What: " Caring for the Elderly: The Evolving Role Of Advanced Practice Nurses in Health Care Reform," a presentation featuring the expertise of the dean and faculty of Fairfield University's School of Nursing, a leader in geriatric care education, located in Fairfield, Connecticut. As baby boomers age and modern medicine finds ways to prolong life, the essential role nurses play in caring for the elderly has become a very important topic in America. Advanced practice nurses are playing a larger role - and a leading role - in patient care, especially because many of them serve as primary care providers. There is great need for advanced practice nurses to provide primary care because of the increasing number of older adults and others who are uninsured and vulnerable.

When: Sunday, March 6, 2011, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. The public is welcome . Seating is limited.

Where: Loyola Marymount University, William H. Hannon Library, Von der Ahe Family Suite, WHH 322, 1 LMU Drive, Los Angeles, California.

Why: There is a crucial need to prepare advanced practice nurses to take on a leading role among caregivers in the 21st Century and this presentation will explore why that is now so vital. The event also speaks to the Fairfield University School of Nursing's mission to educate nurses for the highest level of nursing practice. A presentation will be made by the Jesuit institution's faculty members: Jeanne Novotny, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, dean of the School of Nursing; Jean Lange, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, director of the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Program at Fairfield; and Bonnie Molloy, Ph.D., CRNA, APRN, chief certified registered nurse anesthetist, Bridgeport Anesthesia Associates.

Background: This event is presented by the Fairfield University Alumni Association and Carol Kwalwasser O'Neill '76, who graduated from Fairfield's School of Nursing. She started her career as a staff nurse at Albert Einstein College Hospital, Bronx, N.Y. and after moving to New Jersey served as charge nurse at Monmouth Medical Center. After being a stay-at-home mother to her four children, Kwalwasser O'Neill resumed her career earning her CRRN and served as a rehab nurse in the brain and spinal injury unit at Mission Viejo Hospital. She moved with her family to Ohio in 2005, where she took a part-time philanthropy position with a children's non-profit. Kwalwasser O'Neill returned to California in 2008 and currently volunteers in the emergency department at her local hospital. She lives with her husband in Westlake Village.

For more information, please call the Office of Alumni Relations at (203) 254-4280.

Posted On: 02-03-2011 10:02 AM

Volume: 43 Number: 180