News

July 2008
School of Nursing NP Preceptor Voted Nation's Finest

"Compassionate patient and family-centered care and a commitment to sharing this expertise with aspiring nurse practitioners is what drives the NP program," says Diane Lauver, PhD, RN, FAAN, director of nurse practitioner (NP) programs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Nursing. “The clinicians who mentor our NP students are some of the finest role models in advanced practice nursing.”

Recently, the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF) put some weight behind this accolade. Judith Ellington, BS, RN, a family nurse practitioner with Dean/St. Mary’s Regional Clinics and a current NP preceptor at the School of Nursing, received the organization’s Preceptor Gold Star Award—the first of its kind. The award, which honors excellence in the mentoring of NP students and the advancement of quality NP education, was presented at the NONPF national convention in April of 2008 in Louisville, Kentucky.

Judith Ellington (right) celebrates her award with her husband, John, and Professor Diane Lauver of the UW-Madison School of Nursing. (Photo: John Ellington) For Ellington, the award represents what she and her colleagues have striven for as mentors. “Seeing the students grow into skilled, caring, well-developed professionals with a commitment to nursing and a desire to make a difference in people’s lives is truly the preceptor’s reward,” she says.

Ellington graduated with a bachelor’s degree in nursing in 1964 from the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks. In 1976, she received her certificate as a family nurse practitioner (FNP) from the University of Wisconsin Extension. The Nurse Physician Team Program, a precursor to what is now the school’s master’s-level NP program, was started by Karen Pridham, PhD, RN, FAAN, current professor emerita at the School of Nursing, and Marc Hansen, MD. Together, they taught the didactic component of the course.

“Karen Pridham was a knowledgeable, forward-thinking, enthusiastic nursing leader and teacher,” Ellington says, “for those of us just beginning in this field of expanding nursing practice.” As emerita professor, adds Ellington, Pridham continues to lead nurse practitioners through her research involving caregiving practices for infants with special needs.

Ellington began practice with Medical Associates of Baraboo, which joined Dean/St. Mary’s regional clinics in 1996. In 2004, she joined the Lake Delton Integrative Medicine Clinic, a member of the Dean/St. Mary’s clinics network. She has logged thirty-two years serving families in the Baraboo-Wisconsin Dells area. For nearly as long, she has mentored NP students from both the UW-Madison and the UW-Oshkosh nursing degree programs, taking on her first preceptor role in 1978.

Ellington is one of nearly 130 nurse practitioners in 2007-2008 who mentor School of Nursing master’s degree students in clinics and health care facilities throughout thirty Wisconsin cities and one site in Illinois. These preceptors help prepare nurses for advanced clinical practice in specialty areas, including acute care, adult health, gerontology, pediatrics, psychiatric-mental health, and women's health.

“Students who enroll in the NP option are baccalaureate-prepared nurses who return to graduate school for advanced skills in assessment and management of health issues in their chosen specialty,” explains Regina Dunst, MS, RN, clinical associate professor and NP preceptor. “They learn alongside role models who are invested in mentoring the next generation of advanced practice nurses.”

According to Ellington, becoming an NP relies heavily on the cooperative spirit of the community. “Without the willingness of the health care system and health care consumer to accept the presence of students in their care milieu,” Ellington says, “it would be impossible to offer students the hands-on training necessary to become skilled nurse practitioners.”

This effort pays dividends back to the community, she says. “Health care consumers are offered the best we can give them of ourselves as listeners, problem-solvers, and partners in their health care.” Knowledge is critical, she adds, “but the nurse practitioner’s capacity to relate to people in a way that promotes partnership in their care is as essential.”

Lisa Wachholz, MS, RN, a clinical assistant professor at the School of Nursing and certified nurse midwife, chose her advanced practice role because of Ellington, who provided Wachholz prenatal care in the 1970s. In Ellington, she notes, students have the unique opportunity “to see an NP who lives her ideals.”

Ellington is a community leader involved in church activities and in ongoing counseling and patient education for grief support groups. She participates as an advocate for women’s rights at the local level and has taken part in the Wisconsin Medical Mission to Haiti to provide health services to its families. She also takes a leadership role in a community coalition to educate individuals about diabetes and its management.

Ellington hopes that when her role as NP mentor is completed, she will have conveyed what an honor it is to practice nursing. “Working in partnership with a health care team to enhance health through assessment, diagnosis, and education is a challenge I love,” Ellington says. “Our expanded knowledge and practice skills allow us to provide our best in caring for the whole person.”