Nursing Alumni Society Board

Officers

President
Kathleen Ryan Fletcher ’71
krf8d@virginia.edu
Past-President
Karen Macauley ’87
karenM@psualum.com
Secretary
Linda Schakenbach ’77
Linda.schakenbach@inova.com
Treasurer
Joelyn Niggel '74
vtpennstater@psualum.com

At-Large Board Members

Carol Amann '01
amann@velocity.net
Tara Baney '92
psurat92@aol.com
Kim Fenstermacher '04g
KFenstermacher@pinnaclehealth.org
Larry Kramer '88
rndoc@hotmail.com
Deborah Nallo '01
dln1954@adelphia.net
Victoria Schirm '72, '75g
vschirm@hmc.psu.edu
Susan Scholtz '76
scholtz@moravian.edu
Jo Ann Webb '70
jwebb@aha.org
Kara White '99
kwhite@sbvlaw.com

Faculty Liaison

Janice Penrod ’96g, ’01g
jlp198@psu.edu

Officers

Karen Macauley ’87, ’93g is the trauma prevention and outreach director for St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia. She also teaches the trauma coordinator core course for the America Trauma Society and the Council of Trauma Nurse Coordinators and has delivered numerous presentations on trauma-related subjects.

Prior to accepting her position at St. Christopher’s, Macauley served as the trauma program coordinator at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia and the trauma services coordinator at Luther Hospital in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

Macauley has served as president of the Penn State Nursing Alumni Society since 2003. She has volunteered with several community organizations including “Host for Hospitals” and Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Eau Claire. In addition, she is currently president-elect of the Trauma Nurse Council of the American Trauma Society and is a member of the American Association of Spinal Cord Injury Nurses and the Society of Trauma Nurses.

Macauley, who hails from South Williamsport, PA, has a five-year-old daughter, Kelli.

Kathleen Ryan Fletcher, RN, MSN, APRN-BC GNP, FAAN ’71 is currently the director of senior services, gerontological nurse practitioner, and assistant professor of nursing at the University of Virginia Health Systems in Charlottesville, Virginia, where she has worked since 1986. Kathy received her bachelor’s degree in Nursing from Penn State in 1971 and a master’s degree as a Gerontological Nurse Practitioner from the University of Lowell in 1982.

Fletcher maintains a hands-on role focusing at present on developing geriatric knowledge, skills and abilities in nurses through a mentorship program – the Geriatric Resource Nurse model – and by serving as lead faculty in the Post-Master’s GNP program at UVA. She is currently project director and principal investigator for a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Quick Strikes grant awarded to develop and implement a Nurse Administered Family Centered Acute Care of the Elderly Unit within the UVAHS. She teaches and publishes extensively and exclusively in gerontological nursing. She is a consumer advocate and educator serving as the Fluvanna County representative to the Jefferson Area Board of Aging. She presently is serving on two governor-appointed boards in Virginia: The Virginia Board of Long Term Care Administrators and also The Governors Advisory Board on the Future of Nursing in Virginia.

Fletcher is a geriatric clinician, educator, researcher and administrator actively involved in professional organizations at the city, state, national and international levels. She is chairperson of the Gerontological Nursing Practice Council of the Virginia Nurses Association and is an active member in the Virginia Council of Nurse Practitioners and the Virginia Nurses Legislative Coalition. She was treasurer of the VNA from 2003 to 2005.

Fletcher is past president of the National Conference of Gerontological Nurse Practitioners and is the former chair of the Board on Credentialing, Gerontological Nursing for the American Nurses Association. She is a former Magnet appraiser for both acute and long-term care for the American Nurses Association. She is currently president of the Penn State Nursing Alumni Society.

Kathy was recognized for sustained outstanding nursing contributions in 2001 when she was the recipient of the Nancy Vance Award, the highest award given by the Virginia Nurses Association. She was inducted as a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing in 2002.

Joelyn Niggel ’74 is the Cardiology Non-Invasive Nurse Manager at Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington, Vt. She is responsible for the day-to-day operation of all non-invasive cardiac testing in the hospital, outpatient clinic and outreach programs. Cardiac testing includes the electrocardiogram, echocardiogram and stress laboratories.

Niggel began her career as a staff nurse on a neurosurgical unit at George Washington University. In 1976, she moved to Vermont with her husband and began working in the field of cardiology. Over the past 25 years, she has worked as a staff nurse in the coronary care unit, cardiac catheterization and cardiac ultrasound laboratories. She became very interested in the study of cardiac ultrasound and in 1983, received her national certification in adult and pediatric cardiac ultrasound.

