Health Professions & McAuley School of Nursing

Students who enter the College of Health Professions at University of Detroit Mercy come to us from many backgrounds with dreams of doing great things with their education. Whether they choose McAuley School of Nursing or seek another fulfilling career in Health Services Administration or Health Information Management or the Physician Assistant Program, the challenge of paying for their educational expenses is daunting. Yet, these students face the challenge to complete their education with the financial assistance of scholarships made possible by generous donors. The need is great. In the School of Nursing, 75% or 922 students receive some form of financial assistance for their education. Another 93% of students enrolled in undergraduate programs other than nursing in the College of Health Professions also receive financial aid to complete their education. Nearly 50% of our students in graduate and advanced nursing programs also call upon financial assistance, and 85% of graduate students in Health Professions graduate programs require financial aid to complete their educational programs.

State funding is very minimal; these students are able to maintain their education because of the generosity of alumni and friends who have lived the dream of higher education and understand the need for financial assistance.

If anyone would like to help make it possible for a young person to embark on the dream of higher education and become a health care professional, please consider a gift to scholarships for nursing students or for health care professionals. Your gift will be returned to you in the care and compassion our graduates are instilled with as they become health care professionals.

This Veterans Day, The McAuley School of Nursing wants to recognize all who have served in our nation’s military, and proudly point to active and retired military nurses.

This holiday and always, we honor these brave men and women who have committed their lives to all who have helped protect our country in the armed forces. Thank you for your service!

If you want to read more about the service of nurses to our nation, here are some names of books that might be of interest:

What Did You Do in the War, Grandma?: A Psychiatric Nurse in the Philippines – A story by Kathy O’Grady describing Lucile Sponner Votta’s journey and experiences in the Philippines.

Another title is “The True Story of U.S. Army Nurses behind Enemy Lines” and “All This Hell: U.S. Nurses Imprisoned by the Japanese” by Rosemary Neidel-Greenlee, RN.

The same author wrote, “And If I Perish: Frontline U.S. Army Nurses in World War II”

Or, you can check out these websites on nurses’ contributions in wartime:
• Angels of Mercy: Nurses’ Tales – Personal stories from four army nurses who were engaged in the European Theater during World War II. From The American Experience a PBS feature: Guts and Glory.
• Army Nurse Corps – Officially established by an Act of Congress, February 2, 1901. United States Army Nurses – professionals serving mankind whether during times of conflict or peace.
• Australian Nurses in Vietnam – Stories from Australian nurses who served in Vietnam from 1964 to 1972.
• Civil War Nurses – Discusses conditions and contributions of the approximately two thousand woman who volunteered in military hospitals during the Civil War.
• Five Nurses from St. Lawrence County – Women in the Civil War: A Women of Courage profile, produced by the St. Lawrence County, NY Branch of the American Association of University Women.
• H-Minerva Discussion Network – Information on the study of women and war and women in the military, worldwide and in all historical areas. Affiliated with the Minerva Center, a non-profit educational foundation.
• Images – WWII Nurses in Movietone Newsreels – A story, with vintage photographs, discussing how nurses were featured in newsreels during the war.
• Mademoiselle Miss – A collection of letters from an American nurse serving in France during World War I.
• Mary Seacole – Discusses the background and challenges for this nurse from Jamaica who became a healer during the Crimean War.

Catherine McAuley, the Founder of the Sisters of Mercy, was blessed by an inheritance that might have led her to mingle socially among the highest levels of society. She might have enjoyed a spacious home, servants, travel and entertainment.

Instead, her heart centered in God and her soul shaped for serving the poor, Catherine’s inheritance became the means by which she could express the merciful spirit of God to poor women and children of Dublin. In 1831 Catherine founded the Sisters of Mercy and before 10 years had passed, 150 women followed her in service as teachers and nurses.

UDM’s McAuley Health Center carries Catherine’s mission into Today’s Detroit community. A nurse-managed clinic, the McAuley Center strengthens access to primary care services for vulnerable persons who may be challenged by transportation issues, age, financial resources, or little or no relationship with the health care system.

