Category Archives: The Valley Foundation School of Nursing

SJSU’s Center For Healthy Aging in Multicultural Populations (CHAMP) Offers San Jose’s Seniors Health Screenings and Information

On Thursday, September 29, the 24th Annual Senior Resource & Wellness Fair, presented by the County of Santa Clara Department of Aging and Adult Services (DAAS), in partnership with the City of San Jose Parks & Recreation Department, and SJSU’s Center for Healthy Aging in Multicultural Populations (CHAMP), took place at the Mexican Heritage Plaza in San Jose.

Approximately 400 people in the community came out to the Wellness Fair to receive information from 85 different programs that provide information and services to the senior population.  There were about 70 vendors from community agencies. Participants were able to receive a multitude of health screenings – flu shots, blood pressure, glucose, dental, spine alignment, skin, mood, cognitive function, falls prevention, fitness, biofeedback, and hearing tests which were provided by Walgreens, SJSU students and other agencies.  Several workshops and fitness demonstrations were also held throughout the day, including Laughter Yoga, Fair Housing Rights, Cal Medi-Connect, and Nutrition.

More than 40 students, led by faculty from six San Jose State departments, participated in offering screenings or healthy living advice to older adults at the event. Students from the following departments offered information/screenings on the following topics:

  • Social work – Mood and wellness screening
  • Nursing – Blood pressure screening
  • Kinesiology – Information on evidence-based exercise
  • Occupational Therapy – Falls and balance
  • Recreation Therapy – Biofeedback to improve breathing and managing stress
  • Communicative Disorders – Ear inspections; and Cognitive wellness screening

“The Wellness fair offers SJSU students a wonderful opportunity to practice their communications skills, learn how to engage seniors in screenings and health education, and learn about the role of multiple disciplines and the array of community services available to promote wellness and healthy aging,” says Sadhna Diwan, Ph.D.,Professor, School of Social Work, Director, Center for Healthy Aging in Multicultural Populations.

Photos by Lauren Chun, Megan Dejan and Mickie Lau, students from Dwight Bentel & Hall Student Advertising and Public Relations Agency, School of Journalism and Mass Communications:

champ_094 champ_041 champ_061 champ_067 champ_071 champ_095 champ_103 champ_037

 

The Valley Foundation School of Nursing’s Professors Colleen O’Leary-Kelley, Dr. Tamara McKinnon and Students Conduct Continuing Education Program at Faculty Led Program in Ireland this Past Summer

 

While preparing for a faculty led program in Ireland this past summer, Professor Colleen O’Leary-Kelley and Dr. Tamara McKinnon investigated the process of providing continuing education for nurses.

Last Spring, their contacts at the Nursing Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI) instructed the two professors to submit their proposed CE program to the board online at http://www.nmbi.ie/Education/Short-Courses-Online/course-submissions.

SJSU Nursing students provided an interactive presentation about utilizing effective communications skills to nurses, social workers, and other health care professionals at the Markievicz House in Sligo, Ireland, during the Faculty Led Program.

“Within a few weeks we received approval from the NMBI for three category 1 Continuing Education Units for the course. The course was focused on Motivational Interviewing, and was prepared by the 12 senior nursing students as a required project for their FLP/Credit Toward Major summer course, “ says Professor O’Leary-Kelley.

“The students provided an excellent, interactive presentation that was well received by the public health nurses and social workers. The following day students provided a repeat presentation for staff nurses and administration at Sligo Regional Hospital and faculty from St. Angela’s College in Sligo, Ireland.” St. Angela’s College is an affiliate of the National University of Ireland–Galway.

School of Nursing Faculty Led Program 2016 in Ireland.

CASA Students Host Interdisciplinary Workshop

Interdisciplinary Student Workshop

The College of Applied Sciences and Arts (CASA) had its first ever interdisciplinary student workshop with the Department of Occupational Therapy (OT) and The Valley Foundation School of Nursing. The workshop was the idea of OT student Renee Demaree who planned and organized the day-long workshop that was conducted in the simulation and skills labs at the Valley Foundation School of Nursing.

The goal was to help students increase their understanding of the role of other healthcare disciplines and facilitate their ability to work collaboratively. Nursing Lecturer Debbie Nelson and OT Assistant Professor Dr. Gigi Smith assisted students during the workshop.

