Gertrude Harvell Clarke (B.S.N. ‘46/N) celebrated her 100th birthday in 2022. A graduate of St. Philip Hospital School of Nursing-Medical College of Virginia, she relocated to New York after graduation where she remained until her retirement. During her lengthy nursing  career, she was employed in the operating room and surgical services as well as teaching positions educating nursing assistants, practical nurses and registered nurses. Upon retirement from New York, she returned to Prince George County, Virginia. She is still active in sharing her experiences with the next generation of nursing students at Virginia State University, championing the importance  of diversity and equitable practice in the profession and care. 

Darlene Coffey Fishman, Ed.D. (B.S.’71/N) writes, “I have three degrees: a bachelor’s in nursing from VCU, a master’s in nursing from California State University, Los Angeles (1978) and an Ed.D. in educational leadership from Cal State Fullerton. I worked for 10 years with various responsibilities in acute-care nursing settings. I started out at MCV Hospitals, moved to Denver and Los Angeles before moving into nursing education. I retired in fall of 2018 after 40 years in nursing education working with nursing students. I had a very fulfilling career. I am grateful to MCV-VCU for giving me my excellent foundational education and getting me started in my career.” 

Patricia Kinser, Ph.D. (B.S.’03/N; Cert.’04/N; M.S.’04/N), assistant dean for research at the VCU School of Nursing, is among a group of VCU researchers who are joining a national team of scientists to investigate the impacts of long COVID-19 in children, teens, young  adults and their parents. The project, the “Life- Course Examination of General Affect and Neurocognitive Changes Following COVID-19 Infection,” is part of the National Institutes of Health’s research studying the longterm impacts of the virus. She and Amy Salisbury, Ph.D., professor and associate dean of research at the VCU School of Nursing, will recruit families to see how the virus affects children’s cognitive development and mental and physical health.

Lyndsey Highlander (B.S.’20/N) was part of a team that created a plan for an at-home COVID-19 testing kit that was chosen by the Clinton Global Initiative University’s COVID-19 Student Action Fund. It was one of 38 chosen out of 1,400 submissions. The plan, called  Safe at Home, emerged from a health care innovation project through the VCU da Vinci Center for Innovation in spring 2020.

Rita H. Pickler (Cert ‘98/N), Ph.D., RN, FAAN, FloAnn Sours Easton Endowed Professor of Child and Adolescent Health and director of the Ph.D. program at The Ohio State University College of Nursing received the National Association of Neonatal Nurses (NANN) Lifetime Achievement Award for her commitment to and impact on the field of neonatal nursing. “I am honored to receive this award and grateful for the many colleagues who have collaborated with me on this work done on behalf of children and families,” Pickler said. “Families with preterm babies need and deserve all of the support that nursing science can muster. I am proud of the work that we have done to advance both the study and practice that help these families and children achieve best outcomes.” 

Asia Owens (B.S.’14/N), a student in the Doctor of Nursing Practice program at Radford University, has released an online research  study, “Braking BPSD” (behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia), intended to engage caregivers for persons living with  dementia.

Polly Rivera (B.S.’76/N) was promoted in February 2022 to system director of clinical documentation integrity, coding and auditing at Riverside Health System in Newport News, Virginia.

Elizabeth Hoettels, D.N.P. (B.S.’05/N), was promoted to colonel by the U.S. Air Force. She previously served as lieutenant colonel  commander of the 423rd Medical Squadron at the Limited Scope Medical Treatment Facility located at the Royal Air Force Base in Alconbury, United Kingdom. 

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