April 2020
Jill
Reed
,
PhD, APRN - BC
University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Nursing (Lincoln)
Lincoln
,
NE
United States
It excites me to write in support of Dr. Jill Reed for recognition of a deserved DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nursing Faculty. I have had the distinct pleasure of working closely with Dr. Reed since 2015 when I first started teaching in UNMC College of Nursing's Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) program. Initially, I got to know Dr. Reed as we were both assigned to teach in the same FNP courses. I have gotten to know her better in the last couple of years since she has taken on the role of FNP Specialty Coordinator.
Most recently considering the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the related changes that have had to happen, Dr. Reed has been forward-thinking in her efforts to ensure the Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) students are being taken care of. The FNP program is the largest of the CON nurse practitioner programs and has students on every campus. Dr. Reed created an extra spreadsheet that is stored on the FNP SharePoint drive that is constantly updated with students' clinical hours and any concerns with completing their clinical related to COVID-19, and when the student was last in communication with faculty. Dr. Reed's priority has been to ensure the FNP students are safe from a physical and mental health standpoint, and this spreadsheet greatly assists with tracking our students and ensure all the faculty have the necessary information. In addition, some of our FNP students are no longer allowed to continue their FNP clinical hours at the clinical agencies discretion and an attempt to "flatten the curve." Therefore, Dr. Reed has been brainstorming and meeting with key individuals to determine an alternate plan for attaining remaining clinical hours so that our May 2020 graduates may still be able to complete the program and graduate in May. Dr. Reed has also checked in with all the FNP faculty to ensure the didactic aspect of all the FNP courses are still operational and to ensure the faculty involved in the courses don't have any additional needs. In short, Dr. Reed has been simply amazing with managing the FNP program in light of this unprecedented time and has anticipated needs of students and faculty and developed plans and contingency plans.
In addition to what was just described, Dr. Reed has a long history of showing concern for and interest in students and their learning in the classroom, skills lab, and clinical environment. She is dedicated to helping students achieve their potential. An example of this is when students have approached her with the specialty track they have previously chosen and are contemplating either switching to or away from the FNP for a different specialty. Dr. Reed listens to their concerns and inquires about their future career plans so that she can help the student to determine what NP specialty is truly best for them and make a decision they are comfortable with. She has also demonstrated this through her role as academic advisor and being FNP Specialty Coordinator, which often requires that she meets with and counsels students regarding concerning performance on exams or in clinical. Lastly, she was incredibly responsive to FNP students' requests to be able to complete clinical hours over the summer. During Summer 2017 & 2018 she helped pilot offering summer clinical hours despite being a nine-month faculty and not having this as part of a formal teaching assignment nor getting compensated for it. This demonstrates her willingness to go above and beyond for the students.
Dr. Reed inspires student learning by emphasizing the importance of lifelong learning, and that learning does not stop upon graduation. She encourages students to consider meaningful continuing education to fill in any knowledge gaps and build upon existing knowledge, as well as encourages students to consider additional degrees or certifications in order to help them progress in their career trajectory. Dr. Reed is an advocate for research in general and for obtaining a Ph.D. for those who express interest in a doctorate. She provides practical examples of how research is critical to the interventions that nurses perform. It must be noted that many faculty are quick to assume that any student who is pursuing a nurse practitioner certificate would not be interested in research and often guide them to pursue a DNP, but Dr. Reed takes the time to inquire about the students own interests and future career plans, and advocates for consideration of the Ph.D. She has also modeled the philosophy of lifelong learning by her decision to complete UNMC Master's in Clinical & Translational Research -Mentored Scholars Program in December 2018, which she did after having obtained her Ph.D. She has been very open about sharing her career and educational path with students, including her decision to embark on a second master's degree after having obtained a terminal degree.
Dr. Reed promotes thinking, knowing, and personal and professional integrity by impressing upon students the importance of hard work, embracing assignments and available learning resources, and having personal responsibility and accountability. Dr. Reed is quick to help students understand that they are taking care of someone's loved one, and they need to treat them the way they want themselves or their family members to be treated. She teaches students that being a professional requires having a solid knowledge base and willingness to continue to learn and build upon that knowledge in order to continually provide the best care possible. Dr. Reed has had students accompany her at a clinic where she practices and exemplifies all the values she teaches. She also has joy and pride in her profession and continually verbalizes to students that while being a nurse practitioner and PhD-prepared faculty takes hard work and dedication, it is worth it. Lastly, she created a 100-point interview scoring sheet that was piloted in the FNP program in 2019. This allowed for assigning a score to the holistic interview questions that were previously asked but were not incorporated into a final score that is used to make decisions on applicants to admit. The impact of this scoring sheet was that a value was assigned to holistic items such as living in a rural area, living in a medically underserved area, working with disadvantaged populations, having global health experience, having previous teaching or research experience, being a first-generation college student, being involved in professional organizations, having to overcome barriers, performing community service, having leadership experience, speaking a second language and military service. This scoring sheet was tremendously helpful to the interviewing faculty while also objectively capturing UNMC mission values and ensuring that a cadre of qualified candidates were admitted that had much to offer to the profession beyond a high GPA.
Dr. Reed creates a caring learning environment that allows the students to apply new knowledge. She especially demonstrates this during site visits when she evaluates FNP students on their skills and abilities while continuously considering where the student is in the FNP program so that she is evaluating the student appropriately. She ensures to include positive feedback while also communicating areas where the student needs to improve in a manner that is caring yet clear. Dr. Reed helps students develop through her interactions with other students, clients, and colleagues by modeling a positive attitude, care, and compassion in the classroom, skills lab, practice environment, and when she is surrounded by other healthcare professionals. She demonstrates the importance of working with colleagues and not being afraid to ask questions.