OT/Nursing Workshop

Nursing students Tiffany Tran and Angelo Vitug addressed safety issues in working with patients in the hospital environment. Nursing student Stephanie Mejia led a patient care simulation where a nursing student played the role of a patient and OT students provided care to the patient. Students awaiting their turn were learner observers. A debrief of the simulation followed to allow students time to give feedback and discussion.

OT Presentation

OT students Jazmin Arellano and Allan Romero presented on the role of occupational therapy in the hospital environment and other health care settings. Small group activities promoted active learning and collaboration.

Workshop participants expressed appreciation for the experience. Both groups of students came away with a deeper understanding of each other’s professional roles and how to facilitate inter-professional partnerships. Plans are underway for more of these collaborative interdisciplinary experiences in the future.

Alpha Tau Delta Gives Back

ATD in front of Heritage Home

Just a few blocks away from the SJSU campus on North Third Street is the Cityteam’s Heritage Home, a place that, according to their website, we have been providing a long-term compassionate ministry for years to homeless, poor and abandoned women who are pregnant and have nowhere else to turn but the streets. Often these pregnant women who are without food or shelter resort to their dark thoughts of abortion. In the United States 48% of pregnancies are unintended, and half of those are terminated by abortion*. We are trying to be a light of hope in these women’s lives – looking at the whole situation – to meet their immediate needs and work out long-term solutions through our multiple programs. The historic Victorian home in the Hensley District uses its largest room to care for these pregnant women, and it was in need of renovation.

Enter Alpha Tau Delta (ATD), The Valley Foundation School of Nursing’s co-ed professional nursing fraternity. ATD decided that the best way to celebrate their second year as a chapter would be to renovate the Heritage Home’s large room as their largest, original community service project.

Mackenzie Thomas, ATD’s Founding President and current Vice President, said that the fraternity wanted to create a room full of positive energy to lift the spirits for those women who enter.

Heritage Home remodeled Heritage Home upgraded bedroom

“We wanted to share the nursing spirit of care and compassion through this project, and we hope its impact is felt for years to come.”

After months of planning and securing donations from home improvement stores, ATD set a goal to finish the project in a timely manner and ensure it was done professionally. The renovation had to be completed within a two-day time frame. This included painting, creating decorations, building beds, installing ceiling fans, moving furniture, and tidying up the room before the revealing ceremony. “We had to do something many only see on TV,” said Mackenzie when describing the amount of work that had to be done with such limited time.

With the help of over 60 students and some of their parents, ATD turned the room into a beautiful, bright and motivating sanctuary. During the revealing ceremony, ATD celebrated with the mothers to be with home-made treats and drinks outside the home. The Heritage Home is now an even more special place thanks to the determined, hard work that ATD put into the renovation.

Alpha Tau Delta Fraternity

 

Committee to Enhance Equity and Diversity Awards

The 2015-16 CEED Award winners were recognized on April 26, 2016, for their excellence in promoting and fostering a deeper understanding of equity and diversity.

The 2015-16 CEED Award winners were recognized on April 26, 2016, for their excellence in promoting and fostering a deeper understanding of equity and diversity.

The College of Applied Sciences and Arts’ Committee to Enhance Equity and Diversity (CEED) reception was held on Tuesday, April 26, honoring six recipients whose combined effort and activities have made an important contribution to enhance equity and diversity at San José State University (SJSU) and/or in the community. CEED Award categories consist of an Undergraduate Student Award, Graduate Student Award, Faculty Award, Staff Award, and Student Organization Award.

The purpose of the CEED Awards is to recognize those individuals and groups that have demonstrated excellence in promoting and fostering a deeper understanding of equity and diversity as they relate to issues of age, class, disability, ethnicity, gender, race, religion and/or sexual orientation.

The recipients for the CEED Distinguished Service Award are:

Undergraduate Student Award – Navpreet Kaur, the Valley Foundation School of Nursing

Navpreet has led or been involved in several projects that promote equity and diversity on campus. In 2015, she led the Peace Pole Monument project that helped to place an official monument on campus. The Peace Pole is a hand-crafted wooden monument that has the message “May Peace Prevail On Earth” in the 12 most frequently used languages in Santa Clara County.

Navpreet also serves on the President’s Commission on Diversity which provides “input, recommendations, and advice to the President on effective ways to create a campus environment that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive.” She initiated this project in an effort to counteract negative publicity related to diversity issues that were occurring on campus.