UDM’s Nurse Practitioners provide services such as physical examinations, assessment and treatment for chronic health problems, and immunizations. They will evaluate patients for physician referral when needed.

Additionally, McAuley Health Center provides important health screenings, health promotion and health education for mothers, families and children of Detroit.

Graduate and undergraduate students in the McAuley School of Nursing are gaining valuable experience in their service at the Center, and graduate students and faculty can participate in research that ultimately can contribute to the promise of health and well-being for all of Detroit’s residents. While we educate our student nurses with the best possible skills preparation, we are instilling in them the understanding and empathy they will need to address issues of disparity in health care.

If you would like to support the service of the McAuley Center in the community or the McAuley School of Nursing, please contact the College of Health Professions at University of Detroit Mercy, or go on-line at www.udmercy.edu/giving.

What we recall now as the Outer Drive Campus was actually the site of Mercy College of Detroit for more than a half-century. Mercy College of Detroit provided a comprehensive liberal arts foundation for its students and graduated educators, diatetic specialists, home econonomists, dramatists, artists and experts in religion and philosopy. Late in its history, the School of Dentistry opened a state-of-the-art classroom and clinical facility. But alumni, staff, and faculty of the College of Health Professions recall fondly the growth and development of the McAuley School of Nursing and allied health courses such as medical records library science and radiological technology. The Physican Assistant Program developed at Mercy College and advanced nursing specialities – Nursing Education, Family Nurse Practitioner, Nurse Clinical Manager all developed at the Mercy College Campus as did programs in Health Services Administration.

The remembrances of Mercy are alive in the hearts of alumni and faculty and are continuing in the developing progress for a Hall of Honor revering Mercy College and the history of the McAuley School of Nursing.

When the Hall of Honor is completed in the College of Health Professions Building on the McNichols Campus, artifacts such as nursing caps, capes, and uniforms of the 1950’s and ’60’s will be displayed. Items from the Mercy Campus’s beautiful Chapel will adorn the corridor and archival photographs will line the walls. If you have photos or items from your nursing career or preparation that you would like to donate for the Hall of Honor, contact the College of Health Professions – McAuley School of Nursing.

Mike Dosch, Ph.D., MS, CRNA recently published an article in the October issue of Outpatient Surgery Magazine titled, “How Do Anesthesia Machines Work?”

As an Associate Professor and Director of the Nurse Anesthesia Program at UDM, Mike leads a program that is ranked by US News and World Report at # 11 of 108 nurse anesthesia programs in the national ranking.

Mike’s commitment to students and his care for the profession has a lot to do with UDM’s high ranking. While he teaches his students about state-of-the-art equipment and safety processes, he maintains that the well-being and dignity of the patient must be foremost.

The UDM program stands out in that students are instilled with a sense of mission, and that they are encouraged to strive for a personal mission of leadership, care, and service through their learning. Students are given opportunity to volunteer in community settings, and many students fill needs for nurse anesthetists in community health care facilities. As a result, Graduates of the UDM Nurse Anesthesia program are helping to make surgical procedures safer for patients throughout metro Detroit and beyond.

College of Health Professions is very pleased to announce the first Health Information Management (HIM) class began this fall term 2011. The students are becoming adjusted to UDM and Health Information and are doing well. We are recruiting for additional students to start this Winter as well as next Fall 2012. We are pleased to have a lot of interest in this new program!

Health Information Management (HIM) is the process for health care professionals to analyze, manage, and use information for patient care that is critical to a patient’s well-being. Professionals skilled in using Health Information Management can ensure the providers can access the information whenever the patient is being served.

Using electronic resources, patients and doctors can work together to manage personal health. Such health records allow health care professionals to track treatment, predict time of recovery, to continue care for the patient, and record medications and therapeutic activity. The focus is on analysis, and the resources make possible quick efficient communication between health care personnel, the patient and insurers. Health information management professionals are responsible for safeguarding the most confidential patient data, including medical histories, and lab test reports.