The Pulse

“When emotional intelligence was first discovered, it served as the missing link in a peculiar finding: people with the highest levels of intelligence (IQ) outperform those with average IQs just 20% of the time, while people with average IQs outperform those with high IQs 70% of the time” (Bradberry & Greaves, 2009, p. 7 & 8). Previously, success was always thought to be directly related to one’s IQ; however, much research has shown that emotional intelligence (EQ) is the better indicator. Here are some interesting facts regarding EQ:

• Only 36% of the people tested are able to accurately identify their emotions as they happen (p. 13).
  
• EQ is so critical to success that it accounts for 58% of performance in all types of jobs. It’s the single biggest predictor of performance in the workplace and the strongest driver of leadership and personal excellence (p. 20).
  
• Ninety percent of high performers are also high in EQ. On the flip side, just 20% of low performers are high in EQ (p. 21).
  
• People high in self-awareness are remarkably clear in their understanding of what they do well, what motivates and satisfies them, and which people and situations push their buttons (p. 25).
  
• Self-awareness is so important for job performance that 83% of people high in self-awareness are top performers, and just 2% of bottom performers are high in self-awareness (p. 26).
  
• Self-management is your ability to use your awareness of your emotions to stay flexible and direct your behavior positively (p. 32).
  
• Social awareness is your ability to accurately pick up on emotions in other people and understand what is really going on with them (p. 38).
  
• Relationship management is your ability to use your awareness of your own emotions and those of others to manage interactions successfully (p. 43).
  

Self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management are elements of EQ. While IQ is basically set for life and cannot be altered, specific strategies can be used to improve one or more of these elements, thereby, improving your overall EQ. It sounds as if this is a great way to use your time and energy.

Bradberry, T. & Greaves, J. (2009). Emotional intelligence 2.0. TalentSmart.

On Thursday, October 7, the College of Health Sciences (COHS) held its first Self-Care Day for their majors. The event was planned after hearing about the significant increase in mental health concerns in college-aged individuals across the nation. Fun and engaging activities were offered as examples of relaxation techniques and/or coping strategies that could be used throughout the semester and at times when stress is high. These activities included yoga, animal flow, and drum circles. Thank you to Ashlyn Alligood (Grad Athletic Training student), Mr. Michael Hobbs (Lecturer in the School of Health and Human Performance), and Ms. Katie Whipple (Lecturer in Music Therapy).

The COHS also partnered with the National Association of Mental Illness (NAMI) Georgia Affiliate to offer the Yellow Bulb Project. Approximately 1000 daffodil bulbs were donated by NAMI to be planted by students, faculty, and staff in honor and/or memory of a loved one who has battled depression and/or suicide. The bulbs were planted in the flower beds around Parks Memorial Hall. During the spring, NAMI will provide a follow-up ceremony on campus while the daffodils are in bloom. Thank you to Dr. Flor Culpa-Bondal (Professor of Nursing) for her work with NAMI to help make the COHS Self-Care Day a unique and successful event.

See below for more information about the Yellow Bulb Project under the School of Nursing.

Georgia College’s Center for Health and Social Issues (CHSI) is making great strides to improve health in rural Georgia. The Center is the COHS outreach arm working with communities of Baldwin County to improve health and reduce social inequalities. On Wednesday, October 20, as part of Harrisburg’s Community Collaborative monthly food distribution, CHSI partnered with various organizations to bridge the gap of health care needs in rural Georgia. Working with Community Organized Relief Effort (C.O.R.E.) and Community Healthcare Systems (CHCS), the Center was able to provide free COVID-19 vaccines and 20 free flu vaccines to uninsured or underinsured residents. The Center’s public health and nursing volunteers also provided routine blood pressure and HbA1c screening and health education to community residents. CHSI and its partners will host another flu vaccination clinic in Sparta, November 2021.

Pictured below:

From left to right is the Community Health Care System team and Mr. Tanner Cobb (right), CHSI Intern and Public Health student at Georgia College

The Center for Health and Social Issues focuses on reducing disparities in rural Georgia by engaging and advocating for residents of Baldwin County. To promote community engagement, CHSI hosted a Trunk or Treat in the Oconee Heights neighborhood with Wesley Chapel AME. CHSI became involved in the community last fall while performing community-based participatory research. Since then, community members and stakeholders from local non-profits, places of worship and local governments have attended monthly meetings to discuss community needs and solutions. The Trunk or Treat promoted community engagement by having candy, refreshments, bingo, a cakewalk and music for residents. Undergraduate students in Dr. Ernie Kaninjing’s community health class planned and promoted the event which turned into a success!

