UA College of Nursing to Host Bridger Endowed Lecture

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The University of Alabama Capstone College of Nursing will host The Donna Cox Bridger Endowed Lectureship in Nursing and Health Care on Friday, March 10 in the Bryant Conference Center.

The early bird deadline to register is Feb. 15 and the regular registration deadline is Feb 27.

This year’s biennial lecture, “Access to Care for Underserved Populations and Returning Military,” is expected to be of critical importance to nurses, physicians, social workers, pharmacists and emergency medical personnel.

Topics will cover critical access issues for special populations, including Access to Care: Identification of Problems, Breast Cancer Control: Minority Populations in Rural Settings, and Returning Military: Regional and National Issues.

Guest speakers will include:

• Dr. John Higginbotham of UA
• Dr. Ed. Partridge of UAB
• Dr. Charles Figley of Florida State University
• Dr. Marietta Stanton of UA
• Col. Carol Swanson of U.S. Army Center and School
• Col. Rebecca Baker of Walter Reed Army Medical Center

This program is approved by the Alabama Board of Nursing for 6.00 contact hours, by the Medical Association of the State of Alabama for 5.00 continuing medical education (CME) hours, and by the Alabama Board of Social Work Examiners for 5.0 contact hours. The Alabama Board of Pharmacy recognizes approved CME; this activity is approved by the Medical Association of the State of Alabama for 5.00 CME hours.

The cost is $50. Those who register before Feb. 15 will receive a $5 discount. For more information, go to http://nursing.ua.edu/bridger.htm or call 205/348-1040.

Lecture attendance is open to faculty, students, health care professionals, and the community. All nurses (LPN, RN and APN) will need to submit their licensure at time of check-in for electronic scanning that will be uploaded directly to ABN for CEU credit.

The Donna Cox Bridger Endowed Lectureship in Nursing and Health Care was established by Joseph C. Bridger to honor the memory of his wife and to promote awareness of current topics in the fields of nursing and health care from an interdisciplinary perspective.

Donna Cox Bridger had a 36-year career in nursing. She retired as associate chief of Nursing Service for Education of the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Tuscaloosa in 1997. She played a key leadership role at the VA. One of her greatest assets was her ability to recognize important upcoming trends, tap all available resources, synthesize research information and then organize and coordinate activities and education programs to meet new goals.

In 1997, she was honored with the prestigious Janet S. Awtrey Distinguished Nursing Leader Award by the UA Capstone College of Nursing. In 1996, her outstanding performance was recognized by the Veterans Affairs through a Special Contribution Award, and in 1994 she was the recipient of the Outstanding Nurse Educator Award for the state of Alabama by the Alabama State Nurses’ Association.