News & Events

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded Barry University’s Division of Nursing $477,000 for nursing students.

The loan program is geared toward helping close the gap in the nation’s nursing shortage by allowing nurses wanting to continue their education and return to school to earn their master’s or doctoral degrees in nursing education.

A nurse accepted into the Nurse Faculty Loan Program can expect an 85 percent forgiveness policy, meaning only 15 percent of the loan would be paid back, if they begin teaching as a full-time faculty member at any college or university, including Barry, for five years after graduation.

Barry University began admitting students to its Doctor of Nursing Practice degree (DNP) program in 2008 to prepare students for advanced nursing as qualified clinical preceptors, for undergraduate and graduate nursing students as well as for academic faculty positions.

“The key to addressing the nursing shortage is the production of nursing faculty,” said College of Health Sciences Dean, Dr. Pegge L. Bell. “The Division of Nursing has remained committed to producing nursing faculty for Florida, despite faculty vacancies that continue to exist across the state. This loan program will make the difference in the recruitment and production of nurses who will become the faculty needed by all of Florida’s nursing programs.

Barry University nursing professor, Dr. Jo Ann Kleier, was recognized with the 2008-2009 Urologic Nursing Catherine-Ann Lawrence Literary Excellence Award recently for her article titled "Procedure Competencies and Job Functions of the Urologic Advanced Practice Nurse."

Her study was published in the April, 2009 issue of Urologic Nursing. The award is provided by the editorial board of Urologic Nursing and is based on a review of the merits of the manuscript including relevance to practice of urologic nursing, timeliness of topic, academic merit, research rigor, and the degree of editing required for publication.

She received her award on Oct. 4, 2009 during The Society of Urologic Nurses and Associates' (SUNA) 40th Annual Conference in Chicago, IL.

Barry University nursing professors, Gene Majka, Dr. Mary Colvin and Dr. Sandra Walsh, (left to right) received the Great 100 Awards from the Florida Nurses Association for excellence in nursing.

Three of the Great 100 Awards were given to Barry University nursing professors at the Florida Nurses Association Centennial Convention for excellence in nursing.

Gene Majka, Dr. Mary Colvin and Dr. Sandra Walsh were recognized for their work in the categories of community service, education and research and role model in the September convention held in St. Petersburg.

These awards recognize 100 outstanding nurses throughout Florida -Barry was honored with three.

"It’s not surprising at all that these three faculty members - Gene Majka, Drs. Mary Colvin and Sandra Walsh - were three of the Great 100 nurses recognized by the Florida Nurses Association this year. Each of them has made unique contributions to improving the health of communities, educating nurses with strong values for research and service, and conducting research that has informed current practice models. We are all so very proud of them," said Dr. Pegge Bell, dean of the College of Health Sciences.

Barry doctoral student, Frances Downs, MSN, RN, was also awarded the 2009 Undine Sams Research Grant from the Florida Nurses Foundation for her dissertation study in Seasonal Affective Disorder.

Assistant professor, Dr. Daniel James Little was elected to the Board of Directors of the Florida Nurses Foundation and American Nurses Association delegate.

Alumnae Josie Schroeder-Guhl and Jennifer Sastoque both completed their bachelors of science in nursing program in May 2009 and were representing the Florida Nursing Student Association as officers at the convention. Ms. Schroeder-Guhl serves as president and Ms. Sastoque serves as the regional director of district six.

Success South Florida magazine, South Florida’s premiere magazine for black business professionals, recently announced its 2009 picks for the 25 most successful and prominent black educators in South Florida; one of Barry's nursing professors was named one of them.

Dr. Jessie Colin, a registered nurse, professor and director in the Division of Nursing for the College of Health Sciences, earned a BSN and MSN at Hunter College in New York in 1974 and 1980, respectively. She received a PhD in Nursing in 2000 from Adelphi University in Garden City, New York. Born in Haiti, Colin has devoted her life’s work to underserved populations in the United States and in her native country.