Most recently considering the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the related changes that have had to happen, Dr. Reed has been forward-thinking in her efforts to ensure the Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) students are being taken care of. The FNP program is the largest of the CON nurse practitioner programs and has students on every campus. Dr. Reed created an extra spreadsheet that is stored on the FNP SharePoint drive that is constantly updated with students' clinical hours and any concerns with completing their clinical related to COVID-19, and when the student was last in communication with faculty. Dr. Reed's priority has been to ensure the FNP students are safe from a physical and mental health standpoint, and this spreadsheet greatly assists with tracking our students and ensure all the faculty have the necessary information. In addition, some of our FNP students are no longer allowed to continue their FNP clinical hours at the clinical agencies discretion and an attempt to "flatten the curve." Therefore, Dr. Reed has been brainstorming and meeting with key individuals to determine an alternate plan for attaining remaining clinical hours so that our May 2020 graduates may still be able to complete the program and graduate in May. Dr. Reed has also checked in with all the FNP faculty to ensure the didactic aspect of all the FNP courses are still operational and to ensure the faculty involved in the courses don't have any additional needs. In short, Dr. Reed has been simply amazing with managing the FNP program in light of this unprecedented time and has anticipated needs of students and faculty and developed plans and contingency plans.
In addition to what was just described, Dr. Reed has a long history of showing concern for and interest in students and their learning in the classroom, skills lab, and clinical environment. She is dedicated to helping students achieve their potential. An example of this is when students have approached her with the specialty track they have previously chosen and are contemplating either switching to or away from the FNP for a different specialty. Dr. Reed listens to their concerns and inquires about their future career plans so that she can help the student to determine what NP specialty is truly best for them and make a decision they are comfortable with. She has also demonstrated this through her role as academic advisor and being FNP Specialty Coordinator, which often requires that she meets with and counsels students regarding concerning performance on exams or in clinical. Lastly, she was incredibly responsive to FNP students' requests to be able to complete clinical hours over the summer. During Summer 2017 & 2018 she helped pilot offering summer clinical hours despite being a nine-month faculty and not having this as part of a formal teaching assignment nor getting compensated for it. This demonstrates her willingness to go above and beyond for the students.
Dr. Reed inspires student learning by emphasizing the importance of lifelong learning, and that learning does not stop upon graduation. She encourages students to consider meaningful continuing education to fill in any knowledge gaps and build upon existing knowledge, as well as encourages students to consider additional degrees or certifications in order to help them progress in their career trajectory. Dr. Reed is an advocate for research in general and for obtaining a Ph.D. for those who express interest in a doctorate. She provides practical examples of how research is critical to the interventions that nurses perform. It must be noted that many faculty are quick to assume that any student who is pursuing a nurse practitioner certificate would not be interested in research and often guide them to pursue a DNP, but Dr. Reed takes the time to inquire about the students own interests and future career plans, and advocates for consideration of the Ph.D. She has also modeled the philosophy of lifelong learning by her decision to complete UNMC Master's in Clinical & Translational Research -Mentored Scholars Program in December 2018, which she did after having obtained her Ph.D. She has been very open about sharing her career and educational path with students, including her decision to embark on a second master's degree after having obtained a terminal degree.
Dr. Reed promotes thinking, knowing, and personal and professional integrity by impressing upon students the importance of hard work, embracing assignments and available learning resources, and having personal responsibility and accountability. Dr. Reed is quick to help students understand that they are taking care of someone's loved one, and they need to treat them the way they want themselves or their family members to be treated. She teaches students that being a professional requires having a solid knowledge base and willingness to continue to learn and build upon that knowledge in order to continually provide the best care possible. Dr. Reed has had students accompany her at a clinic where she practices and exemplifies all the values she teaches. She also has joy and pride in her profession and continually verbalizes to students that while being a nurse practitioner and PhD-prepared faculty takes hard work and dedication, it is worth it. Lastly, she created a 100-point interview scoring sheet that was piloted in the FNP program in 2019. This allowed for assigning a score to the holistic interview questions that were previously asked but were not incorporated into a final score that is used to make decisions on applicants to admit. The impact of this scoring sheet was that a value was assigned to holistic items such as living in a rural area, living in a medically underserved area, working with disadvantaged populations, having global health experience, having previous teaching or research experience, being a first-generation college student, being involved in professional organizations, having to overcome barriers, performing community service, having leadership experience, speaking a second language and military service. This scoring sheet was tremendously helpful to the interviewing faculty while also objectively capturing UNMC mission values and ensuring that a cadre of qualified candidates were admitted that had much to offer to the profession beyond a high GPA.
Dr. Reed creates a caring learning environment that allows the students to apply new knowledge. She especially demonstrates this during site visits when she evaluates FNP students on their skills and abilities while continuously considering where the student is in the FNP program so that she is evaluating the student appropriately. She ensures to include positive feedback while also communicating areas where the student needs to improve in a manner that is caring yet clear. Dr. Reed helps students develop through her interactions with other students, clients, and colleagues by modeling a positive attitude, care, and compassion in the classroom, skills lab, practice environment, and when she is surrounded by other healthcare professionals. She demonstrates the importance of working with colleagues and not being afraid to ask questions.