Beaumont nurses visible on local, national levels

By Matt Mackinder

If a prerequisite to being a nurse is passion, look no further than the Department of Urology at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich.

Not only do the nurses attend to their full-time work at the hospital, but they are also active members of the Society of Urologic Nurses and Associates. Non-nurses, but Beaumont employees, also claim membership in SUNA.

Shelly Lajiness, NP, was co-chair for the annual Great Lakes SUNA conference and Matt Mackinder, a science writer in the Urology department, was on the planning committee for the conference held this past February in Ypsilanti. Matt also doubles as the webmaster for the chapter website, www.glsuna.com.

David Steinberger, a physician assistant in Urology, also presented at the GLSUNA conference along with (then) fourth-year Diagnostic Radiology resident Amit R. Vyas, M.D.

Shelly and Donna Carrico, NP, MS, each spoke at the SUNA Annual Symposium in Colorado Springs in March and Shelly will be presenting at the annual SUNA national conference this October in Phoenix. Kenneth M. Peters, M.D., the department’s chairman as well as director of research, also spoke on overactive bladder at GLSUNA’s monthly meeting on March 13.

Dr. Peters speaks nothing but praise for the urology nurses.

“Integrity, compassion, intelligence and dedication describes our urology nurses at Beaumont Hospital,” noted Dr. Peters. “A successful department, especially ours geared towards research, requires a team approach and an integral part of the team is our nurses. It is their dedication and compassion that creates an environment that fosters quality care and advances knowledge to help those suffering from various illnesses.”

Shelly and Kim Killinger, RN, are co-chairs of GLSUNA’s Education Committee and Donna and Paulina Carnevale, LPN, are At-Large members of the Great Lakes chapter. Shelly also pens “Medication Minute” in Urologic Nursing, a GLSUNA quarterly publication and reviews manuscripts for the publication as well.

Kaylyn Petzel, RN, a research nurse, was named the 2006 GLSUNA Member of the Year and was honored last November at the chapter’s annual holiday party and business meeting.

Four floor nurses at Beaumont – Cheryl Battani, Lisa Jones, Deb Puwal and Jessica Szczepanski – as well as Amanda Nash, administrative manager of Urologic and Pediatric Surgery, are SUNA members along with Urology Research nurses Maureen Cooney, Sherrie Krohta, Barb Leemon, Cindy Turzewski and Cheryl Wolfert. Ann Robinson, RN, the department’s administrative director, also has active membership in SUNA.

“Having been involved with national clinical trials and having been exposed to research nurse coordinators around the country, I am truly proud to say that we have the most experienced and knowledgeable nurses one can have,” stated Ananias C. Diokno, M.D., a Beaumont urologist (formerly chairman having stepped down July 1) and Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President. “They are simply the best. Most of our research nurse coordinators have been our loyal partners in research for many years as we work with them in a spirit of learning, collaborating and working as a team.”

Passion. It goes without saying in Urology at Beaumont.