Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Jennie Hiam named Indiana Nurse Practitioner of the Year
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Jennie Hiam, instructor in nursing, has been named Nurse Practitioner of the Year by the Indiana Chapter of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP). Hiam and winners from every state will be recognized at the AANP 22nd National Conference June 20-24 in Indianapolis. In addition, the Indiana chapter will hold a reception in her honor. Marcia Plant Jackson, Indiana representative to the AANP, said Hiam was selected by her peers for her commitment to the community, especially her service to uninsured and incarcerated individuals; for her work in the education of family nurse practitioners; and for her groundbreaking role as a nurse practitioner in Indiana. Hiam has been a nurse practitioner since 1972, which dates to the early days of advanced practice nursing in Indiana. She already had earned a master’s degree in nursing when she completed a family nurse practitioner program at Indiana University. “It sounded very exciting to me because we could do so much more and meet people’s needs so much better. It broadens your nursing,” Hiam said. Dr. Nadine Coudret, dean of the USI College of Nursing and Health Professions said, “Jennie Hiam is a caring, dedicated and excellent nurse practitioner who serves as a role model for nurse practitioners in Indiana. Her contributions to nurse practitioner education and her excellence of care for patients make her a worthy recipient of this award and a valued graduate nursing faculty here at the University of Southern Indiana.” Hiam said it has been shown that family nurse practitioners provide excellent and effective care. For her, the mark of a good family nurse practitioner is the practitioner’s relationship to people. “It’s not the number of procedures you can do or their sophistication. It’s your relationship to people — patients, families, and staff. If you don’t have a relationship, you’re not going to be effective. The nurse practitioner movement is designed to improve health care. With good relationships we are much better able to provide care.” Hiam joined the College of Nursing and Health Professions faculty in 1997. She serves the community by working part time at ECHO Community Health Center. As a faculty member, she participated in writing and now is involved in implementing a grant program from the Division of Nursing to provide health-care services to inmates in Vanderburgh County correctional facilities. In nominating her for Indiana Nurse Practitioner of the Year, a former student wrote, “The one thing that she impressed upon me the most while I was her student was that every person has value and is worthy of my caring and respect, regardless of his or her current situation.” A peer who nominated Hiam, wrote, “Whether she is explaining a medical condition to an illiterate patient or demonstrating to a student how to do a complete physical assessment, her passion for quality nursing care shows.” Hiam earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nursing from Indiana University in addition to completing a family nurse practitioner program there. Her previous experience includes employment at Ball Hospital in Muncie, Indiana; Bloomington Hospital, in Bloomington, Indiana; and Winona Hospital and General Hospital (Wishard) in Indianapolis. She also has served as a family nurse practitioner at Huntingburg Clinic, in Huntingburg, Indiana, and at Tri-Cap Family Planning in Evansville. Throughout her career Hiam has shared her expertise by teaching. She was an instructor in medical-surgical nursing at Parkview School of Nursing in Fort Wayne, Indiana, served on the nursing faculty at the University of Evansville, and taught medical technology at Lockyear College in Evansville. In addition to continuing clinical practice at ECHO, she has served as a family nurse practitioner for the mobile health unit of St Mary’s Health Care Services in Evansville. Hiam received Volunteer of the Year Awards from the YMCA of Evansville in 2001 and from the United Way of Evansville in 1996. The American Red Cross has recognized her with two awards — the Volunteer Award from the Homemaker Division in 1991 and the Century Award in 1988. |
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