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Valentine’s Day is "Million Hearts® Day" in Ohio Ohio Governor John R. Kasic issued an official proclamation declaring February 14, 2018, as Million Hearts® Day in the state of Ohio. “We are thrilled that the governor has recognized this important national and statewide initiative to save lives by raising awareness of key strategies to prevent cardiovascular disease,” said Bernadette Melnyk, vice president for health promotion, chief wellness officer and dean of the College of Nursing at The Ohio State University. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the nation’s leading cause of death for men and women of all races and ethnicities, yet 80 percent of CVD is preventable through healthy lifestyle behaviors. The national Million Hearts initiative is a collaborative effort to increase education about risk factors and save lives by helping people make heart-healthy choices. The Ohio State University partnered with Million Hearts when it began five years ago; the first university-wide partner. This year, hundreds of biometric screenings were offered to Ohio State faculty and staff on Valentine’s Day in the College of Nursing in Newton Hall. “Ohio State has a goal to be the healthiest campus in the world,” said Melnyk. “Partnering with Million Hearts
and offering screenings around Valentine’s Day is a reminder to everyone that we can engage in healthy lifestyle behaviors to promote optimal health and wellbeing.” This year, Melnyk also promoted screenings at campuses and communities across the state through the newest Million Hearts partner: the Ohio Council of Deans and Directors (OCDD), which includes 42 colleges and schools of nursing.
New online certificates The College of Nursing recently launched three new online certificates. Our certificates incorporate four courses that provide students with an opportunity to continue to develop their skills and advance as professionals. These new offerings include: • The School Nurse Professional Pupil Services Licensure certificate prepares Ohio registered nurses with a bachelor’s degree for the Ohio Department of Education school nurse license and expands their knowledge of school health and wellness in grades K-12. • The Nursing in School Health Services certificate is for registered nurses who want to expand their understanding of school health services in order to promote health and wellness in grades K-12. • The Nurse Educator certificate is for Ohio nurses who want to obtain the knowledge needed to become a nurse educator in various settings. The coursework makes those with their master’s or doctoral degrees eligible to take the national Certified Nurse Educator (CNE) exam. The college looks forward to the addition of more certificates in the next year. For more information on our offerings, please visit nursing.osu.edu/certificates. 4 | nursing.osu.edu
Opposite page (bottom right): Faculty members Jen Kue and Lizzie Fitzgerald sent this snapshot from Addis, Ethiopia, in March, where they met with Tim Landers, who is in Ethiopia for a year as a Fulbright Scholar. Fitzgerald and Kue were taking a group of College of Nursing students to Ethiopia for a global health experience. See Transformations, Fall 2017 for more about Landers and his wife, Peggy, on their one year-long trip teaching and working in Ethiopia.