Adelphi University Center for Health Innovation Focused on Creating Safer School Environments

—Associate Professor Jessie Klein Unveils Creating Compassionate Communities to Offer Teachers, Students and Parents Resources & Tools—

With National Bullying Prevention Month in October, it is vitally important to address the question: how do we create safe and nurturing environments in order to prevent violence? U.S. schools across the country are reacting to protect students as school shootings and attacks proliferate.

Adelphi University Center for Health Innovation has moved the issue to the forefront thanks to the implementation of Creating Compassionate Communities (CCC) program, which is founded and directed by Jessie Klein, associate professor in sociology and criminal justice at Adelphi University. CCC includes a group of education professionals dedicated to helping schools and other communities create more empathy and caring relationships, decrease hurtful behaviors and eradicate bullying to support healthy school communities.

Dr. Klein is a nationally recognized expert and also frequent speaker on bullying, cyberbullying, gender issues, gang violence, school shootings and policy responses. She is the author of The Bully Society: School Shootings and the Crisis of Bullying in America’s Schools. Her research regarding gender and school violence has appeared in numerous peer-reviewed journals and she is often interviewed by media including CNN, The Brian Lehrer Show, Good Day New York, Newsday, USA Today and New York Times.  

Through the Creating Compassionate Communities program, teachers, students and parents will have the resources and tools to build strong social bonds by increasing empathy within their schools. CCC works to combat the adverse effects of social pressures on young people and reach students with warmth and compassion.

Harvest Collegiate High School for ninth through twelfth grade (October 21 at 3:30 p.m.) and Central Park East II for Pre-K through eighth grade (October 23 at 11:30 a.m.) will be the first locations to be introduced to the monthly trainings led by CCC. The elaborate and rigorous program will formally begin in January 2016, which includes monthly empathy building trainings for teachers; weekly empathy games for students; and an every other week caregiver empathy skills training group for those family members who want to create more empathy at home. Schools that commit to the curriculum will be awarded Creating Compassionate Communities banners to celebrate their dedication to the need for greater empathy and compassion.

“We seek to change the conversation from reducing bullying or character education to one where students and faculty care about one another such that bullying becomes nonexistent,” said Jessie Klein, Adelphi University associate professor in sociology and criminal justice. “Creating Compassionate Communities will mobilize educators, students, parents, law enforcement, social workers, criminal justice professionals, businesspeople, nurses and others to engage in a movement to build supportive relationships and eliminate violence in our communities. Adelphi University Center for Health Innovation aims to turn this into a signature program and eventually a national model.”

The members of the CCC team include a diverse set of professionals:
-Founder and Director, Jessie Klein, associate professor in sociology and criminal justice, Adelphi University
-Kindness Associate/Advisor, Fretta Reitzes, director, 92Y’s Goldman Center for Youth & Family; co-author, Teaching Kindergarten: Learner-Centered Classrooms for the 21ST Century Classrooms, Teachers College Press (2015); Wonderplay and Wonderplay Too! Perseus Press (1995, 2005)
-Empathy-building Facilitator, Anthony Torres, NYPD Counterterrorism Officer
-Empathy Art Director, Russ Lancaster, creator of empathy card decks and other empathy game materials
-Other members of the team will be introduced to the schools as the program develops.

If you have any questions or you want to be more directly involved in the CCC program, please contact Jessie Klein at klein@adelphi.edu or ccc@creatingcompassionatecommunities.com. To learn more about the Adelphi University Center for Health Innovation, visit chi.adelphi.edu.

Dean for Research in the Adelphi College of Nursing and Public Health Named Academy Fellow

Jane H. White Ph.D., PMH-CNS, BC, Vera Bender Professor of Nursing and associate dean for research in the College of Nursing and Public Health

On Saturday, October 17, 2015, the American Academy of Nursing  recognized 163 nurse leaders to be inducted as Academy fellows at its annual policy conference, Transforming Health, Driving Policy, in Washington, D.C. Jane H. White Ph.D., PMH-CNS, BC, Vera Bender Professor of Nursing and associate dean for research in the College of Nursing and Public Health at Adelphi University was one of just seven individuals in New York State to achieve this designation.

Fellow selection criteria include evidence of significant contributions to nursing and health care, and sponsorship by two current Academy fellows. Applicants are reviewed by a panel comprised of elected and appointed fellows, and selection is based, in part, on the extent the nominee’s nursing career has influenced health policies and the health and wellbeing of all. Established in 1973, the Academy has approximately 2300 members.

