN Pediatric Nursing Workforce: An Exploration of Pediatric Nursing Content in Undergraduate Nursing Curricula and Recommendations for Pediatric Residency Programs. The two-day meeting Oct 27-28th in Washington DC will discuss strategies for improving undergraduate pediatric education.