Message from the Dean
Welcome to the USU Graduate School of Nursing Web site. As you navigate our pages, you will learn much about the nation's only federal university of the health sciences, including the GSN's novel approach to educating leaders and faculty scholars in uniform and nurses working in federal health agencies.
Like other health care professionals, our community of learners is dedicated to advancing the boundaries of science and making the world a healthier place. At USU, however, our colleagues' engagements extend beyond the traditional curriculum.
In addition to providing scholarship opportunities of the highest order, our students take part in unique learning experiences designed to equip GSN graduates with the skills necessary to care for patients in a range of settings - from clinics and hospitals to battlefields around the world.
To prepare our nurses for the broad responsibilities of uniformed service, all five GSN programs weave three focused research and practice areas into the curriculums including: Operational Readiness in Changing Environments; Clinical Decision-Making in the Federal Healthcare Systems; and Global, Environmental, Cultural and Political Context. Understanding these tenets allows USU nurses to take on leadership roles across the globe in times of peace and war.
To provide the science needed for military and federal nursing practice and health policy, GSN faculty initiate research in four key areas including: Health Promotion with an emphasis on Psychological Health; Wounded Warriors with Traumatic Brain Injury; Families: Healthy and in Crisis; and Evidence Based Practice/Outcomes and Patient Safety. These areas of research require basic science and laboratory studies as well as social science and behavioral and clinical investigations using both qualitative and quantitative methods. Colleagues interested in building science for military and federal situations are invited to join our faculty in their scholarly endeavors.
The GSN also welcomes those pursuing excellence in graduate education. If receiving your master's degree or Ph.D. in the field of nursing, the GSN provides unparalleled opportunities for those dedicated to career service in the federal and military health care systems.
Whether you are an aspiring faculty member or scholar, we hope you will explore the possibilities of the GSN and discover the USU difference.
Ada Sue Hinshaw
Ph.D., R.N., FAAN
Highlights
Spotlight
USU faculty takes first place in Navy Wide Research Competition
Several Graduate School of Nursing faculty members and students were honored during the 26th Annual Navy-Wide Research Competition held on May 26 at the Naval Medical Center Portsmouth (NMCP).
CDR Greg Nezat, USU's former research director at NMCP, and CDR Chris Oudekerk, USU's current research director at NMCP, represented the winning team in the Navy Medicine East competition.
Their presentation, "The effect of intraoperative intravenous lidocaine infusion on the reduction of postoperative pain and return of bowel function in patients undergoing minor laparoscopic gynecological procedures," was supported by USU teammates LT Philip Grady, LCDRs Nathaniel Clark and John Lenahan, CDR Robert Hawkins and CAPT (Ret) Joe Pelligrini.