AWHONN Announces 2012 Board of Directors

NMSU Associate Professor Receives Research Grant Award

Provider Alert! Placenta Accreta: NM DOH Maternal Mortality Review Panel (PDF)

Pharmaceutical Industry Launches HelpingPatients.org

AWHONN-NM Speakers' Bureau

Midwife Wannabe's Wanted!

I Knew Nursing When …

AWHONN ANNOUNCES 2012 BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) on Sept. 28 announced the group's newly-elected Board of Directors for 2012.

• Rebecca Cypher, MSN, PNNP, is a perinatal nurse with 23 years of professional experience. Retired from the U.S. Air Force, she is currently the perinatal clinical specialist at Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, WA. Cypher was first elected to the Board of Directors in 2008. This will be her second term serving as the director-at-large.
• Yvonne Dobbenga-Rhodes, MS, RNC-OB, CNS, CNS-BC, has been a nurse for 23 years and is currently a perinatal clinical nurse specialist at Washington Hospital Healthcare System in Fremont, CA. An AWHONN member since 1989, Dobbenga-Rhodes will serve as the director representing Region I.
• Kathleen Matta, RNC, CNS, IBCLC, MSN, is the owner of a consulting business in Santa Fe, NM. She has more than 30 years of hospital experience in obstetrics, and most recently retired from Santa Fe Community College where she held the position Director of the Department of Nursing Education. She will serve as the 2012 secretary-treasurer. Kathleen is a member of the New Mexico Section of AWHONN and we're pleased to have her represent our state at the national level. Congratulations Kathleen!!
• Mimi Pomerleau, DNP, MSN, RNC-OB, is a course coordinator/assistant clinical professor at Lawrence Memorial Regis College, Boston, as well as an OB staff nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital. She is a longtime AWHONN member, serving at the Massachusetts Section level and most recently as a member of the Board of Directors. Pomerleau will serve as the president-elect of the organization in 2012.
• Linda Snell, DNS, RN, WHNP-BC, has 36 years of experience in nursing as a maternal/child health staff nurse, women's health nurse practitioner and nurse educator. She is currently the associate dean of the School of Health and Human Performance and associate professor of nursing at the College of Brockport in New York. She will serve as the director representing Region V.
• Raquel "Kelly" Walker, MSN, RNC-MNN, is a clinical nurse specialist for Women's Services at Roper Saint Francis Healthcare in Charleston, SC. Walker was first elected to the Board of Directors in 2008. This will be her second term representing Region VI.

Other members of the 2012 AWHONN Board of Directors include:

• Rose Horton, MSM, RNC - 2012 President
• Kathleen Hale, MS, RN, NE-BC - 2012 Past-President
• Emily Drake, PhD, IBCLC, RN, RNC
• Karen Harris, MSN, RNC, WHNP-BC
• Catherine Ivory, MSN, RNC
• Suzanne Ketchem, MSN

For more information, visit http://www.awhonn.org.

NMSU Associate Professor Receives Research Grant Award for Study of Mexican American Mothers’ Experiences with Newborn Intensive Care
BALTIMORE, MD – The Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) today presented Irene Hurst, PhD, RN, with the Hill-Rom, Celeste Phillips Family- Centered Maternity Care Award. The Award will support her research into the experiences of Mexican American women who speak only Spanish whose newborns are placed in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). The Award was presented at AWHONN’s annual convention. Dr. Hurst is an Associate Professor in the Department of Nursing at New Mexico State University and a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of New Mexico. Her study will examine the NICU experiences of Spanish-only speaking Mexican American women who live in colonias along the border between the U.S. and Mexico. It is a response to an increase in the number of premature births among Hispanic populations and the limited data on the experiences of these women in comparison with women of other racial, ethnic and socio-economic groups. This study, Mexican American Mothers’ Experience of Newborn Intensive Care, is intended to create a body of knowledge that will serve as the basis for creating accessible, culturally competent family-centered care in NICUs. New this year, the Hill-Rom, Celeste Phillips Family-Centered Maternity Care Award honors Celeste R. Phillips, RN EdD, an internationally recognized leader and expert in the concept of Family-Centered Maternity Care. Phillips believes passionately that the child-bearing process belongs with the family. She worked extensively with Loel Fenwick, MD, designer of the first American birthing bed and creator of the Single-Room Maternity Care Concept, to introduce that concept to hospitals and physicians throughout the United States. Celeste is a prominent, renowned figure in the maternity care community and continues to make great strides to improve healthcare for women and their families.

