Three UK Nurses Receive Florence Nightingale Award in Nursing
Kristin Ashford, PhD, WHNP-BC, FAAN, Gwen Moreland, DNP, RN, NE-BC and Carol Wright (UK CON alum) were among six nurse leaders awarded the University of Louisville School of Nursing Nightingale Award on Thursday, November 2, 2017 at the Mellwood Arts Center. The award recognizes Registered Nurses (RNs) who excel in providing patient care, impact the profession of nursing and/or improve the overall health of citizens living in Kentucky or Southern Indiana through practice, teaching, research and/or service.
Dr. Ashford, associate dean of undergraduate faculty & interprofessional education affairs at the University of Kentucky College of Nursing, and Dr. Moreland, assistant chief nurse executive at Kentucky Children’s Hospital, developed PATHways (Perinatal Assistance and Treatment Home) to address the needs of opioid-addicted pregnant women. Using a group model with peer-support and life skills training, the program empowers women to take an active role in their pregnancy, participate in group counseling and develop relationships with peers and health care providers before and after their babies are born. As a result, UK HealthCare has reduced the average intensive care stay for babies with neonatal abstinence syndrome from 29 to 23 days, with the average infant stay for moms in the PATHways program at 5.8 days.
