The National Health Service corps (NHSC) Scholarship program (SP) offers primary care students funding for their education in exchange for working in rural, urban and frontier communities with limited access to care, upon graduation and licensure. NHSC scholars also become part of a community of providers with a shared desire to serve the nation’s underserved communities.

The program requires 1-year of service per scholarship year or partial scholarship year with a 2-year minimum and 4-year maximum service commitment. funding includes tuition, required fees, reasonable educational costs and a taxable monthly stipend. Upon graduation and licensure, NHSC SP participants serve at one of more than 14,000 NHSC-approved sites

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Ms. McCauley, CCRN, MSN, RN, a continuing education trainer for Upstate Area Health Education Center, has been employed at St. Francis Health System in Greenville for 12 years as a clinical specialist in the critical care division. She is an adjunct faculty member at Clemson University and the University of South Carolina Upstate.

The recipient has been described by her students as teacher with a “passion for healthcare and education and someone who was born to teach. She encourages life-long learning of healthcare professionals.”   Her specialty areas of teaching include evidence-based practice and treatment options for critical care patients.

The Outstanding Educator Award is given annually to an exceptional health care educator based on her ability to present information enthusiastically to health care professionals in a practical, useful format.  Awardees must successfully tailor technical presentations to address multiple learning styles. McCauley’s nomination was based on her ability to exhibit and generate excitement for her topic and her passion for teaching others complex clinical topics and skills.

Ms. McCauley holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Tennessee and a master’s in nursing from California State University, Long Beach.

During her shadowing experience at Upstate AHEC, the future nurse learned about trainings and classes AHEC provides to healthcare professionals statewide and about AHEC’s opportunities for students to learn more about their future chosen professions.

The AHEC staff shared the educational and technical skills required for their jobs and helped Brandy familiarize herself with the work of AHEC’s various programs she can utilize while a college student and when she becomes part of the nursing profession.

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The first phase of the project equips AHEC staff across the United States with resources and models to produce continuing education resources in their own service area.  Upstate AHEC’s Continuing Education Consultant Bennie Pettit was one of two South Carolina AHEC staffers to recently attend a Train-The-Trainer Workshop presented by the AHEC Training and Consultation Center in Tampa, Fl.   Workshops are being offered in 10 regions nationally.

AHEC participants learned how to use multiple resources to develop continuing education offerings for healthcare professionals who treat service members and their families in an environment that is safe and culturally sensitive.  The focus for the national project is to increase knowledge of civilian health professionals regarding mental and behavioral health issues within the military culture of veterans and service members and their families.  Additionally, it is hoped that better access to culturally competent care will be provided for returning veterans and their families.

The veterans’ project is supported by federal funds through the Health Resources and Services Association (HRSA) of the National AHEC Organization.  Upstate AHEC serves 11 counties in northwestern South Carolina.  For more information on the training and other Upstate AHEC services, call Bennie Pettit at 864-349-1160.

In support of American Heart Month, which extends through all of February, Upstate AHEC is offering a continuing education program about heart disease.

Monday, February 13
Heart Month – Taking Heart on Cardiac Topics
9:00 AM – 4:30 PM  Check in @ 8:45 AM
Medical Staff Auditorium – Greenville Memorial Hospital – Greenville, SC
Donna McCauley, RN, MSN, CCRN
Purpose: To provide participants with an update on management of patients with heart failure and acute coronary syndrome.

Do you know someone who is a Nurse Practitioner (NP)? The Nursing Education Loan Repayment Program (NELRP) is reserving up to half of all funding for NPs and we need your help to get the word out.

NELRP offers NPs an opportunity to repay up to 85 percent of their outstanding qualifying educational loans in exchange for serving at a Critical Shortage Facility that is located in a Health Professional Shortage Area.

The deadline to apply to NELRP is February 15, 2012 at 5:00 pm EST.  NPs can apply to both NELRP and the National Health Service Corps, however if an applicant is selected to receive an award from both, they must select one.

Please join us in spreading the word to NPs who might be interested in applying to the program.  To learn more, visit: http://www.hrsa.gov/loanscholarships/repayment/nursing/

The National Health Service Corps (NHSC) Loan Repayment Program (LRP ) offers primary health care providers loan repayment assistance in exchange for working (and possibly partial credit for teaching) in rural, urban, and frontier communities with limited access to care throughout the United States known as Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs).

For more information, please see the following:

NHSC Loan Repayment Program Announcement Flyer

2012 NHSC Loan Repayment Program At-A-Glance Fact Sheet

The Complete Application and Program Guidance

or visit the NHSC Website

Currently, in all of South Carolina,  only about 20 nurses are specially trained to examine sexual assault victims, said Pam Belkevitz, RN, BSN, SANE-A, CEN, the SANE Coordinator at Baptist Easley.  Ms. Belkevitz is the  instructor for an upcoming SANE course Jan. 23-27, 2012, sponsored by Upstate AHEC at Godshall Staffing in Downtown Greenville.

SANE nurses are trained in interviewing sexual assault victims and conducting forensic examinations, which includes taking pictures of injuries and collecting DNA evidence. The certification training for a SANE nurse involves 40 hours of classroom time, nine-12 months  of clinical experience.  Additionally,  another clinical year  is spent specializing in pediatric cases, plus clinical time with a local solicitors office, law enforcement and advocacy agencies, and six to eight hours of observing expert court testimony.

For more information about the upcoming SANE Training Seminar, call 864-349-1160 or click here for program information

The presenter, Nigel Howard, BA, BCIT, is a world-renown presenter of deaf-related topics, specializing in medical interpreting.  He is an ASL instructor at Douglas College, British Columbia, Canada in the Department of Sign Language Interpretation.  He also teaches in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.  A Deaf Interpreter for more than 15 years, he has conducted workshops on Interpreting development and professionalism in Canada, Japan, England, South Africa, and South America.  Additionally, he has co–authored ASL Medical Interpreting courses and presented them throughout Canada and the United States. Nigel is a member of the World Association of Sign Language Interpreters (WASLI).

Below are a few of the participant’s comments as noted on the program evaluations:

The speaker, Nigel Howard was an astounding speaker. His vast knowledge of Anatomy and Medical Procedures were incredible. I am looking forward to taking the Medical Settings Level 2 seminar.

Nigel was great. I have applied things I learned from the course during every interpreting assignment I’ve had since the course. This was the first time that most of the participants had any formal education in medical sign language. If the course had been another 3 days everyone would have stayed. We were being taught how to do correctly what we had been doing on our own for many years. It was priceless

The workshop was excellent.  I hope Nigel Howard will return to teach level 2 and 3.

This professional development opportunity was one of the most challenging and intense I have participated in. Nigel’s wealth of experience, creative teaching strategies and advanced knowledge of the content area are unparalleled.  Many thanks to AHEC for providing such an advanced level of training that is sorely lacking in such vital area. I left feeling confident, inspired and excited to implement the skills I acquired and an awareness of the areas of growth that need my attention. Nigel has my utmost respect and is an invaluable resource to the Deaf and interpreting communities!

This was one of the BEST workshops I have EVER attended!

Wow- this presenter and his workshop were absolutely fantastic – perhaps the best workshop I have ever taken! I hope he is able to come in the future for his ‘Level 2′ workshop.