Sigma Theta Tau
International Honor Society of Nursing
THE DELTA REPORT
DELTA OMEGA CHAPTER
Co-Editors – Rachel Patterson and Lauren Junk
Spring 2016
Delta Omega Officers
President—Linda Shanks shanks@uakron.edu
Message from the President:
Linda Shanks
1st Vice President - Lisa Hart lahart@uakron.edu
2nd Vice President –
Greer Kabb-Langkamp gmkabb@gmail.com
Immediate Past President –
Kathy Rose krose6836@gmail.com
Treasurer – Kathy Rose krose6836@gmail.com
Corresponding Secretary –
Cheryl Buchanan cb12@uakron.edu
Archivist – Dina Dornack ddornack@sbcglobal.net
Faculty Counselor –
Carolyn Sutter csutter@uakron.edu
Program Committee Chair –
Lisa Hart lahart@uakron.edu
Leadership Succession Committee Aris Eliades aeiades@chmca.org
Marilyn Perkowski mperko1@uakron.edu
Eileen Fleming fleminge@summahealth.org
Research Grants & Recognition Co-Chairs –
Marlene Huff mhuff@uakron.edu
Barb Brunt bruntb1@gmail.com
Governance Chair and committee
Carolyn Sutter csutter@uakron.edu
Karrie Boss bossk@summahealth.org
Lori Ramnytz ramnytzl@summahealth.org
Newsletter Co-Editor
Rachel Patterson RLP62@zips.uakron.edu
Lauren Junk laurenbuehrle@gmail.com
Mentor/Advisor: Carolyn Sutter
Delta Omega has had a very productive and
exciting year to date. Our members are so willing
to help with our many volunteer activities with
OPEN-M. We had 18 members help with the hot
lunch, which was a record number of volunteers!
Kathy Rose and Greer Kabb-Langkamp have been
putting together and delivering bag lunches to
OPEN-M on a monthly basis for the children, and
Delta Omega also sponsored two families for
Christmas for the Love of Children 2015. Many
thanks to Dina Dornack and Carolyn Sutter for
shopping and to Dina for delivering the gifts! I
would also like to thank Rachel Patterson, our
Delta Omega Intern and senior nursing student.
She is very involved with all of our activities and
maintains our website. She is also doing a
wonderful job as our newsletter editor!
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Lisa Hart and the program committee have been
hard at work planning our Delta Omega CE activities.
Our largest program is coming up May 17th and is a
collaborative effort with area hospitals. This is the
second year for this larger research program and we
are very excited about it! We have already presented
two other programs, which you can read about in
this newsletter.
Delta Omega is lucky to have such active members.
Participation of the chapter members is needed to
accomplish our goals and activities. Please let us
know if you want to become more involved and I will
get you connected with the chair of the appropriate
committee. I can be reached at 330-808-5261 or
shanks@uakron.edu. I look forward to hearing from
you!
Linda Shanks
INFORMATIONAL MEETING:
PIZZA PARTY!
Welcome to new invites, becoming
members!
When? WED. 3/16/16
11:45-1:00 & 3:45-5:00
Where? MARY GLADWIN 209
WE NEED MEMBERS TO ATTEND TO
ANSWER QUESTIONS
PLEASE CONTACT GREER
gmkabb@gmail.com OR CAROLYN
csutter@uakron.edu
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Continuing the Journey for New
Knowledge, Innovations, and
Improvements
May 17, 2016
5:00- 8:00 P.M.
Summa Health Systems Professional
Center South Pods, 55 Arch St. Akron
 This research conference will
showcase poster presentations
from members, students and local
nurses. Please attend to show
support for all of these excellent
nursing research and Evidence Base
Practice projects.
 Delta Omega is pleased to host this
event with: Pi Chi Chapter, Akron
Children Hospital, Akron General
Medical Center, Summa Health
System, and The University of
Akron.
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Call for Nominations for Annual Delta
Omega Recognition Awards!
PLEASE PLAN to attend the
Delta Omega Chapter
Deadline for Submissions: March 14th
2016 INDUCTION
During the Induction Ceremony, we
recognize your mentors and colleagues
who have made a difference in your
practice. Please take the time to nominate
a wonderful mentor, leader, researcher,
educator, practitioner, or student who has
“stood out” and made a difference,
especially for you.
