WHEN LECTURER BARBARA DEMMAN, RN, MSN, ACNP, CNS INTRODUCED A SIMPLE MINDFULNESS EXERCISE AT THE BEGINNING OF HER CLASS, THE STUDENT RESPONSE WAS IMPRESSIVE.

Mountains of health care data are being collected from many avenues—research studies, clinical trials, electronic medical records and even smart phones.

Researchers around the globe are then taking these data and mining the depths and details looking for patterns that can provide insights into the symptoms and causes of diseases that will allow them to enhance prediction and prevention.

But all the data in the world can’t solve problems unless the right questions are being asked. And researchers at the school of nursing are doing just that.

A FIRST-TIME VISITOR TO DEAN LINDA SARNA’S OFFICE CAN’T HELP BUT NOTICE THE MEMORABILIA—CERTIFICATES OF APPRECIATION, PHOTOS, FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE FIGURINES—THAT ATTEST TO HER LIFELONG DEDICATION TO NURSING AND HEALTH CARE.

Picturing Better Health For Latinas

Adrienne Martinez is a third-year PhD  and  first-generation college student. She earned her undergraduate degree from UCLA in Women’s Studies with a focus on African-American women’s literature and LGBT topics.

RESEARCHERS AT THE UCLA SCHOOL OF NURSING ARE ADDRESSING HEALTH CHALLENGES RELATED TO DISEASES OF THE HEART, THE LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH WORLDWIDE – FROM CHRONIC HEALTH CONCERNS FACED BY INDIVIDUALS BORN WITH CONGENITAL HEART DISEASE TO THOSE WHO ARE AT RISK OR HAVE DEVELOPED CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE.

AS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF NURSING IN HEALTHCARE DELIVERY CONTINUES TO EXPAND, THERE IS PERHAPS NO MORE CRITICAL ROLE IN DRIVING CHANGE TO IMPROVE PATIENT OUTCOMES THAN THE CLINICAL NURSE SPECIALIST.

The CNS is an advanced practice nurse with a Master’s degree who is behind the scenes, who is making a difference in patient outcomes and who knows what can be achieved when the entire healthcare team works synergistically.

IT WAS A MEMORY OF THAT MOMENT — HER FINAL SURGERY AND THE NURSE HANDED HER A CHOCOLATE KISS. BRENDA RECALLS THAT MOMENT WITH A BIG SMILE BECAUSE THAT MEMORY IS WHAT SHAPED BRENDA’S DESIRE TO BECOME A NURSE.

Brenda Garay had a long journey through the healthcare system. At the age of six, she was diagnosed with chronic otitis media — an infection from inflammation in the middle ear which causes hearing loss in children. This condition required annual ear surgeries for 11 years and continuous speech pathology therapy session — in two languages — for nine years.

In 1988, Dr. Anita Bralock, now program director, prelicensure programs, was a master’s student and one of three African-American students in the nursing program. Deciding they wanted to “give each other encouragement and lift each other up,” said Dr. Bralock, they formed the African-American Nurses Association.