U of M News Wire
March 20, 2008
Care for a lifetime
U opens Center for Geriatric Nursing Excellence
By Erin Peterson
U of M News Wire
A nurse in any setting must have a sharp mind and a big heart. A geriatric nurse must also develop a detective's ability to piece together clues to understand a larger puzzle. She or he must be able to tease out symptoms that might signal depression, or earn the trust of a sheepish patient who's embarrassed to talk about incontinence.
That skill set comes not only from experience in the field, but also from a strong curriculum taught by excellent faculty members. With help from a $1 million grant from the John A. Hartford Foundation (and more than $500,000 in matching funds), the School of Nursing has opened the Minnesota Hartford Center for Geriatric Nursing Excellence. The center provides training to faculty who teach geriatric nursing at schools in four states and at tribal colleges across the nation.
Jean Wyman, director of the center, believes these activities are critical to prepare for the future.
"There's a tremendous shortage of nurse faculty, and there are even fewer faculty with a background in geriatric nursing," she said. "With the huge aging population that's already here – and expected to be coming – we have to do a better job of preparing future nurses to care for older adults."
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 19 million people will be 85 years of age or older in less than 50 years, and geriatric care is important because illnesses in older patients are often more complex than in younger people.
The new center adds to an already impressive array of work on gerontological nursing being done at the University of Minnesota, including Web-based courses, interdisciplinary geriatric education and research and research and practice done through a network of community partners. The five-year grant serves as a launching pad for the new center; Wyman expects that to sustain the center's work and develop new initiatives well beyond the five-year timeline.
Though the center was designed to help other schools strengthen their nursing programs through faculty development, the university also benefits.
The University's gerontological nursing program has long been one of the region's strongest, but the Hartford grant--one of just nine in the country – will provide national visibility to the work being done at the school. Christine Mueller, co-director of the Hartford program, said the initiative will help attract top faculty to the university and make an impact well beyond campus.
"Through the Hartford initiative, the University's School of Nursing will be able to ensure that our curriculum prepares nursing students to be competent and caring for older adults, and we'll have an impact on all schools of nursing in four states and tribal colleges," said Mueller.
And that impact will extend to the thousands of elderly men and women who benefit through longer, healthier and happier lives.
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Cause for paws
By Mary Hoff
U of M News Wire
Jaime Modiano has learned a lot of things from dogs: what sheer, unadulterated exuberance looks like; how much fun is wrapped up in a simple tennis ball; why it's a bad idea to leave the room when there's food on the table.
The one thing he'd really like to learn from them: how to conquer cancer.
Modiano joined the university last July as director of the Veterinary Medical Center's Animal Cancer Center and Alvin S. and June Perlman Endowed Chair in Animal Oncology. He studies naturally occurring cancer in dogs in hopes of improving cancer prevention, treatment and cures for pets and people alike.
Modiano's research focuses on cancer at the cellular level, learning how good cells go bad-and what can be done about it.
One out of three dogs will get cancer, and cancer kills more dogs than any other disease – so reducing the toll of the disease is important to veterinarians. But what we learn about canine cancer is valuable for learning about human cancers, too, Modiano said. For one thing, dogs are more similar to humans than most experimental animals. And they live in our homes and play in our yards, "so there's a certain sense of a sentinel – if they get something, maybe we will, too."
A lifetime zips by faster for dogs than people, so canine cancer progresses more quickly in dogs. Thus development of the disease can be studied in years rather than decades, and therapies can often be evaluated in a matter of months.
Perhaps most important from Modiano's perspective is the genetic angle. Centuries of trait selection and superbly documented pedigrees provide a treasure trove of information that can be used to delve for links between genes and both susceptibility to cancer and response to treatment.
"Breeds give us information we couldn't get in humans," Modiano said.
That genetic connection is providing Modiano with valuable insights into canine cancers. He has shown that different kinds of dogs tend to develop different kinds of lymphoma. He's developing a blood test to diagnose cancer of the blood vessels and melanoma before it can be detected clinically.
