Prairie View A&M University News April 30, 2020 PVAMU professor participates in prestigious program that enhances Parkinson’s disease nursing care Huberta Cozart, PhD, RN, assistant clinical professor of nursing<https://www.pvamu.edu/nursing/> at Prairie View A&M University, took part in the distinguished Edmond J. Safra Visiting Nurse Faculty Program<https://www.parkinson.org/expert-care/Professional-Education/Nurse-Faculty> at the Parkinson’s Foundation (PF) earlier this year. The 50-hour accredited program, which accepts five to six scholars per year, was hosted in February at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. The primary goal – to improve Parkinson’s disease nursing care by training faculty leaders across the U.S. who educate nursing students. “Nurses play a vital role in Parkinson’s care. They are the purveyors of empathy, compassion, and relevant education. Taking into account the increasing statistics of those suffering from a myriad of mobility and gait impairments, it is truly imperative that faculty-scholars lead the training for future nurse caregivers,” Cozart said. The PF’s visiting nurse program included didactics (or a teaching method that follows a scientific approach to present information to students), clinical time with patients, participation in a Parkinson’s disease support group, and an opportunity to develop an independent project. “As a requisite of this program, I am tasked with advancing Parkinson’s disease education in PVAMU’s BSN program,” she said. “My project is to educate beginning nursing students about the disease. I began working on this initiative soon after the completion of the training in February.” But, unfortunately, like most areas in health care, the current COVID-19 pandemic interrupted specialized programs for PD patients. “Because COVID-19 is a novel disease, PD patients and all others have been placed on the back burner. It upended not only the healthcare system in the U.S. and globally, but also the political, economic, cultural, and social dynamics of the nation,” she said. “But, amidst the pandemic, it is appropriate to give a big shout-out to all the nurses and other health care providers in the front line of battle,” she added. “They are the ‘tour-de-force,’ fighting the ‘invisible but lethal pathogen.’” In total, more than 300 scholars, including Cozart, have completed the Edmond J. Safra Visiting Nurse Faculty Program and educated an estimated 24,000 nursing students on the disease. SANDRA M. PHOENIX HBCU Library Alliance Executive Director Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library 111 James P. Brawley Drive SW Atlanta GA 30314 404-978-2118 (office) 404-702-5854 (cell) http://www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> Honor the ancestors, honor the children and those yet to come. Building Capacity for Humanities Special Collections at HBCUs – Become an ally and partner with us to protect, preserve and share a more authentic record of American history. Follow this link http://hbculibraries.org/humanities-2019.html for more information. Follow this link http://hbculibraries.org/ and click on the Donate Now button to invest in this project. Your support is appreciated. Follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/hbculibraryalliance1/ and Twitter at https://twitter.com/HBCULibAlliance Check out "PULSE!" The HBCU Library Alliance's News Source! - https://hbculibraryalliance.wordpress.com/