VCU School of Nursing launches inaugural lecture series
During the 2009-10 academic year, the VCU School of Nursing will launch the inaugural VCU Nursing Lecture Series. While the lecture series is new, the School has a proud history of bringing notable names in nursing to the School to give lectures.
“The VCU School of Nursing honors this proud legacy of shared vision and partnership between the School and our alumni to establish a nursing lecture series that will enhance the educational experience for our students, connect alumni and professional colleagues with the School and share cutting-edge scholarship and ideas with community partners and colleagues,” said current dean, Nancy F. Langston, PhD, RN, FAAN.
On Sept. 30, the School will kick off the VCU Nursing Lecture Series with the Jackie Denise Jackson Memorial Cultural Diversity Lectureship. Established in 2000, the Jackie Jackson lectureship celebrates the life and work of Jackie Jackson, a loyal and dedicated member of the VCU School of Nursing community for more than 18 years. Jackie served on the VCU School of Nursing’s Cultural Diversity Committee and was instrumental in crafting the School’s cultural diversity statement.
This year’s Jackie Jackson Lectureship will be given by new VCU President Michael Rao, PhD, who will speak on the topic of diversity in higher education and at VCU. As this will be one of the first opportunities for the VCU community to hear Dr. Rao speak, the event is open to all VCU faculty, staff and students as well as VCU School of Nursing alumni.
The lectureship will be held from 4 to 5 p.m. in the Hermes A. Kontos Medical Sciences Building. A reception will immediately follow the lecture.
On Oct. 28, the School will host the Legacy Lectureship in Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing. Established in 2002 by four former nursing faculty members (Drs. Lorna Barrell, Katherine Bobbitt, Gloria Francis and Barbara Munjas), the Legacy Lectureship brings prominent scholars in the field of psychiatric-mental health nursing to the School to raise awareness of mental health issues and underscore the importance of psychiatric nursing.
This year’s Legacy Lecture will be given Teena McGuinness, PhD, APRN, BC, a professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing and 1982 graduate of the VCU School of Nursing’s master’s program. The working title for Dr. McGuinness’ lecture is “A Psychiatric Nurse on Every Street Corner.” She will talk about access to mental health care and the huge global disease burden of mental disorders, exploring why we need a psychiatric nurse on every corner. The lecture will be held in the Younger Auditorium at the VCU School of Nursing building at 4 p.m. A reception will immediately follow the lecture.
The Mahoney-Hamner Nursing Alumni Lectureship, the School’s oldest endowed lectureship, will be held during the spring semester. Information about the date and speaker will follow.
The idea for the School’s first nursing lectureship was initiated in 1962 when Mrs. Anne F. Mahoney, MCV Nursing Class of 1929 and member of the MCV Board of Visitors, talked with Dean Doris Yingling about establishing a chair or professorship. They determined that a lectureship would be most appropriate and Mrs. Mahoney, along with Miss Nora Spencer Hamner, Memorial Hospital Training School Class of 1914 and first woman appointed to the MCV Board of Visitors, co-chaired the committee to raise fund to establish the Nursing Alumni Lectureship (later renamed the Mahoney-Hamner Nursing Alumni Lectureship in honor of their efforts). Nursing legend Virginia Henderson, who gave the 10th Lecture in 1976, is one of the many nursing notables who have given the Mahoney-Hamner Nursing Alumni Lecture.
All lectures are free and open to the public. To RSVP, please email vcunursing@vcu.edu. If you have questions, please call 804-828-3620.
Comments
I will be new to the Richmond area and VCU. And, look forward to your lecture series.
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