He is evaluating an experimental gene therapy for bone cancer in dogs that not only kills tumor cells, but also activates the immune system so it can also search and destroy any remnants lurking in the body. The results are promising, and he anticipates eventual clinical trials in humans.
Although his appointment is in the College of Veterinary Medicine in St. Paul, Modiano's lab is in the Cancer Center Research Building in Minneapolis. The interdisciplinary center puts him shoulder to shoulder with colleagues in the Medical School, College of Pharmacy and School of Public Health-fertile ground for innovation.
He recently began working with Carole Lange in the Medical School Departments of Medicine and Pharmacology, exploring how progesterone influences mammary cancer in cats – with potential application to breast cancer in humans. And he's eager for other collaborations with human-cancer colleagues in areas such as genetics of cancer and targeted drug therapies.
Modiano makes no bones about doing cancer research for dogs' sake. But he appreciates that it can inform human cancer research.
"A big part of our mission as veterinarians is to improve the health and well-being of companion animals," he said, "so we're taking advantage of this wealth of resources at the Cancer Center to try and do that. At the same time, by learning from animals, we learn stuff that hopefully will translate to people as well."
And, he adds, he and his veterinary colleagues gain much from human cancer research that helps them help dogs, too.
"It's not just what we bring to the table, but also what we gain in terms of coming up with information that allows us to treat and work with our patients," he said. "It's a bridge of collaboration."
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Editor’s note: Dr. Erickson is on vacation, so this column is from the 2003 Growing Concerns archive
Growing Concerns
A parenting question-and-answer column with Dr. Martha Erickson of the University of Minnesota
Question: Our next-door neighbor's child behaves very badly and seems to be unsupervised much of the time. We worry about his safety and about the bad influence he might have on our children, but we're not sure what to do since it's not really our place to discipline someone else's child. Do you have any suggestions?
Answer: Nearly everyone has encountered this kind of situation at some time, and it is a delicate one. The answer to your question will depend on many factors, including: how well you know the child and his parents, the severity of his behavior (especially whether it's potentially dangerous to others,) the child's age and whether the lack of supervision is serious enough that it constitutes child neglect.
Without knowing more details about the situation, I can only offer you general guidelines that might help you figure out how to proceed.
First, if the child is on your property, it is perfectly acceptable to tell him in plain and simple language what your house rules are and what the consequences will be if he chooses not to follow them. You can say, for example, "You can play here as long as you don't hit or swear. If you break those rules, I'll have to call your parents and take you home."
Also, let the boy's parents know your house rules and ask them to work with you in making sure he follows them. It will seem less personal and less threatening if you simply explain that these are the rules you ask your own children and all of their friends to follow. (You could also suggest that the parents let you know if they ever have concerns about your children's behavior.)
When you are away from your own property – at a neighborhood park, for example – you have less authority. But you still can express your concern about his behavior by using an "I" message rather than a "you" message. For example, you could say, "I really worry that you'll get hurt when you climb on that fence. How about if you climb on this jungle gym instead?" He might even appreciate that someone is concerned about his safety.
I also urge you to express your concerns directly to the boy's parents, but in a way that is supportive. For example, "It's hard to keep up with kids this age. Is there a way I can help? How would you like me to respond if I see him getting into trouble?"
Finally, let the boy and his parents know when you see him doing well. A simple message, like, "I really appreciated what a good sport he was when he played ball with the other kids today," can go a long way to encourage better behavior.
Taking a broader view, you might want to do what some other neighborhood groups have done. You can convene a block meeting to set guidelines for how everyone can work together to look out for the safety and well being of the neighborhood. In today's busy world, fortunate are the children who have adult neighbors who care enough to get involved.
Want to hear more parenting advice?
Dr. Erickson and her daughter can be heard every Sunday, from 2 - 4 pm, on “Good Enough Moms,” on FM107.1 radio in the Twin Cities or via Webcast at www.FM1071.com