Awards for Excellence include the
following categories:
Nursing Leadership
Nursing Practice
Nursing Education
Nursing Research
Utilization of Nursing research
Nursing Mentoring
Outstanding Undergraduate Student
Outstanding Graduate Student
Lillian DeYoung Research-Based
Knowledge Translation Award
Go to:
http://www.uakron.edu/nursing/aboutus/stti/recognition-awards.dot to learn
more about nominating. Information is
also attached to this email.
Submit your nomination to Barb Brunt at:
bruntb1@gmail.com
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& AWARDS Ceremony
April 17, 2016
1:00 P.M.
Student Union Ballroom A
Please arrive to help set up by 12
P.M.
New members arriving at 12:30P.M.
Cords for graduation: $15.00
Available from Carolyn Sutter
csutter@uakron.edu
Nominations for 2016 board members
will occur in April, Contact Aris Eliades:
aeliades@chmca.org
The positions available include:
 President-Elect
 2nd Vice President
 Treasurer
 Governance Committee
 Leadership Succession Committee
 Other Committee Positions
 Extern (RN), Intern (Student)
Please nominate yourself or another member. We
always need new members on the board!
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MEMBERS IN THE COMMUNITY!
Over the last 10 years, STTI members have been
volunteering at OPEN M in Akron, serving hot
lunches and sponsoring a family over Christmas
time. On January 29th, 18 STTI members worked
together to prepare meals, serve lunches, and
converse with community members. OPEN-M is
a free medical clinic that serves as the primary
care home to a large number of Summit County
uninsured residents. Patients of the clinic receive
basic medical and dental care. Residents also
have access to free hot lunches and an
emergency food pantry. Lunch is served
weekdays the last two weeks of the month, and
all summit county residents are welcome. To
learn more about OPEN M, you can visit their
website at http://openm-ministry.com/contact/,
or contact them by phone at 330-434-0110.
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Did you know?
Your gift to the STTI Foundation helps the
organization fulfill its mission to support the
learning, knowledge, and professional
development of nurses committed to making a
difference in health worldwide. And you can
decide where you want to designate your
support – research, leadership, future, or the
unrestricted fund giving categories. In 20152016, STTI provided 17 small grants and 4
research grants to members. In addition, they
gave 21 co-sponsored partner grants. There are
numerous leadership development opportunities
provided by the organization. Consider donating
today to help support nurses around the world
heal, lead, and learn.
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If you want to keep your donations at the local level,
there is an option to donate to the Delta Omega
chapter through the online renewal form. This will
help our chapter continue to provide grants and
scholarships, and will help support our community
service activities. You can also provide in-kind
support through volunteering at various functions or
contributing directly for some of our projects, such
as Adopt a Family for Christmas.
KEY
AWARD
In order to get the KEY AWARD for 2015-2017, all
members need to contribute.
Key Award
Delta Omega
Chapter of
Sigma Theta
Tau received
its
12th
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We need your help!
We know that many of our members are sharing
information through poster and podium
presentations at professional meetings and
conferences, as well as interdisciplinary
professional meetings and forums. We would like
to share that information with our members.
Please send the following information to Linda
Shanks, Delta Omega President, at
shanks@uakron.edu: Title of presentation, date,
name of group, and location. If you are willing to
share a copy of your poster or the slides from
your presentation, we would love to put that on
our website, so other members can see the good
work that you have done.
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The University of Akron, Quaker Station
Delta Omega sponsored Michele Enlow’s
travel to a Faculty Development Conference
hosted by AACN where she presented a
poster on the results from a study on patient
safety. The investigators of this collaborative
study were Linda Shanks, Michele Enlow, and
Sheau-Huey Chiu from the University of
Akron School of Nursing, and Eileen Fleming
and Sandy Germano from Summa Health
System. The purpose of this study was to
evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention
to improve students' confidence in patient
safety and comfort level in speaking up to a
person with authority. The results indicated
that the effect of the added intervention by
preceptor was equivalent to being with a
preceptor on students’ confidence in their
knowledge regarding patient safety or in
speaking up to authority. However, as a
whole, students’ confidence increased from
the beginning to the end of a Senior
Practicum course.
