More than 300 School of Nursing faculty, staff, alumni and friends were kept in stitches by humorous national speaker, book author and nurse Barb Bancroft at the 15th annual Nursing Advisory Council Luncheon on April 18.

Thanks to more the than 300 people who attended the fund-raising luncheon, the School of Nursing awarded 15 students in the Accelerated BSN program with a total of $30,000 in scholarships, and presented a total of $25,000 grants to three teams of School of Nursing researchers.

Bancroft, who has spoken at national meetings and provided continuing education for nurses, spoke about the importance of continuing nursing education, learning from patients, recognizing that everyone makes mistakes, valuing of teamwork and learning how to deal with stress.

School of Nursing Dean Eileen Breslin, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, thanked Estela Avery, chair of the Nursing Advisory Council, for its continuing support. “This event celebrates the partnership between the School of Nursing, the Nursing Advisory Council and the community.” She reminded the audience that the NAC, founded in 1983 by Dean Emeritus Patty L. Hawken, Ph.D., RN, was one of the very first nursing school support organizations in the nation. “We still get quite a few calls from other schools throughout the U.S. for advice on how to start a Nursing Advisory Council,” Dr. Breslin said.

Faculty research teams receiving NAC funding included:

• Lisa Cleveland, Ph.D., RN, and Frank Puga, Ph.D., who received a grant to explore the “Physiological Attunement within Mother-Infant Dyads Impacted by Opioid Use,” $9,763;
• Carolyn Pickering, Ph.D., RN, Carole White, Ph.D., RN, Kristen Overbaugh, Ph.D., RN, and Adelita Cantu, Ph.D., RN, for their grant titled “Supporting Caregiver Role Transition Following Dementia Diagnosis,” $7,618.50; and
•  Azizeh Sowan, Ph.D., RN, with her grant titled “Health Insurance Literacy Among Arab Americans: A call to eliminate health disparities,” $7,618.50.

The nursing students who received $2,000 scholarships are Sabah Ahman, Elizabeth Chan, Christine Garner, Nathan Gay, Claudia Gaytan, Letzary Lee, Rachael Lemont, Shara Mayfield, Alma-Yaneth Patino-Jaimez, Elizabeth Perez, Caitlin Richards, Danielle Rodriguez, Adriana Salazar, Alix Wilson and Andrea Zamora.

The Nursing Advisory Council is a group of community members who work to improve public awareness of the nursing profession and nursing education, and raise funds for the school in order to meet the nursing shortage and improve health care throughout South Texas.