Niggel has co-authored several articles and co-founded a regional cardiac ultrasound society. In 1991, she began the nurse manager and earned the honor of Nurse Manager of the Year in 2004. She continues her education by taking correspondence classes through Penn State Distance Learning/World Campus.

Over the past several years, Niggel has stayed involved with Penn State by being a Life Member of the Penn State Alumni Association, a member of the Varsity S Club, reactiving the Vermont Chapter and volunteering as an admissions recruiter. She stays very active with her husband and their three sons, enjoying camping, mountain biking and skiing.

Upon receiving her bachelor's degree in nursing in 1976, Sue Scholtz began her career in the specialty of pediatrics. In 1977, she completed the Clinical Nurse Specialist track at the University of Pittsburgh with a MN. Her qualitative research focused on coping mechanisms used by hospitalized school-age children. She has worked as a nurse educator for the past 25 years and is currently an associate professor at Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Recently, Scholtz earned her DNSc from Widener University. Her dissertation focused on the use of expressive writing to minimize perceived threat in baccalaureate nursing students prior to clinical education.

Scholtz is a member of the PSNA Cabinet on Nursing Practice and Professional Development and has served as an alumni mentor to students at Penn State Berks campus.

Linda Schakenbach ’77 is a clinical nurse specialist in the critical care units at InovaAlexandria Hospital in Virginia. She is responsible for developing and implementing theoretically based nursing practice with first-line managers and staff in two medical-surgical ICUs, a cardiovascular surgical ICU and two telemetry units.

Previously, Schakenbach was a clinical nurse specialist in the critical care unitsat InovaMount Vernon Hospital in Alexandria and held the same positionat InovaFairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Virginia. Schakenbach has also been an instructor in the division of continuing education at the University of Virginia in Falls Church and has held adjunct and affiliate faculty positions at George Mason University and The Catholic University of America.

Schakenbach is currently a member of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, American Heart Association, the Wound Ostomy Continence Nurses Society and the National Association of Clinical Nurse. She is also a member of Sigma Theta Tau and Phi Kappa Phi honor societies. She has delivered numerous presentations and published extensively on topics related to critical care.

Schakenbach was a letter winner for the women’s varsity volleyball team while a student at Penn State and still plays volleyball weekly. She is a life member of the Penn State Alumni Association and a member of the Alumni Association’s Metro Washington Chapter, the Varsity S Club and the Women’s Volleyball Booster Club. In addition to her degree from Penn State, she received a master’s degree in nursingfrom the State University of New York at Buffalo.

At-Large Board Members

Carol Amann ’01 is the director of clinical education and staff development at Select Specialty Hospital –Erie. She is responsible for the education, orientation and skill acquisition of all staff employed at the facility. She is also adjunct faculty for nursing at Gannon University in Erie, PA.

Prior to assuming these positions, she was a nurse manager, with over15 years of management experience. Clinically, she enjoyed many years of nursing in critical care and emergency nursing arenas.

Amann began her career as a Licensed Practical Nurse while serving in the United States Army. She obtained her associate degree in nursing from Villa Maria College, her Bachelor of Science degree from Penn State, and most recently a Master of Science Degree in Nursing from Gannon University.

Amann is currently a member of the American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE), Pennsylvania Organization of Nurse Leaders (PONL) where she is a board member and co-chairs the legislative and practice committee, Northwest Pennsylvania Organization of Nurse Leaders (NWPONL), Sigma Theta Tau, Beta Sigma and Eta Xi chapter where she serves as president elect. She is also a member of Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society.

Amann keeps her ties to the Penn State community through membership with the Penn State Alumni Association - Lake Erie Chapter and the Nursing Alumni Society. She also guest lectures at the Penn State Shenango campus.

After receiving her bachelor's degree in Nursing in 1992, Tara Baney began working at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in New York, New York. Over the next 11 years, she worked as a clinical nurse and a Clinical Nurse Specialist. She also received her master's degree at Pace University in Pleasantville, New York in 1997. Baney was active in the New York City Chapter of the Oncology Nurses Society and presented three times at the National Oncology Nurses Society Congress.

In 2003 Baney accepted a position at Mount Nittany Medical Center in State College, Pennsylvania as the Clinical Nurse Specialist for the Cancer Program. This position enabled her to become involved in several organizations including the Pennsylvania Cancer Pain Initiative Committee, Pennsylvania Cancer Consortium, and Appalachian Cancer Network. Baney has remained involved in different Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) activities such as a member of the AOCN Test Development Committee and as a fellow in the ONS Leadership Development Institute.

Baney received the Shirley Novosel Award from the Nursing Alumni Society in 1999 and the Emerging Professional Award from the College of Health and Human Development Alumni Society in 2000.