Pictured below:

Undergraduate students Molly Morrison and Liliana Jimenez with Director Dr. Francis (center)

Toyia has served as a bright light as the SHHP office coordinator since 2007. If you see Toyia, you see joy! She has won numerous COHS and university-level diversity awards and has served and led countless staff diversity and inclusive excellence committees. While she remains active within the university, she devotes her time outside of GC to promoting wellness and healthy living through outlets of the arts. She is the co-founder of CREATE, Inc. (previously known as Campus Club Milledgeville), founded in 2009. As a domestic nonprofit corporation, the organization was established to provide innovative responses to generational barriers with strategies to serve Middle-Georgia. Expanding its reach, the organization now includes an anime club, a cycling program, an arts out of the school program, a JAMM program and a financial literacy program. You may have even participated in a previous Art Healthy Festival on GC’s campus hosted by CREATE, Inc. This event is free to the community with the goal of promoting healthy living through outlets of art such as dance, painting and music.

Pictured below:

Toyia Barnes

University Communications Thursday, October 21, 2021

Associate Professor of Outdoor Education Dr. Jeff Turner recently presented information to the Georgia Senate Study Committee on Outdoor Learning.

Turner gave Georgia Senator's information at the Oct. 18 hearing at the state Capitol. He asked the committee to focus on increasing the capacity for outdoor educational opportunities to as many Georgians as possible and to work toward expanding outdoor learning in the K-12 community. He called for the support of outdoor education programs across the state and support for private agencies that provide education. Lastly, suggested the committee look into creating a state office on outdoor education to coordinate the effort across all entities as well as distribute funding.

The committee’s goal is to provide Georgia's children and young adults with more opportunities for beneficial and effective outdoor learning experiences. The full committee resolution is available here.

SHHP Director, Dr. Lisa Griffin, participated in the GC Journeys Symposium on October 29, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the liberal arts mission. She was a panelist at the opening session.

Dr. Ernie Kaninjing's Community Health course incorporates service-learning with the transformative learning experience. This concept is unique to Georga College. In addition to learning how to engage with community members and other stakeholders to address health problems, students in this course are required to complete 60 hours of service-learning. The students will partner with local community organizations to complete their hours.

The culmination of this will be the Poster Showcase on Thursday, December 2nd from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Students will create a poster showcasing what they learned during the semester. We will share the showcase in our January 2022 newsletter.

Tracy began working at Georgia College in 2012 and serves as the office manager for the School of Nursing. In this role she handles all budgetary needs, onboarding of faculty, staff, graduate assistants and student workers, data collection and reporting to National, Regional and State accrediting bodies, serves as the liaison with Atrium Health Navicent Baldwin for the Simulation and Translational Research Center and coordinates all School of Nursing ceremonies. She is a graduate of Georgia Military College Prep School and earned her bachelor's in sociology and master's in public administration from Georgia College. Prior to joining Georgia College, Tracy worked with juveniles in the custody of the Department of Juvenile Justice and the Department of Family and Children Services incorporating adventure-based therapy into their rehabilitation. Tracy is married to Adam, who is the Bursar at Georgia College, and they have a 7-year-old son, Cam. She spends most of her free time at the soccer fields cheering Cam on!

Pictured below:

Tracy Fathi

University Communications Friday, October 15, 2021

The Georgia College School of Nursing's Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) Program has been named the #2 best online PMHNP program by NursePractitionerOnline.com! In addition, the School of Nursing's Online Nurse Practitioner Programs and Family Nurse Practitioner Program ranked #8 and #9 respectively.

The complete rankings for online PMHNP Programs can be found here: 2021 Best Online Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Programs | NursePractitionerOnline.com

The complete rankings for online Nurse Practitioner Programs can be found here: 2021 Best Online Nurse Practitioner Programs & Schools | NursePractitionerOnline.com

The complete rankings for the online FNP Programs can be found here: 2021 Best Online Family Nurse Practitioner Programs | NursePractitionerOnline

The second week of October is mental illness awareness week. Every year, the local affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) partners with the College of Health and Sciences and the School of Nursing to commemorate this event with the goal of raising awareness about mental illness on our campus and the local community. This year, the partnership collaborated with GC facility management to launch the Yellow Bulb Project. Akin to bulb flowers planted during cold seasons, persons with mental illness feel like they are in dark places with no hope in sight. Bulb flowers will come out of the cold and dark winter to bloom in the spring symbolizing hope and recovery. The goal of the project is to create healthy conversations on campus about mental illness and show that there is help and there is hope; that people with mental health issues do recover.

