Spring 2020: Embracing Change
Dear Friends,

Welcome to the inaugural edition of TWU Nursing News, the quarterly digital newsletter of the College of Nursing at Texas Woman’s University. We are pleased to share with you this digest highlighting accomplishments of our faculty, outstanding students, newsworthy alumni, generous donors and our compass for change and innovation. The College of Nursing is indeed having an impact on the state of Texas, and the nation, and one timely example of this is our announcement this week that TWU is expanding its blended nursing program with a second community college.

We’ve chosen a particularly opportune time to launch this newsletter as the World Health Organization has dubbed 2020 the “Year of the Nurse and the Midwife” in recognition of Florence Nightingale’s 200th birthday. We also are on the heels of National Nurses Week, and perhaps at no time in recent memory have nurses at every level been more needed – those at the bedside and in the clinics, educators, policy makers and administrators – than they are now during the COVID-19 crisis.

In this edition of TWU Nursing News, we’ve featured several individuals who have performed extraordinary feats in the face of this tragic pandemic. In upcoming newsletters we will highlight more news from the College to include captivating research, profiles on friends of the College and more.

These stories offer a lens into the outstanding efforts of members of the TWU family and demonstrate the true Pioneer spirit which endeavors to help make society a better place. We are thrilled to share them with you and hope they provide a measure of inspiration as they do for us.

Best,
Rosalie O. Mainous, PhD, APRN, FAANP, FAAN
Dean and Professor, College of Nursing
Texas Woman's University
Alumni in Action
Nursing alumni help save New York

The TWU College of Nursing's impact in Texas is unmatched, but our alumni provide health care throughout the world. We look forward to sharing these stories with you in TWU Nursing News issues to come.

In our first issue, however, we focus on two TWU Dallas 2012 alumni based in the metroplex. When the COVID-19 crisis hit, Courtney Waddle and Maybelle Anderson found themselves furloughed from Lonestar Endoscopy. Without an outlet to use skills learned at TWU, the duo teamed with three others to travel to New York City to do their part.
Pride in Partnership
Blended program fast tracks nurses

While the TWU College of Nursing is expanding its blended RN-BSN program to Alvin Community College, the inaugural class in a similar program at North Central Texas College graduates this month.

The innovative partnership created a streamlined path to a bachelor's degree for Alexis Jennings and Julie Vo. This is a look at how collaboration addresses the need for more baccalaureate-trained nurses in Texas.
Fascinating Faculty
Liu leads effort for PPE supply

Alumni would not be equipped to do outstanding work without leadership and training received from TWU Nursing faculty.

Meet Dr. Fuqin Liu , an associate professor at our Denton campus. A sign of our global reach, Liu acted on insight provided by her brother, an ICU nurse in China, to spring into action. She organized DFW Care to raise funds for, collect and distribute personal protective equipment.
Student Spotlights
Nursing students find reward in COVID-19 response

Work of nursing students in Denton, Dallas and Houston is the most important information we can share.

See how two seniors, Jackie Tran and Douglas Schwartz , helped the Houston area in the face of COVID-19.
Student's career pursuit is close to heart

Follow Nimreh Warsi on her path through the TWU College of Nursing, starting with the life-changing event that sparked her interest in a career in nursing.

See how she's sharing that pursuit with others in new and refreshing ways.
Graduate student assists with temporary hospital in Maryland

Amber Wake is earning her TWU master’s degree this month after helping open a temporary COVID-19 hospital in Laurel, Maryland.

She credits experience from undergraduate school at TWU as well as graduate school for preparing her to lead, to adapt and to critically think.
Philanthropy Focus
Foundation, charity contribute to support nursing students

One gift came from a foundation started by a Dallas couple with hearts as big as Texas, the other was from a longstanding charitable group devoted to caring for the sick and poor. Together, they gave $100,000 to Texas Woman’s University in support of nursing students this spring.
Special Note from ABC's John Quinones
See all of our highlights from Nurses Week.