Kristina Wickman, MSN, RN, of Tower 6B, earned her master’s degree in nursing education from Framingham State College.

Patrice K. Nicholas, PhD, RN, DNSc, APRN, program manager for Global Health and Academic Partnerships in the Center for Nursing Excellence, delivered the commencement address and received an honorary doctor of humane letters degree at Fitchburg State College’s 114th Commencement May 22.

Leah Szumita, MSN, RN, and Andrea Balko, MSN, RN, both of the MICU, earned master’s degrees of science in nursing in the clinical nurse specialist track from the University of Massachusetts Boston in June. Both received an Academic Excellence Award for achieving a cumulative GPA greater than 3.5. Szumita and Balko are members of the Sigma Theta Tau Honor Society of Nursing.

Claire Lynch, MBA, RN, a staff nurse on Shapiro 10, earned her master’s degree in business administration from the University of Phoenix.

Kristen McDonough Holly, BSN, RN, of Tower 9CD, earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Amy Brooks, MSN, RN, of 14CD, graduated from the adult/gerontological nurse practitioner program at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Colleen West, BSN, RN, CPHQ, Nursing Quality Program director in Hematology, Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant, earned her certification in healthcare quality.

Hilda Gallegos-Dargon, BSN, RN, was certified as a diabetes educator and received Reiki Masters level training.

Tower 15AB‘s Elizabeth Doane, BSN, RN, PCCN, received certification in progressive care nursing, and Marie Gibbons, BSN, RN, earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Framingham State College.

Ruthva Joseph, RN, staff nurse, on 14CD, recently completed the adult nurse practitioner program at Northeastern University.

Four staff nurses from the PACU graduated in May with master’s degrees. Deborah E. McConnell, MPH, RN, CCRN, earned a master’s of public health degree from Tufts University; Jeanette A. Cote, MSN, RN, received a master’s of science in nursing with a concentration in education from Framingham State College; and Janet Guptill MSN, RN, and Joan Malevich, MSN, RN, both graduated with master’s of science in nursing degrees with a concentration in education from Salem State College.

Lisa Preston, RN, nurse educator on Shapiro 9 and 10, and Jacqueline MacNeil, RN, clinical nurse in the MICU, were honored with the 2011 ELNEC-Critical Care Award from the End of Life Nursing Education Consortium American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN).

Posters, Presentations and Publications

Vince Vacca Jr., MSN, RN, CCRN, nurse educator for the Neurosciences ICU on Tower 9CD, recently published “How to Perform a 60 Second Neurologic Exam,” and “Vertebral Artery Dissection - Action STAT” in recent issues of Nursing 2010. He also presented “Cryptogenic Stroke and PFO in Young Adults,” during the 31st annual Braintree Neuro-Rehabilitation Conference, and “Syncope or ‘Going Vagal,’” during the fifth annual Boston Chapter AANN ‘Brain Matters’ Conference in Waltham. Both conferences took place in November.

Angela Kanan BSN, RN, CNOR, CRN, presented “Cryoablation in CT, MRI or PET/CT: A Comparison,” during the Association for Radiology & Imaging Nursing’s Fall Symposium, where she was also appointed to the association’s master faculty board.

Sherilyn Levy, MSN, RN, nurse-in-charge for the Center for Infertility and Reproductive Surgery, gave a presentation on caring for the male partner during infertility treatment at the American Society of Reproductive Medicine’s annual national conference in Denver, Colo., in October.

During the annual RESOLVE conference hosted in Marlborough in November, Holly Hughes, BSN, RN, nurse coordinator of the Egg Donor and Gestational Carrier program in the Center for Infertility & Reproductive Surgery, presented on donor options for infertile couples.

Below at left, Leslie Sabatino, BSN, RN, CCRN, of Shapiro 6 West Cardiac Surgical ICU, traveled to Chennai, India, in October to attend the sixth Global Health Conference and present a lecture at SRM University School of Nursing. More than 250 nursing students and faculty attended her lecture entitled, “Cardiac Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital,” which included information about the nursing care of patients with trans-apical aortic valve replacements, left ventricular assist devices and transplantation, as well as an overview of the procedures performed in the cardiac surgery program. She was accompanied by Mrs. Ceeya Patton Bolman, MSN, who also presented at the Global Health Conference.