Dr. Spero Manson to receive the Herbert W. Nickens
Award
Spero M. Manson, PhD, professor of psychiatry at the School of Medicine of
the University of Colorado Denver, has been selected
to receive the prestigious Herbert W. Nickens Award from the AAMC
(Association of American Medical Colleges).
The award is in recognition of his work to advance the health and welfare of
American Indian and Alaska Native communities. Manson, who also directs the
university’s American Indian and Alaska Native programs (AIANP), will
be the seventh recipient of the award, which is presented to an individual
who has made outstanding contributions to promoting justice in medical education
and health care.
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| Dr. Spero Manson, recipient of the AAMC’s Herbert W. Nickens Award. |
When Manson, a Pembina Chippewa, joined the University of Colorado 20 years
ago, he set out to develop health and education programs for American Indian
and Alaska Native communities. He founded and now directs the university’s
AIANP, which partner with more than 100 native communities across the country
to provide research, program development, training, and health care within
rural, reservation, urban, and village settings. AIANP draws upon a wide
range of disciplines, including psychiatry, internal medicine, nursing, social
work, health economics, and public health. Two-thirds of the AIANP staff
and nine of the faculty members are American Indians or Alaska Natives, more
than any other medical school in the country.
In the 1990s he and his colleagues conducted research which found that American
Indian and Alaska Native military veterans who participated in tribal healing
rituals were less likely to experience post-traumatic stress disorder than
those who did not. As a direct result of these findings and Manson’s
subsequent advocacy efforts, in 1998 the Veterans Health Administration agreed
to compensate American Indian and Alaska Native tribes for performing these
healing ceremonies for their combat veterans.
Despite the availability of traditional healing for American Indian and Alaska
Native veterans, Manson recognized that this population lacked access to basic
medical care for post-traumatic stress disorder. He developed a series of telemedicine
partnerships among tribes, the university, the Veterans Health Administration,
and the Indian Health Service. Weekly psychiatric clinics — via live
videoconference — are now available to veterans living in 12 rural, isolated
communities. Four hundred patients have received treatment through this telemedicine
network. The program also serves as a training ground for medical students
and residents.
Former students and colleagues credit Manson for training and mentoring many
young American Indian and Alaska Native health scientists. In 1999, he was
one of just five American Indian researchers who received funding from the
National Institutes of Health (NIH); he received four of the eight grants awarded
to native researchers that year. In 2006, the NIH awarded 24 grants to 18 American
Indian and Alaska Native researchers — several of these grantees credit
their success to Manson’s mentorship.
Manson completed his graduate education in medical anthropology at the University
of Minnesota and his clinical training in psychiatry at Oregon Health and Science
University. He is also trained in epidemiology and health services research.
He serves on numerous national boards and panels, including the National Institutes
of Health, Office of the Surgeon General, Department of Veterans Affairs, and
Institute of Medicine.
The Herbert W. Nickens Award will be formally presented to
Manson on Oct. 28, at the AAMC’s 117th annual meeting in Seattle.
He will deliver the Nickens Lecture on Oct. 30.
Burn unit nurses receive DAISY Awards
In June, Kristen Vandevelde, Anne Wallace and Haley Dragoo became the first
University of Colorado Hospital (UCH) nurses to receive DAISY Awards for
Extraordinary Nurses.
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| Back row, left to right: Kathy Boyle, Marge Frueh, Marty Slate, Joyce Cashman and Colleen Goode. Front row, left to right: Award winners Haley Dragoo, Kristen Vandevelde and Anne Wallace. |
Marty Slate, nurse manager in the Burn/Trauma Unit, nominated the trio for
the extraordinary care and compassion they provided an elderly couple treated
in the Burn Unit. In a ceremony attended by their nurse colleagues and nursing
leaders, Kristen, Anne and Haley received DAISY award pins, certificates
proclaiming them “extraordinary nurses” and beautiful “Healer’s
Touch” sculptures hand-carved by artists in Zimbabwe.
The three are also recognized in a special banner hanging in the Ninth Avenue
hospital. And because it takes a team to provide great patient care, their
nurse co-workers were treated to Cinnabon cinnamon rolls.
“ This family will never forget you,” noted Colleen Goode, vice president
of patient services and chief nursing officer, after nearly bringing the team
to tears by reading excerpts from the touching nomination:
“ The couple had been married for 53 years. They were the typical couple
who loved a lot, fought some and above all supported each other through their
lives together. The husband had been diagnosed with a terminal illness in the
few weeks before this accident. As the days progressed, our team met with the
family to help them understand the care that was necessary for these two people
and the anticipated prognoses. He was made a DNR (do not resuscitate) soon after
admission due to his pre-morbid diagnosis but our team continued to provide him
with expert care. On the morning of the fifth hospital day, the wife’s
condition deteriorated dramatically. Another discussion with the family ensued
and a decision was made to provide comfort care only for the couple.
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| Haley Dragoo, Kristen Vandevelde and Anne Wallace, recipients of DAISY Awards for Extraordinary Nurses. |
It was at this point that these three nurses went into action for this
couple and their family. They moved him to her room. Both patients were
placed on
room air via a t-piece and made comfortable with prescribed pain medication.
After conferring with the family these nurses pushed the patients’ beds
together and rested his hand on hers. As family members said their
goodbyes, he was the first to go. She followed him within three minutes.
What was tragic was made somewhat less tragic in this simple but expert
gesture to ensure comfort and closure for this grieving family.”
The DAISY award program recognizes the caring touch and “super-human
efforts nurses perform everyday.” It was established by the DAISY Foundation,
a non-profit organization dedicated to fighting disease of the immune system,
in memory of J. Patrick Barnes, who died of complications of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic
Purpura (ITP), a little known but not uncommon auto-immune disease. The care
Patrick and his family received from nurses inspired his parents to develop
this unique means of thanking nurses for making a profound difference in the
lives of their patients and patients’ families.
Having recently joined the Daisy Award family, UCH is one of about
50 hospitals participating in the program nationwide. Going forward, a UCH
nurse or team of nurses will be selected to receive the DAISY Award each quarter.
For more information about the DAISY Awards, visit www.daisyfoundation.org.
To nominate a UCH nurse, contact Annette Lebel, clinical nurse IV/perinatal
coordinator, at 303-372-6400 or annette.lebel@uch.edu.
Nominate a coworker as Employee of the Month!
Some say it with flowers, some say it with words; The University of Colorado Denver Staff Council says Employee of the Month.
Do you know a deserving classified staff co-worker? Nominate them. Celebrate
their successes by nominating them as an Employee of the Month.
The form is available on the web - http://www.uchsc.edu/sc/eom.doc.
If you have questions, contact Velma Parker at (303) 315-5609.
Karen Suess, June Employee of the Month
Karen
Suess, accounting technician III, University of Colorado Denver
School of Medicine Division of Health Care
Policy/Research, was named Employee of the Month for June 2006.
“Karen always takes the initiative and does so pleasantly and helpfully.
Her clear communication and attention to detail reassure all who work
with her,” said co-worker Julie Slater, a professional research
assistant in the Division of Health Care Policy/Research.
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