More than 100 nominees were selected for this honor by political, business and organizational leaders in South Florida. The final 25 honorees were then hand-picked by an advisory committee composed of business leaders in the fields of banking, media, politics, and medicine and community/non-profit leadership. The 25 were chosen for their professional accomplishments and tireless efforts to support the community.

Colin, who speaks three languages; English, French, and Creole, was appointed by former Governor Jeb Bush, to the Florida Board of Nursing and currently serves as vice-chair of the Board and Chair of the education committee of the board of Nursing. She is also one of three volunteers who served as consultants in Léogane, Haiti for a new baccalaureate nursing program - Faculty of Nursing Science of the Episcopal University of Léogane, Haiti, for which she helped obtain financing through US-AID.

The entire story can be viewed at www.ssfla.com

Keila Cox, Esther Virgile and Rachel Poliard learned they had some wax, but no infection Friday morning at Barry University. The three seniors from North Miami Senior High School examined each other’s ears using an otoscope at Barry’s Nursing Resource Center. The “Day in the Life of a Nurse” program allowed about thirty high school students to look beyond graduation and into a career in nursing. Every year, the Nursing Consortium of South Florida, a coalition of hospitals, nursing schools, health care agencies, and foundations, organize the event with the goal to teach students the important work that nurses do and inspire them to prepare and do the same.

Angelica Atz, a senior at North Miami Senior High, gets her ear examined by Dr. Andra Hanlon, director of nurse practitioner program at Barry, as Islangia Leveille and other students from North Miami watch closely.

Barry University was one of two schools participating in the program, which is dominated by hospital participation. Those include Jackson Memorial, Baptist, Mercy and Miami Children’s, among several others. At Barry, Kenny Parker and Enelin Cineas, both seniors at North Miami Senior High, learned how to perform duties such as taking a person’s blood pressure and pulse and listening to their heart beat through a stethoscope. Dr. Henry Henao, director of the nursing resource center, spent the day creating mock emergency scenarios in the center’s patient room where a simulated mannequin, also known as “simMAN,” takes on the personality of a patient who has just injured themselves. There, they learned proper technique and manners when dealing with a patient. Dr. Andra Hanlon, director of the nurse practitioner program also worked with students throughout the day as did Kelli Simonton, a registered nurse, who taught students to check their blood pressure and pulse. In addition to working in the lab, students took a tour of the campus and learned about financial aid and other health care related careers from Histotechnology Director, Dr. Gerhild Packert.

Barry University nursing students earned many praises from the Florida Student Nurses State Convention and named a new president, Josie Schreder-Guhl.

Jennifer Sastoque, another Barry student, was elected as the Region VI Director, adding two Barry members of the executive board.

Barry’s student nurses won awards in several categories including the Community Health Award for the “Tobacco Cessation” program in collaboration with Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) and Breakthrough to Nursing Retention program for freshmen and sophomore students.

Brandy Brown won the best themed costume on Halloween and was given $300 toward National Council Licensure Exam (NCLEX) review for one month by the Hurst Review company.

Diana Gonzalez earned the “Commit to be Fit” contest, wearing a pedometer and walking more miles than anyone else.

Barry students, Nerrisa Rojas, Samantha Garcia and Kelly Thacher received three of the seven scholarships awarded for $500, $500 and $250, respectively.

Lastly, out of six resolutions approved to go to the regional convention was one from Barry University students for “Rapid Response Access Teams in Health care Settings.”

Baptist Health South Florida is offering scholarships (up to $20,000 each) to 30 nursing students who enroll in Barry University' bachelor's degree in nursing program. The 5-semester program will be taught on-site at Baptist in Kendall. Upon graduation students will be guaranteed nursing positions at Baptist. The program will require applicants to have enough college credits that no more than 9 liberal arts credits need to be taken. A listing of college courses that must be completed prior to entering this program are listed on the BU web-site: Prerequisites. If interested, complete an on-line application by July 15, 2009. Classes are set to begin on August 31, 2009.