Delta Omega Winter Program
Wednesday, March 2, 2016
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Delta Omega’s Winter 2016 program, “Quality
Assurance Standards for Advanced Practice
Nurses in regards to Ohio House Bill 216”
featured an excellent and knowledgeable
speaker, Kathleen Scott, FNP, PhD. Dr. Scott is a
Family Nurse Practitioner and faculty at the
University of Akron. She provided very timely
information to the attending audience. That
same day was the annual Nurses Day at the
Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio where Ohio House
Bill 216 was definitely a big topic of discussion.
According to the Ohio Nurses Association, House
Bill 216 is an vital issue, as it seeks to eliminate
barriers for APRNs to practice to the full extent of
their education, training and certification. Dr.
Scott explained the importance of maintaining
quality assurance standards for APRNs in light of
Ohio House Bill 216. The audience was very
receptive to the information and a wonderful
discussion was generated from the presentation.
We are very thankful to Dr. Kathleen Scott for
sharing her expertise and to the University of
Akron, Quaker Station for providing the venue
and the wonderful food! Our programs are a
great way to learn and to network!
Submitted by Lisa Hart, 1st Vice President, Delta
Omega Chapter.
Biennial Report
Lori Kidd and Sheri Hartman
Poverty is on the rise in the United States
(National Center for Health Statistics, 2012).
Poverty is a significant social determinant of
health, impacting mental illness, obesity,
cardiovascular health and other acute and
chronic illnesses. It is essential that nursing
students and other health care professionals
develop an empathetic understanding for the
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complexity of poverty and related health outcomes,
yet few undergraduate students may have real life
experience or exposure with this vulnerable
population (Patterson & Hulton, 2011; Yang,
Woomer, Agbemenu, & Williams, 2014).
On November 9th, 2015, Lori Kidd, PhD, RN
and Sheri Hartman, PhDc, RN had the opportunity to
present their research “A Poverty Simulation for
Health Care Profession Students” at the STTI National
Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada. The research was
conducted to evaluate whether a poverty simulation
presented for health care professions students
effected a change in attitudes toward those living in
poverty. We shared findings from our first
simulation which included undergraduate students
(n=80) enrolled in nursing, social work, and child life
specialist programs in a large Midwestern University.
The simulation lasted approximately 3 hours and
required the students to role play being part of a low
income family for a month. Community volunteers
staffed resource agencies providing assistance.
Students were asked to complete a pre and posttest
that assessed attitudes toward those living in poverty
(Short Form of the Attitude Toward Poverty Scale,
Yun & Weaver, 2010). A section for general
comments collected qualitative data. Paired sample
t-tests were used to determine differences in
attitude toward those living in poverty pre and post
simulation. Although, there was no significant overall
change in attitudes pre and post simulation; multiple
items of the scale demonstrated significance (p<.05).
Subjective comments from the participants about
the experience were very positive.
The presentation was well received with
several university representatives from across the
country staying after to discuss details about the
simulation. The conference was an incredible
experience for us and we have developed a larger
network with other professional nurses interested in
developing a similar simulation at their university.
We are excited to say that we are continuing our
research regarding attitudes toward individuals living
in poverty and have just completed our sixth
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simulation, with our seventh scheduled for late
April. We are continuing to collect data, both
subjective and objective, and are working on a
publication at this time.
We are grateful for Delta Omega for their
support in our research efforts. The STTI
National Convention was an amazing experience
and we would not have been able to attend
without the support of STTI, Delta Omega
Chapter.
Presidential Call to ACTION 2015-2017
Barb Brunt
Each biennium the STTI President establishes a
Call to Action to inform the work of the society
for the next two-year period. Cathy Catrambone,
PhD, RN, FAAN, President of STTI, developed a
call to action, which focuses on Influence to
Advance Global Health and Nursing. The World
Health Organization estimates there are 19.3
million nurses and midwives woven into every
element of healthcare worldwide. Now is the
time for nurses to leverage our expertise to
influence the health of the world’s people and to
advance the profession through advocacy, policy,
philanthropy and lifelong learning.