Kim Fenstermacher ’04g has 24 years of experience in nursing, including positions as a Labor and Delivery and NICU staff nurse, nurse manager, and most recently, project coordinator for PinnacleHealth System in Harrisburg, PA. In her current role, she has been instrumental in implementing shared decision-making councils, designing a theory-based career development program and writing the nursing annual report for PinnacleHealth. Fenstermacher received her B.S.N. from Boston University in 1982 and her M.S.N. as a neonatal nurse practitioner from Penn State in 2004.

Larry S. Kramer ’88 is now celebrating his 25th year as a Registered Nurse. For the past ten years, Kramer has worked as a family nurse practitioner in a family-based clinic covering three counties in two states. He also founded and runs the Urology Nursing Society (UNS), an all volunteer, non-profit organization, whose goal is advanced education for working nurses within the field of urology. For the past fifteen years, UNS has sponsored seminars in various cities around the country offering high quality, affordable education to nurses.

Deborah Nallo ’01 is a school nurse at the Career Technology Center of Lackawanna County, PA, where she is responsible for the health care of a student population of over 800 and 100 staff members. She is also in her third year of the M.S.N. – F.N.P. program at the University of Scranton. Nallo is a member of the Sigma Theta Tau - International Nursing Honor Society, Iota Omega Chapter.

Nallo also serves as facilitator for Teaching the Educator – Plus, hosted by the Pennsylvania Department of Education and Bureau of Career and Technical Education. She has also served as an adjunct professor at Temple University Vocational Education program and has worked in various settings, including the emergency department at Hershey Medical Center, an outpatient operative environment, home health, hospice, and deputy coroner in York County.

Victoria Schirm ’72, ’75g serves as director of nursing research at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, where she directs activities in research, evidence-based practice, and quality care in the Department of Nursing. Previously, she was director of the Gerontology Nursing Center and professor of nursing at The University of Akron. Her nursing research, education and practice are focused on quality care and outcomes for older adults and their families, and she presented at national forums and published articles on nursing care issues of older adults in a number of nursing journals.

In addition to her B.S. and M.S. in nursing from Penn State, Schirm holds a Ph.D. in nursing at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH. She has held nursing faculty positions at Penn State, James Madison University, Kent State University, and Mercy Hospital (Altoona). She is a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America.

Jo Ann K. Webb ’70 is the senior director of federal relations and policy for the American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE), a subsidiary of the American Hospital Association. As the chief lobbyist for AONE, she directs legislative and policy support to over five thousand registered nurses in executive practice. Webb also serves as a Presidential Appointee on the board of the National Veterans Business Development Corporation. Previously, she spent six years on Capitol Hill serving as a subcommittee staff director in the House of Representatives and as a legislative director in the Senate.

Webb was awarded the Army Commendation Medal and the Exceptional Service Award from the Department of Veterans Affairs. She is an Alumni Fellow of Penn State and is the sponsor of the USS Abraham Lincoln, an aircraft carrier home ported in Bremerton, WA. In addition to her B.S.N. from Penn State, Webb holds a Master of Health Administration degree from George Washington University.

Kara White is a Medical Malpractice Defense Attorney with Silverman Bernheim & Vogel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She defends clinicians in various fields of the health care profession, including nurses, helping them to prepare for depositions and trial testimony.

Faculty Liaison

Janice Penrod ’96g, ’01g is an assistant professor of nursing and humanities at Penn State.

Penrod’s research interests focus on qualitative methods and the care of older adults. She has conducted numerous funded research projects, has delivered presentations both nationally and internationally and has published dozens of articles, book chapters and monographs during her career.

Prior to becoming an assistant professor, Penrod was a research associate, onsite clinical lab coordinator, research associate and clinical instructor at Penn State. Before that, she served as director of senior care and clinical nurse specialist at Altoona (Pennsylvania) Hospital and as a staff nurse at Conemaugh Valley Memorial Hospital in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. She has also taught at Mt. Aloysius and St. Francis colleges.

Penrod was named a District V Florida Nurses/American Nurses Foundation Scholar in 2002 and a faculty affiliate in the Gerontology Center at Penn State in 2001. She also received a pre-doctoral fellowship from the National Institute on Aging in 1998 and was named a Faculty Fellow of the Geriatric Education Center of Pennsylvania in 1987. Penrod is a member of Sigma Theta Tau International, the Gerontological Society of America, the American Society on Aging and the Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science.

Penrod received her BSN in nursing from the University of Pittsburgh in 1976 and her MS and Ph.D. in nursing from Penn State in 1996 and 2001, respectively.