Chris Shaw, PhD, RN, APRN, FNP and Mary Ann Lough, PhD, RN

The essential integration of teaching and practice is firmly rooted in the institutional memory of Marquette University College of Nursing. Dr. Lorraine Machan emphasized that point in her 1980 book: The Practitioner – Teacher Role: Practice What You Teach.  Over the years, seven College faculty members have received University Teaching Excellence Awards and several have published on innovations in nursing education. The faculty commitment to nursing as a practice and academic discipline has been reflected in philosophy and approaches to teaching.

To promote the transformation from student to a creative, competent Marquette Nurse, faculty have incorporated innovative teaching strategies and active learning.  In the 1960s when lectures were the norm, Sr. Rosalie Klein used role- playing for therapeutic communication and Professors Rosemary Kangery and Corinne Drexler Ebmeier developed a case-based pediatric course.  Later, Drs. Mary Ann Lough and Chris Shaw taught senior synthesis by Socratic Method applied to the life events of a six member Pzrkurat family.  Other professors used play readings and TV game show strategies in teaching.

Students were prepared to care for diverse and underserved people in distinctive settings, such as low income high rise residences for elders, central city parishes, and inner city day care facilities.  Interdisciplinary practice was taught in an AHEC Community Education Center in which students from nursing, medicine and social work collaborated on home visits to elders. 

Early adopters of educational technology, nurse-midwifery faculty offered hybrid and online courses to allow students to attend classes from their homes wherever they may live.  Another course innovation included a virtual “exam room” in which graduate advanced practice nurse students interacted with and examined virtual patients in order to learn clinical decision making skills. Power Points have replaced blackboards and overhead projectors and are enhanced with voiceovers, YouTube videos, and Podcasting. The College Simulation Lab challenges students to develop clinical decision-making.

When College faculty designed the Marquette nursing PhD program in care of vulnerable populations, it was fitting that functional preparation in teaching was included. Current faculty are preparing the next generation of practitioner-scholar-teachers.

Maureen O’Brien, Ph.D., RN, PCNS-BC and Leona VandeVusse, Ph.D., RN, CNM, FACNM

Marquette University College of Nursing has offered graduate programs in nursing since 1938. The first master’s program provided a Master of Science in Nursing Education. During the following years, the emphasis of the degree changed to preparing expert practitioners in care of adults or children with functional preparation in education or management. Graduates assumed positions as clinical nurse specialists, nurse managers and nurse educators. The college hosted an annual “Post-master’s Conference” from 1973 -1988 which served as a reunion as well as continuing education to master’s prepared nurses in the Milwaukee area.  An MSN reunion conference was held in June 2000.

During 1992, College faculty changed the graduate offerings to include nurse practitioner and nurse-midwifery preparation. Federal funding was received from the USPHS Division of Nursing to support advanced practice programs in older adult, child and nurse-midwifery. The graduate students who successfully completed these clinically focused MSN programs were eligible for certification as advanced practice nurses in their respective specialties. The nursing administration option transitioned to health care systems leadership Graduate enrollments rose from 106 in 1991 to 194 in 1996 as many employment opportunities opened for advanced practice nurses. The state of Wisconsin also granted prescriptive authority to advanced practice nurses in the mid-1990s, further enhancing their role within the health care system.

In the past decade, the graduate offerings program have further expanded to include:

• Clinical Nurse Leader
• Acute Care Nurse Practitioner
• Direct Entry Program - a graduate entry program for those with non-nursing bachelor degrees
• Ph.D. program
• Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP).

For 2009-2010, graduate enrollment totaled 327 students.

Throughout the history of the Marquette University College of Nursing, innovation based on societal needs for nurses have stimulated the growth and development of the graduate programming. The success is evident in the continued demand for Marquette-educated nurses with master’s and doctoral degrees.

The Marquette Nursing Center was established by Dr. Richard Fehring and Dr. Marilyn Frenn in 1982 as an innovation to develop knowledge about nursing approaches to enhancing health while providing students with community-based learning, and area residents with direct access to nursing care. Practice sites were created through negotiations with community partners, collaboration with other faculty, and grant proposals. The original model was conceptualized to focus outreach health care efforts at places where people gathered such as in parishes, housing projects, and schools. The Center practice model was based on a holistic nursing model of health and wellness. From 1982-1989, Center activities occurred at two church sites and several City of Milwaukee housing complexes. The majority of the clients served were from culturally diverse, underserved populations. Activities included one-on-one nursing visits, numerous health screening activities for all age groups, and educational programming incorporating health promotion and disease prevention principles. Client outcomes included direct access to nursing care, earlier identification of acute and/or potential problems, satisfaction with the nursing care provided, and trust in the faculty and student providers.

This phase resulted in numerous publications and national leadership roles for Marquette faculty who became involved in developing the science and funding support for nursing centers throughout the country.

In 1991, Dr. Pat McManus led the establishment of the nurse-managed Mary Mahoney Clinic with a distressed community. Faculty provided primary care services and developed a community Board of Directors. Clinic operations were turned over to the Board as planned in 1995.

In 1992, the Urban Partners for Health Children Program was created by Prof. Jeanne Browning as a partnership between the College of Nursing and the Central City Catholic School System. Nursing services were provided by a school nurse, a parish nurse, an advanced practice nurse, and undergraduate and graduate nursing students.