Graduate Student Award – Essraa Nawar, School of Information

Essraa Nawar is pursuing her passion to be a librarian focusing on programming and outreach in bringing diverse programming to the life of the libraries and the academic institutions she serves. One of Essraa’s strengths is her ability to create an atmosphere of awareness regarding ethnicity, gender, and religious diversity across campus.

She serves on the Chancellor’s Diversity Advisory Committee and developed a program on empowering Muslim women. Essraa coordinated the support of the Sikh American Community through Vaisakhi programming, an exhibition on demystifying the turban. She also spoke at a TED Talk in Munich, Germany, to further her diversity message to change the narrative of how people see Muslim women specifically and Muslim people in general.

Graduate Student Award – Cotton Stevenson, School of Journalism and Mass Communications

Cotton conceived the slogan “Diversity University” as part of a class project to make a difference at SJSU. He didn’t stop there. Cotton decided to make issues surrounding diversity and acceptance on the SJSU campus the focus of his second master’s degree. Because of him, we now have an annual Diversity Day at SJSU.

As a graphic artist, Stevenson created the logo for the event as well. He is now in the final stages of a documentary about the history and importance of diversity on this campus. He’s already completed several impressive interviews for this project which include Jeanne Wakatsuki, the author of Farewell to Manzanar, Erik Grotz, the student who suggested the Tommie Smith-John Carlos sculptures as well as with the artist who created it.

He was also awarded a proclamation by Rep. Zoe Lofgren for his commitment to “Diversity University.”

Faculty Award – Dr. William Armaline, Justice Studies

Dr. Armaline established and serves as coordinator of the Human Rights Program at SJSU. As a part of that initiative, he implemented the  popular Human Rights Minor, a program through which students gain an understanding of various human rights problems that affect their community, including racism, discrimination, and inequality. He is committed to raising awareness on campus to issues of equity and diversity.  As a part of this effort, he founded and continues to coordinate the annual human rights event.

He chairs the Human Rights Working Group, which serves as a platform for faculty to engage in issues of equity and diversity. Throughout his work, Dr. Armaline single handedly serves as a hub for students who are interested in increasing equity on campus.  He informally advises students on activism both on and off campus.

Dr. Armaline is also involved in numerous activities in the community.  He authored reports on social justice issues, served as a National Board Member in Save the Kids, a grass-roots organization dedicated to alternatives to end of the incarceration of youth, is a Council Member in the Santa Clara County Child Abuse Council. He most recently initiated a partnership with DeBug, a San José media, community organizing, and entrepreneurial collective that leads successful social justice campaigns to advance the rights of youth, workers, immigrants and those impacted by the criminal justice system.

Staff Award – Silvia La Rosa, School of Journalism and Mass Communications

In addition to providing extensive administrative support for more than 500 School of Journalism and Mass Communications (JMC) students and 22 faculty, Silvia is a committed advocate for SJSU diversity students.

Silvia offers extraordinary time and effort to advising and mentoring all students. She connects on a powerful level with JMC School Spanish speaking students. Her translation skills combined with her knowledge of university procedures and her deep passion for helping students find their voice and express their creativity has resulted in numerous success stories that are greatly admired and appreciated in our program.

In Fall 2015, she was a leading advocate for fundraising of the College of Applied Sciences and Arts international learning initiative. She played a significant role in helping persuade a special JMC guest, CNN Correspondent Sara Sidner from Los Angeles, to donate her William Randolph Hearst honorarium to start a newly created fund and campaign to raise scholarship money to help SJSU students from poor and under-represented communities to participate. She plays an instrumental role in helping the school director create Spanish community messages and promotions that invite Bay Area business and schools to partner with JMC.

Silvia always finds the time to encourage students and faculty.

Student Organization Award – Alpha Phi Sigma Iota Chapter, Justice Studies

A team of Iota Chapter members and alumni volunteered at the Center with the Prison Education Project (PEP), teaching the 7 week Academic Orientation Course.  They met every Friday with a group of formerly incarcerated individuals currently on parole.  They created presentations about college as well as give mini-lectures based on topics in Justice Studies majors (e.g. consequences of mass incarceration and juvenile justice).  A big component of this program is engaging the program participants in discussions about the topics presented as well as their interests and needs.  In addition, Iota chapter collected and donated 100 backpacks with everyday necessities and held a clothing drive on campus for the Santa Clara County Resource Reentry Center to give to their clients.

Congratulations to all 2015-16 CEED Award winners!

CEED Logo