The project was launched October 7, and was a whole day event. There were guest speakers, a message of hope board, NAMI flyers about different mental illnesses and treatments and the planting of giant yellow daffodils. Two guests spoke about their experiences with mental illnesses, and their ongoing treatment and recovery. They especially emphasized the people who helped and support them in their struggles and celebrated with them in their recovery. NAMI, headed by Tina Carpenter, Baldwin affiliate president and Faye Taylor, former NAMI Georgia president, donated 500 giant yellow daffodils, which the students and faculty planted outside Parks Memorial Building. GC facility management personnel led by Susan Daniels and Jack Hill facilitated the planting and added 500 more yellow bulbs. With a thousand yellow daffodils blooming in the spring, hope is coming!

With the help of early learning nurse, Crystal Johnstono, students went earlier this semester for their first rotation. Different clinical rotations throughout the semester are set up. Dr. Canady takes about 12 students each time, and they divide into two groups. Each group is then divided into smaller groups--as a COVID-19 precaution and two topics are taught. The students are responsible for meeting as a group, reporting the topics, and teaching tools and lesson plans are turned in one week before they go. Dr. Canady mostly guides the students making sure the material is age-appropriate for pre-school children.

During the first rotation, they provide a 10 to 15-minute education about our students' service dog, Mo. Samantha Summerville takes Mo with her to clinical and he goes into every nursing class. In this clinical, she took Mo with her, and the group of preschoolers were educated on "service animals" and how to approach someone with a service dog. They were taught how they are "working" and how they know when someone is sick before the human even knows they are sick. The preschoolers were given a coloring sheet with a service dog and were allowed to pet Mo. They absolutely loved it and wanted the students to come back the next day!

The other group taught on nutrition and the importance of healthy foods. The young students were taught to eat healthy fruits and vegetables and how important colorful foods are and how those are filled with nutrients. Then they swap groups, and present both topics to both groups, so the entire class learns two topics. They brought items like food, measuring cups, water bottles, etc., to teach children at a developmentally appropriate level. After they gain some trust and interest in the nursing students, they take children individually and screen them for developmental delays or disabilities by assessing speech, fine motor, gross motor and personal social skills. They document the findings and give them to the nurse, child advocates, teachers, etc. By documenting early concerns, students can be re-screened, and if needed, interventions are able to be made earlier with these children all because of these screenings. They also are educated on important topics for childhood health.

Dr. Canady absolutely loves this clinical day and has routinely had students tell her this is one of their favorite clinical days. The students are working with "healthy" kids, and they get to "play" or read them books when they are finished with the screenings. The GC students benefit from this as well because they learn the normal growth and developmental expectations of healthy children. When they are in the hospital or emergency room with sick children, they know how to communicate, and what to expect from a healthy child of that age. Plus, they learn how to develop a health teaching topic, using developmentally age-appropriate words and hands-on items, and how to present it to children.

Pictured below:

Early Learning Experience Classes

• Congratulations to Dr. Krystal Canady on her acceptance to the 2021-2022 Georgia College Women’s Leadership Faculty Fellows Program! Dr. Kanady recently accepted the position of Coordinator of the Family Nurse Practitioner Program. Collaborating with other women across GC and the state will provide her with a great opportunity to grow in her leadership role. Congratulations, Dr. Canady!

• Dr. Krystal Canady also made a candy delivery to the Children's Hospital for Halloween thanks to the GCANS and BSN nursing students. Due to HIPPA guidelines, photos of the children during their Halloween Parade were not taken but there was plenty of fun to be had.

• Please join us in congratulating Dr. Shantee Henry on passing her Adult/Adolescent Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE-A) certification exam. Dr. Henry is a 2019 graduate of the GC DNP program and has been the clinical coordinator for the HRSA Advancing Nursing Education – Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (ANE-SANE) grant since its inception in 2019. Her DNP project, titled The Development, Implementation, and Evaluation of a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Training Program, was cited in the 2021 HRSA ANE-SANEV2 notice of funding opportunity (NOFO). She joins the ranks of only 1, 649 certified SANE-A’s worldwide, and 33 in the state of Georgia. Congratulations Dr. Henry!

• Cherisse Howell, a nurse-midwifery student was one of two students awarded the 2021 Varney American College of Nurse Midwives Foundation Leadership Award. This award covered all expenses to participate in a unique mentored student leadership experience. She attended a one-day LEAD (Learn, Engage, Ascend, Deliver) Leadership Development Program on Sept. 30, 2021, followed by two days at the annual ACNM Midwifery Works Conference in Memphis, Tennessee. Cherisse Howell is pictured below.

• Morgan Whelan, a Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner student was selected to attend the Nurse Practitioner for Women’s Health Student Leadership Program for 2021. Student Leaders attended the 24th Annual Premier Women's Healthcare Conference, held virtually October 13-16, 2021. Student Leaders networked with the NPWH Board of Directors participated in the NPWH strategic planning process and helped with outreach by live-tweeting sessions to various social platforms. All student leaders received free conference registration.