Pharmaceutical Industry Launches HelpingPatients.org
New Database Will Help Needy Patients Get Free Medicines
WASHINGTON, March 6 /PRNewswire/ -- A new online database will help patients without prescription drug coverage access user friendly information about more than 1,400 medicines offered free through patient assistance programs sponsored by the pharmaceutical industry and others, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) announced today.

People who need help in obtaining medicines can log on to http://www.helpingpatients.org/, fill out an online form and receive a list of programs for which they may qualify.

"The pharmaceutical industry has a long practice of providing prescription medicines free of charge to patients who might not be able to afford them. In 2002 alone, our companies have helped more than five million patients get the medicines they need," said PhRMA President Alan F. Holmer. "We are also committed to a long-term solution to ensure seniors and the disabled have access to the medicines they need. That's why we strongly support meaningful prescription drug coverage under Medicare."

"Medicare beneficiaries without drug coverage fill fewer prescriptions which not only hurt patients but ends up costing the health care system more in the long run," stated Holmer. "Seniors need and deserve high-quality prescription drug coverage," said Holmer. "To fill the need until Congress enacts this coverage -- and to take care of the millions of younger people who lack prescription drug insurance -- the pharmaceutical industry is putting out the welcome mat for its long- standing patient assistance programs. Helpingpatients.org streamlines the process of finding out about and applying for this assistance. We believe the new website will enable more patients to take advantage of these programs."

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) represents the country's leading research-based pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, which are devoted to inventing medicines that allow patients to live longer, healthier, and more productive lives. The industry invested an estimated $32 billion in 2002 in discovering and developing new medicines. PhRMA companies are leading the way in the search for new cures.

PhRMA Internet Address: http://www.phrma.org/
Source: Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America
CONTACT: Mark Grayson of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, +1-202-835-3465
http://www.helpingpatients.org/

AWHONN-NM SPEAKERS' BUREAU
AWHONN-NM is interested in supporting nurses throughout the state of New Mexico who would be interested in starting AWHONN chapters in their local communities. To help facilitate the process, AWHONN-NM would like to start a speakers' bureau.

Are there any AWHONN-NM nurses who like to share their knowledge with fellow nurses and who would be willing to present an hour long talk on their favorite nursing topic to fellow AWHONN members throughout NM? If yes, please contact Mary Wright or Kathleen Matta. We need your name, contact information (including email), and the topics you would be interested in presenting. We would provide this information only to nurses throughout the state interested in hosting AWHONN chapter meetings in their communities.

Thanks in advance for your willingness to help your fellow AWHONN-NM nurses!

MIDWIFE WANNABE'S WANTED!
The UNM Nurse-Midwifery Education Program is looking for Bachelors-prepared RNs from urban or rural areas who are interested in becoming nurse-midwives. We are especially interested in applicants from rural New Mexico communities, because our mission is to prepare CNMs for work with rural and underserved populations. We strongly believe that nurses from those communities understand the joys and challenges faced by women and families in their own community and that graduates will likely return there to practice. Of course, we need urban RN applicants, too!

CNMs attend more than 25% of all New Mexican births, the greatest percentage in the US, many of these outside the Albuquerque metropolitan area, and almost all in hospitals. Many New Mexican CNMs are UNM graduates, some of whom have brought midwifery care to women in rural areas where there were previously no CNMs. UNM boasts not only about these pioneers but about our 100% national board exam first time pass rate! In contrast, the nation's first-time pass rate is only about 88%. The majority of our graduates stay in New Mexico to practice.

Graduates will receive an MSN with a concentration in nurse-midwifery at the end of the four semesters, full-time course of study, and are eligible to sit for national board examinations. The UNM program is fully accredited by the American College of Nurse-Midwives. The program is designed to allow a student to continue residence in her/his rural community while going to school, although travel will certainly be necessary. All of the MSN core classes are available on the Internet.

Applicants must have at least a 3.0 GPA, take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), and be an RN with a bachelor's degree, not necessarily in nursing. At least one year of RN experience is preferred but strong new grads are also considered and have been quite successful in the program.

MSN prepared nurse practitioners who wish to give women continuity of care through the birth process should consider UNM's Post Masters Certificate in Nurse-Midwifery. Length of the program of study is determined by clinical experience and previous educational preparation in antepartum/postpartum/women's health, but can often be completed in 2 full time semesters.

If you know someone who is interested in this program, or who is interested in changing their career path to midwifery, please contact the program director, Julie Gorwoda, CNM, MSN, at midwyfe@unm.edu.