Throughout her career, Dr. White has demonstrated a commitment to the advancement of psychiatric-mental health nursing in the areas of practice, education, research and policy. Early in her career, she worked with colleagues to successfully revise the nurse practice act in D.C. to include clinical nurse specialists in psychiatric-mental health nursing as advanced practice nurses, sanctioned to practice independently. As a faculty member, she developed innovative, funded graduate programs in community mental health nursing including a nurse-run, child-adolescent mental health clinic for the underserved in D.C. As the first executive director of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association, she established their national office. In this position, she developed significant programs for the education of its members, increased membership and collaborations with other mental health organizations. Since joining Adelphi in 2005, she developed the Ph.D. program, and now mentors faculty in their research and chairs several dissertation committees. In 2012, she was named the first Visiting Nurse Scientist at the North Shore-LIJ Health System, where she collaborates with the vice president for nursing research to advance nursing research system-wide. A major focus of her research and publications is on eating disorders. She received her BSN from Purdue University, an MSN from the University of Alabama and a Ph.D. from the Catholic University of America.

“We are pleased to welcome this talented class of clinicians, researchers, policy leaders, educators and executives as they join the nation’s thought leaders in nursing and health care,” said Academy President, Diana J. Mason, Ph.D., RN, FAAN. “We look forward to working with them to continue the Academy’s work in transforming health policy and practice through the use of our collective nursing knowledge.”

To learn more, visit the Adelphi University College of Nursing and Public Health.

Highest Paid in Health: Adelphi Grads

This article originally appeared in Anton Newspapers

Highest Paid in Health: Adelphi Grads

Adelphi University has been ranked #9 among 694 colleges nationwide in highest –paid grads in health professes ions by College Factual (www.collegefactual.com), a resource that uses customizable tools and outcomes-based rankings systems to guide students through the college selection process.

A number of factors were used to determine these rankings, including how well the institutions retains and graduates students, the average loan debt per student, the boost in expected earnings, the percentage of full-time teachers, and the average student loan default rate.

In addition to Adelphi University’s placement in Highest Paid Grads in Health Professions, the institution also scored well in women’s lacrosse (Division #2), earning a #1 spot out of 75. Both of these reflect the institution’s high quality of education as compared to other schools on the list, which includes both research universities and liberal arts colleges.

View all of Adelphi University’s rankings here: www.collegefactual.com/colleges/adelphi-university/rankings/badges/.

“We publish a variety of college rankings to get students and parents focused on key factors the need to consider when choosing a school,” said Bill Phelan, CEO of College Factual. “How long it will take you to graduate? Four or six years? What will your expected earnings be, and how does that compare? What’s the risk of student loan default? These are tough questions any prospective student should be asking and we highlight these factors throughout our ranking process.”

With a focus on providing sought-after data and unique decision-making tools, College Factual puts the college rankings process in the hands of students and parents and not those institutions or national
publications.

College Factual’s ranking system is based on a series of algorithms that include information from the Department of Education, nationally mandated data reporting for institutions and Payscale.

Visit www.collegefactual.com for more information about College Factual’s rankings.

Adelphi University to Host its First-Ever Gold-AACN White Coat Ceremony for Nursing Students

This article was originally published at Long Island Exchange

Adelphi University College of Nursing and Public Health has been selected by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation (APFG) and American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) to receive funding support to host a prestigious Gold-AACN White Coat Ceremony for Nursing, recognizing the students’ commitment to the health care profession and demonstration of compassionate, patient-centered care. Adelphi is one of only three local schools to receive this distinction. Nearly 90 Adelphi students are expected to be honored at the ceremony to take place in the Tomas Dixon Lovely Ballroom of the Ruth S. Harley University Center on Friday, October 23 at 12:00 p.m.

Though White Coat Ceremonies have been hosted by medical schools for more than 20 years, last year marked the ground-breaking collaboration between the APFG-AACN and its inaugural program. The Gold-AACN White Coat Ceremony for Nursing will include recitation of an oath associated with the responsibilities of the nursing profession, the cloaking of each student in a white coat, an address by an eminent role model, presentation of a specially-designed pin that serves as a visual reminder of their pledge and commitment to providing the highest quality care to patients and their families, and a reception for students and invited guests.

For health care providers, White Coat Ceremonies emphasize the importance of providing compassionate care among health professionals. This collaboration between the APFG and AACN seeks to support humanistic, patient-centered care among future generations of registered nurses. “A growing body of research shows that compassionate care is linked to superior patient outcomes, lower levels of provider burnout, and higher satisfaction among all members of the health care team,” said Dr. Richard Levin, president and CEO of the APFG. “We are delighted to join with AACN to help foster a commitment to compassionate care among nursing students at the start of their clinical education.”

“I am very pleased that we have been awarded the grant from the Gold Foundation and AACN to help us inaugurate this ceremony at the College of Nursing and Public Health,” said Adelphi University College of Nursing and Public Health Dean Patrick R. Coonan. “This ceremony will serve to continuously remind our students entering the clinical phase of their education that they will deliver high quality, compassionate care to their patients.  It is a good introduction to connect them more to the nursing program and the field of nursing.”

For more information about Adelphi’s College of Nursing and Public Health, visit nursing.adelphi.edu. To view the full list of schools honored, visit http://www.aacn.nche.edu/wcc-2015.