Influence through advocacy –As advocates,
nurses achieve positive outcomes for those we
serve. The need has never been greater for the
voice of the nurse to be heard. Through the use
of knowledge, expertise, and relationships,
nurses advocate for a lead change to improve
global health. Across all settings, professional
practice roles, and cultures, nurses are uniquely
positioned to advocate for the rights, health, and
safety of populations they serve and to advance
the profession worldwide. This can be achieved
by developing advocacy expertise, engaging in
advocacy, and fostering advocacy partnerships.
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Influence through policy – Nurses in every setting
must embrace our responsibility to engage in shaping
policy. Health policy impacts how decisions are
made and resources are allocated in every aspect of
healthcare and the communities we serve. STTI calls
on its 135.000 members to contribute their
leadership, scholarship, and research expertise to
advance health policy. This can be achieved by
engaging in policy initiatives and leading policy
change.
Influence through philanthropy – Volunteering and
charitable donations will advance and sustain STTI
leadership and research resources for nurses
improving the health of the world’s people. Our
commitment to global health is realized as we serve
populations in more than 90 countries. Through
sharing our stories and inspiring those whom we
have served, we can influence philanthropy to fulfill
our mission. This can be achieved by contributing
time and talent and generating charitable donations.
Influence through lifelong learning – Dynamic
lifelong learning leads to advancement in nursing
practice. As we build upon our capacities as
professional nurses, we influence the transformation
of global health. Conducting a positive inventory of
strengths and opportunities for continued
development and advancement enhances our
scholarship, leadership, and service. STTI support
every member’s lifelong learning by offering
resources and engagement with Society initiatives.
This can be achieved by developing personally and
professionally and using STTI resources.
What does this mean for our chapter? As we
develop our strategic plan, we will be incorporating
strategies that assist STTI in its mission to Influence
to Advance Global Health and Nursing. It is very
likely that the key award criteria will be arranged
under these four areas of influence. We are already
doing some things in these areas and will continue
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those, such as our work with OPEN-M and our
educational programs.
Join Region 10 in 2016: Bridging
Nursing Leadership & Research:
Innovations in Health Care
Friday April 15 & Saturday April 16,
2016
Kensington Court, Ann Arbor
Michigan
Call for Delta Omega
Research Grant and
Evidence-Based-Project
Proposals
Do you want to do research or complete
an evidence-based project, but don’t have
funds to support your proposal? Consider
submitting a proposal to Delta Omega
Chapter of STTI.
Purpose: The purpose of the Sigma Theta
Tau International Delta Omega Chapter
research or evidence-based project grant
is to encourage quality nurses to
contribute to the advancement of nursing
through research. Proposals for pilot
and/or developmental research may be
submitted. All research topics and designs
are eligible for support!
Deadline: April 30, 2016
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Event
Date
Time
Location
Akron General Medical
Center
Winter Program
March 2, 2016
6:00 pm
OPEN-M Bag Lunches
March 3, 2016
Awards Deadline
PIZZA informational
meeting
March 15, 2016
11:45-1:00 and
3:45- 5:00pm
Mary Gladwin 209
March 16, 2016
Board Meeting
March 28, 2016
5:00pm
MGH 101
OPEN-M Bag Lunches
2016 INDUCTION
CEREMONY and Awards
April 7, 2016
April 17, 2016
1:00
Set up at noon
Student Union
Ballroom A
Board Meeting
April 25, 2016
5:00 pm
MGH 101
OPEN-M Bag Lunches
May 5, 2016
Spring Program
May 17, 2016
5:00pm
Summa Akron City
Hospital
Board Meeting
May 23, 2016
5:00 pm
MGH 101
Visit the Calendar of Events on our website for important deadlines and upcoming events:
http://www.uakron.edu/nursing/about-us/stti
Find us at: Sigma Theta Tau, Delta Omega Chapter
The Delta Report is published three times yearly for Delta Omega Chapter, Sigma Theta Tau, Inc. The Delta Report
welcomes information about members’ accomplishments in research, promotion, publication, and/or presentation.
Correspondence to the Delta Report should be sent to the president Linda Shanks via email at shanks@uakron.edu
Sigma Theta Tau, International www.nursingsociety.org
Delta Omega http://www.uakron.edu/nursing/about-us/stti
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