Nursing promotes minority leadership |
Yalonda McCoy |
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The School of Nursing is sponsoring a National Minority Nursing Leaders Panel. Five nationally known minority leaders in nursing will be presented in this panel from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Meridian Ballroom of the Morris University Center. "This is the first time that we have held a panel of this nature," said Felissa Lashley, dean and professor in the School of Nursing. "What we are really trying to do is have people inspired by these panelists," Lashley said. "While their stories are specific to nursing, what lies behind their stories are relevant to everybody." Registered nurse Venice D. Ferguson will be featured at this event. Ferguson is an African-American from North Carolina and has held many positions in the nursing field, including chief of the nursing department at the Clinical Center of the National Institutes of Health. Registered nurse Hazel W. Johnson-Brown will be another featured speaker on the panel. She is a native of Pennsylvania and is the first African-American woman general in the U.S. military. Some of her accomplishments include being the chief of the Army Nurse Corps and Brigadier General in 1979. Registered nurse Bette R. Kelner, a Native-American from California, will speak at this event. She has served as president of the National Alaska Native American Indian Nurses Association. She has also participated in and funded many research activities, presentations and publications. Registered nurse Oliver H. Osborne, an African-American from New York, will also be featured at the panel. His nursing achievements include teaching, administration, national and international consultation, presentations, grant writing and publishing. Mary Lou De Leon Siantz, a Mexican-American registered nurse from California, will also speak at the nursing panel. She is known for her research with migrant and immigrant children and their families, particularly of Hispanic ethnicity. According to Lashley, attending this panel may help people learn how to overcome obstacles and meet goals. "These speakers are well known nationally and internationally," she said. "They are in the nursing field and beyond well recognized. We are really proud to be able to bring them here." There is no fee to attend the panel. Those wishing to participate should register with the School of Nursing before noon Wednesday. | |