  
  

As part of the activities on Alumni Week 2021, each college has selected a deserving alumnus for the following awards: the Alumnus of the Year, Young Alumnus of the Year, and Humanitarian. The College Alumni Awards Luncheon will be held on Friday, November 5 @ Magnolia Ballroom. The College of Health Sciences will recognize the following honorees:

Dr. Crystal A Champion ’04 – Alumnus of the Year

Dr. Champion has served on various committees including the Cancer Committee, Oncology Continuous Quality Improvement Team, Unit Practice Council and Palliative Care Team. She has also served as a host committee member for an Atlanta signature fundraiser, Jeffrey Fashion Cares, which supports the Susan G. Komen Atlanta and the Atlanta AIDS Fund. In her career, she has received accolades including the Innovators Award for Quality/Patient Safety, Clinical Excellence Award, and she was nominated for the American Health Council Best in Patient Care Award. In October 2019, Dr. Champion received the “40 Under 40” Achievement Award from both The Network Journal of New York City and Georgia Trend Magazine for her work with cancer and lymphedema patients through her practice, Eminence Physical Therapy, LLC and her non-profit organization, Champions Can! Foundation for Cancer Wellness, Inc. She is also an American Physical Therapy Association Credentialed Clinical Instructor in which she facilities clinical experiences for students in the Doctor of Physical Therapy programs. Dr. Champion currently serves as an Elevate Ambassador for the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS). She also serves on the GC3 Advocacy Council for the Georgia Center for Oncology Research and Education, Inc. Dr. Champion is also a member of the College of Health Sciences Leadership Board.

Mr. Travis J. Aultman ’20 – Young Alumnus of the Year

Mr. Aultman received his Bachelor of Science in Nursing in December 2020. He started work as a Registered Nurse in the Emergency Dept at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Medical Center (UABMC). He has been accepted into the BSN-DNP program as a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner student. He is participating in Quality Assurance at UABMC by creating policies and procedures for psychiatric violence risk assessments. He is currently researching literature on developing risk assessments. Additionally, he has been asked to serve as a team member with the hospitalist for psychiatry services. Mr. Aultman also volunteered as a standardized patient during the spring semester of 2021. Without Mr. Aultman, the graduate students in the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) program would not have had a second patient for their clinical experience. Mr. Aultman has accomplished so much in the past year since graduation, moving to a new city, starting a new job, applying for graduate school, volunteering for committees at UABMC and volunteering for his alma mater.

Pictured below:

Dr. Crystal Champion and Travis J. Aultman

• Melvin Ezeokonkwo (’21, MSAT) began his new career as a Certified AT at Northside Hospital

• Lindsey Lawrence (’16, BS in Athletic Training) began her new career as a Physicians Assistant

• Liz Pardo (’20, Human Performance) was featured as the Baltimore Orioles Organization’s first ever female coach

The role of a preceptor is vital in helping our students to achieve the hands-on experience that is required for them to put classroom knowledge into practice. Preceptors’ willingness to share their knowledge and expertise is a tremendous gift to our students and to the nursing profession.

We would like to highlight two FNP preceptors who have recently gone ABOVE AND BEYOND to work with multiple FNP students while maintaining a heavy patient load throughout the pandemic.

Brandi Peaster:

Since Peaster started precepting our students in 2020, she has worked with five different FNP students & has spent a combined total of 753 hours with them. She works at Atrium Health Navicent Primary Care Internal and Family Medicine North in Macon, Ga.

Website: https://www.navicenthealth.org/service-center/primary-care-associates-bass-road#

Some of the comments made by students about Ms. Peaster include:

• "Ms. Peaster was very knowledgeable and thorough in the care of her patients."
• "All of Ms. Peaster’s patients loved her. I enjoyed my clinical rotation with her."
• "She has a way of getting you on the right track without being condescending."
• "She is a great teacher and sounding board!"

Bruce Bailey:

Since Bailey started precepting our students in 2019, he has worked with four different FNP students & has spent a combined total of 1,171 hours with them. He works at Urgent MD in Washington, Georgia.

Website: https://urgent-md-washington-ga.business.site/

Some of the comments made by students about Mr. Bailey include:

• "My preceptor is a hands-on preceptor. He uses the philosophy of see one, do one, teach one. I have gained so much experience during this clinical rotation!"
• "Great Teacher, respectable, approachable, constructively criticizes, and humble. He works hard."
• "Preceptor always gave constructive criticism when needed. He shared literature and Evidence-Based Practice information with me that he recently found or got from a conference."
• "Awesome! Hard worker and an asset to the Nursing Profession!"

Thank you both for being ROCKSTARS for our students and the School of Nursing!

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