Parkinson's Foundation announces Nurse Faculty Award to three nurses

The Parkinson's Foundation today announced that it has awarded the third Parkinson's Foundation Nurse Faculty Award to three nurses, totaling nearly $30,000. Each will receive nearly $10,000 in grant funding from the Foundation to launch individual projects to help make life better for people with Parkinson's disease (PD) in their local community.

The Parkinson's Foundation supports training nurses that specialize in PD through its professional education programs, including the Edmond J. Safra Visiting Nurse Faculty Program, the online Nurse Course and funds their research through the Parkinson's Foundation Nurse Faculty Award, now in its third year.The nurses are all graduates of the Edmond J. Safra Visiting Nurse Faculty Program, a 50-hour accredited program that teaches faculty leaders how to educate nursing students with ways to improve PD nursing care.

Nurses are vital in caring for people with Parkinson's in all settings, from a clinic to an emergency room. The Parkinson's Foundation recognizes how essential nurses are in the care for people with PD, from medication management to supporting care transitions, and is excited to continue providing our Edmond J. Safra Visiting Nurse Scholars with this grant opportunity to develop their independent projects and provide unique tools to further educate nurses to improve PD care".

Elizabeth Pollard, Parkinson's Foundation Vice President, Chief Education and Training Officer

The three awardees include:

Donna G. Hood, PhD, RN, CNE will expand the Parkinson Resource Center program at Louisiana Tech University. The launch of the center created for the underserved communities in rural Louisiana and South Arkansas that utilizes university resources and trains nursing students, was funded by a 2018 Parkinson's Foundation award. This year's award will extend the program to four undergraduate students, connect those with PD across the region with resources, mentor future nursing leaders and help support the replication of the program. Dr. Hood is a professor and director of the Division of Nursing at Louisiana Tech University and conducts research on chronic illnesses.

Mo-Kyung Sin, PhD, RN will evaluate the effectiveness of a PD nursing student ambassador program on students' knowledge of and competence with PD care. The program includes education on PD care and case studies for junior students; a one-day intensive education program on PD and a group project for six selected senior students who intend to pursue careers in neurology. The project will develop well-trained nurses on PD care. Dr. Sin is an associate professor of nursing at Seattle University.

Stephanie Stewart, MSN, RN-BC will launch Navigating the Parkinson's Journey, designed to help participating people with Parkinson's enhance feelings of connectedness in order to enhance quality of life. The program will launch in St. Joseph, MO, with findings published in local and professional venues so that others may access the information and findings. Stephanie is an assistant professor of nursing at Missouri Western State University.

"We are thrilled to be able to continue our nursing student scholar program, a huge component of our Parkinson Resource Center at Louisiana Tech originally funded by the Parkinson's Foundation Nurse Grant Award in 2018 and co-directed with Dr. Tara Haskins," said Donna Hood, Parkinson's Foundation Nurse Faculty Award recipient. "We have excellent students who have expressed their desire to join us as future nursing student scholars and we are excited to see this program grow and see how this impacts the Parkinson community in our region and beyond as these student scholars become our future PD champions."

The Edmond J. Safra Visiting Nurse Faculty Program at the Parkinson's Foundation helps prepare the next generation of nurses to care for the growing population of people with Parkinson's. Research shows that nurses can lead to significant improvement in the well-being of people with Parkinson's.