When changes in local public health funding resulted in an increase in unmet needs for women and children, Drs. Mary Ann Lough and Chris Shaw established the Marquette Clinic for Women and Children in 1997. With funding from the Clark Foundation from 1997-2009, faculty and students deliver primary care to uninsured women and children.

In 2006, a family practice physician offered to transfer his practice to the College. He was leaving the country and looking for a medical home for over 4500 clients, two-thirds of whom were economically disadvantaged. Dean Lea Acord considered this opportunity as congruent with the college vision and mission. The clinic would provide clinical learning and research opportunities to reduce health disparities. After months of analysis and planning with many university officials, the nurse managed Marquette Neighborhood Health Center (MNHC), located at 1834 W. Wisconsin Avenue opened in April, 2007.  The Center provides health care to adults and children that is evidence-based, individualized and includes a preventive focus.

Marquette University College of Nursing was a leader in the re-birth of nursing centers nationally in the 1980s and has sustained its commitment even today to developing the science, while caring for those most in need. The commitment has been actualized in many different places with a variety of partners, since collaboration is essential to meeting community needs and excellence in health care.

Sarah A. Wilson, Ph.D., RN

Marquette played a major role in the development of parish nursing in the U.S. As envisioned by Dr. Granger E. Westberg, a Lutheran pastor, modern parish nursing places nurses in ministerial roles in faith communities promoting health and wellness. Rosemarie Matheus and Dr. Richard Fehring developed a parish nurse curriculum in 1989-90 and Matheus became director of the Parish Nurse Institute in 1992. The parish nurse preparation course included a one week intensive study followed by a nine month fellowship.  Content included practice standards, spiritual care giving, and wellness. This curriculum became known as the “Wisconsin Model” and was selected as the designated parish nurse preparation program by the National Parish Nurse Resource Center. As many as 14 Marquette programs per year were offered on campus and at distant locations.

Marquette and Aurora Health Care developed a collaborative relationship to prepare parish nurses. Aurora recruited nurses for the parish nurse program, provided tuition reimbursement and compensation for the nurses’ work in the community. Upon completion of the program, nurses were placed in local congregations. This format was adopted by other health systems.

When the National Parish Nurse Resource Center recognized the need for a standardized curriculum to define and control of parish nursing, Matheus took a leadership role. She worked with colleagues Ann Solari-Twadell and Mary Ann McDermott to write the American Nurses Association Scope and Standards of Parish Nursing.

The Marquette Parish Nurse Institute Program has prepared over 1,600 nurses across the United States in 40 states and internationally in Canada, Mexico, Belize, Great Britain and the Middle East. Parish nursing is consistent with the College’s mission and concern for social justice.  It reclaims spirituality in nursing practice.

The Marquette Nursing Faculty Practice Plan operated from 1994-2003 to the benefit of students, faculty and the College. Through contracts with various agencies, the plan afforded faculty ways to keep clinically current, maintain advanced practice certification, develop clinical innovations, enhance their income, and make substantive contributions to health care. During years of financial constraints, the plan generated additional revenue which was used to hire part-time faculty.

A few major contracts placed Marquette nursing faculty in positions of national and international leadership as they continued to teach students. Through a contract with Geneva, Switzerland based International Council of Nurses, Dr. Amy Coenen directed the International Classification for Nursing Practice program.  Nurse practitioner Karen Ivantic-Doucette devoted 50% of her effort to Aurora’s positive health clinic. Her expertise gained her a position on President Bush’s Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS in 2001. Pediatric nurse practitioner Susan Stroupe directed health services for 22,000 children in the Racine Unified School District. Geriatric nurse practitioner Sharon Roth Maguire provided primary care for residents of Luther Manor.  Judy Kowatch devoted 50% effort to advanced maternal child nursing at St. Mary’s Hospital.   Dr. Michelle Malin was contracted for the position of director of nursing practice at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin where she supervised 60 advanced practice nurses. Rosemarie Matheus provided leadership and development for Aurora parish nurses in metropolitan Milwaukee, Burlington and Sheboygan. While the formal plan was discontinued in 2004, many faculty members remain engaged in practice in free clinics and other sites. 

Faculty and staff at the Marquette University College of Nursing have been offering professional services in natural family planning (NFP) since 1985. In 1994, Dr. Richard Fehring and Prof. Donna Lawrence published a peer reviewed efficacy study of the Creighton Model method of NFP. In 1998, the Boland Love of Life Foundation funded an Institute for Natural Family Planning (INFP) at Marquette for the purpose of providing professional education, research and service in natural family planning. In 1999, a new method of NFP (called the Marquette Model) was developed and launched. This method entailed the integration of electronic hormonal fertility monitoring along with traditional natural markers of fertility. In 2000, Marquette began offering a six credit online NFP teacher training program which received endorsement from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, which named Fehring as science consultant for NFP. In 2007, Fehring and Mary Schneider published the first prospective efficacy study of that the Marquette Method of NFP. In 2008, the Natural Family Planning website was launched. It includes information on NFP, user forums, automatic menstrual cycle charting systems, protocols for special reproductive circumstances (e.g., monitoring fertility during the breastfeeding transition), and online support from professional nurses and physicians. The online system of the Marquette Method now has over 1,400 women/couple users.

The INFP at Marquette is the only Catholic institution in the United States that currently offers online university-level courses for credit to prepare health professionals in NFP while providing research and direct services to families. The Institute has a national impact on Catholic families. Fehring received a grant from the Department of Health and Human Services on his NFP work in 2010.