3rd Annual National Public Health Nursing Conference

Thank you to our speakers and guests who attended the conference. Below are video recordings of the conference speakers.

Cathy R. Taylor, DrPH, MSN, RN
Rev. Dr. Kenneth S. Robinson
Pamela Kulbok, RN, DNSc, MS, APRN, BC
Panel Discussion

Cathy R. Taylor, DrPH, MSN, RN
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Cathy R. Taylor, DrPH, MSN, RN, was appointed Assistant Commissioner for the Tennessee Department of Health’s Bureau of Health Services Administration by Commissioner Susan R. Cooper, MSN, RN, in May 2007.  The Department of Health’s Bureau of Health Services Administration is responsible for the administration of Tennessee’s 89 rural and six metropolitan county health departments and 13 regional offices, which provide both primary care and prevention services with an emphasis on health promotion, disease prevention and health access activities. In addition, the bureau administers a wide variety of programs including communicable and environmental disease services, maternal and child health, breast and cervical cancer services, general environmental health, oral health, nutrition services and women’s health and genetics.

Prior to joining the Department of Health, Dr. Taylor served as an assistant professor of nursing at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing. She has also served as director of the Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance Disease Management Program, and worked in community health nursing and outreach at Vanderbilt School of Nursing. She has held administrative and clinical positions at Alvin C. York VAMC including occupational health clinical specialist and medical/surgical clinical coordinator. Dr. Taylor has also served in nursing director and supervisor positions at Fentress County Hospital, Middle Tennessee Medical Center and Hendersonville Community Hospital, and as a public health nurse in Fentress and Rutherford Counties.

Dr. Taylor was appointed by Governor Phil Bredesen to chair the Tennessee Center for Diabetes Prevention and Health Improvement Board in November 2006. She has served as a consultant on projects for organizations including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau Leadership Institute and the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation. Dr. Taylor is a member of the American Diabetes Association, the American Nurses Association and the American Public Health Association. She has earned numerous grants and awards, and her work has been included in professional publications such as Diabetes Care, Maternal and Child Health Journal and Concepts and Models for Service Learning in Nursing.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth S. Robinson
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Since 1991, The Rev. Dr. Kenneth S. Robinson has served as Pastor and Chief Executive of the progressive St. Andrew AME Church.  His holistic theme, “Ministering to Memphis – Spirit, Soul, and Body” has inspired program development in social service outreach, community education, childcare and Pre-K education, after-school enrichment and economic development; a diversity of preventive health services, aerobics, multi-sport athletics, and creative arts; affinity-based fellowships, and youth programs as varied as step ministry, abstinence-based programs, and liturgical dance. 

Dr. Robinson recently completed his four-year tenure as the Commissioner of Health for the State of Tennessee – the state’s Chief Health Officer; promoting, protecting and improving of the health of all its citizens, and overseeing 3500 employees and a $548 Million budget. Commissioner Robinson created a culture of consciousness for improving the state’s historically poor health status, emphasizing personal behavior change, community and faith-based partnerships, interagency collaborations, and the need to engage in data-driven redirection of State resources.  He focused on the epidemic of obesity, the burden of cardiovascular disease and diabetes, the pervasiveness and impact of infant mortality and adolescent pregnancy, and the overarching racial and ethnic disparities that magnify these issues for minorities.  Prior to joining Governor Bredesen’s Cabinet, he formerly practiced and taught Internal Medicine at Vanderbilt, and subsequently facilitated the graduation of over 230 African-American physicians as an Assistant Dean at the University of Tennessee College of Medicine.  He is widely sought for his expertise on policy and partnership development; particularly applicable to health promotion and disease prevention in the African-American and religious communities.

Pamela Kulbok, RN, DNSc, MS, APRN, BC
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Pamela Kulbok is the kind of teacher who changes students’ lives.

Former student Lorena S. Yoon struggled with English as a second language, but the tide turned when she received positive comments from Kulbok. “I have so much more confidence ... that I am equipped to do a good job because a teacher saw potential in my abilities.”

Kulbok, who teaches in the University seminars program for first-year students, has a strong commitment to building confidence in her students. Her supportive style of teaching is particularly helpful to students who have come from an under-privileged background or are struggling with English as a second language.

Always seeking ways to engage students to become passionate about health, she used one of her courses so students could examine their own health risks, including risky behaviors such as smoking.

Kulbok, who came to U.Va. in 1991, teaches courses in community and home health nursing and health promotion.

“When I am a successful as a teacher,” said Kulbok, “my students are prepared to face the mounting challenges to public health. ... The potential of this type of success is the ultimate motivation and thrill of teaching.”

Teaching Focus:
Community/Public Health Nursing, Community Assessment, Health Promotion and Health Behavior Research, Nursing Knowledge Development

Research Focus:
Theoretical and Empirical Inquiry, Health Promotion, Health Behaviors of Young People, Youth Tobacco Prevention, and Youth Substance Use Prevention

Panel Discussion
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Darlene M. Jenkins, DrPH, MPH, RD, CHES

Dr. Jenkins has been a Public Health Practitioner for 24 years. For five years, she was Program Director of the Sarasota County Newtown Wellness Program, which was one of 29 “Closing the Health Gap” programs funded by the State of Florida. During this time, she focused on reducing health disparities for African Americans in the areas of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. This was an exemplary program and model program for the entire state.  She has served as Program Manager for a county Head Start Program, and served as a Prenatal Nutritionist and Registered Dietitian serving minority populations both in rural and urban living conditions. In addition to being a Registered Dietitian, Dr. Jenkins is a Certified Health Education Specialist and also hold a Graduate Certificate in Non-Profit Management and pursuing a Graduate Certificate in Public Health Policy and Programs from the from the University of South Florida, College of Public Health.

Margaret T. Hartig, PhD, FNP, APRN, BC

Dr. Hartig is an Associate Professor and the Option Coordinator for the Family Nurse Practitioner Program at the College of Nursing, University of Tennessee Health Science Center. Dr. Hartig also serves as Chair of the Department of Primary Care and Public Health.

She has practiced as a Family Nurse Practitioner in a variety of settings, including the Endocrinology Clinic at the Medplex, the ambulatory care clinic associated with the Regional Medical Center in Memphis, Tennessee. She also provides health care services and monitors the quality of nurse practitioner services provided at the Bobbitt Health Station, the health clinic at Memphis International Airport. Additionally, Dr. Hartig is Coordinator of Clinical Services for MOM (Medical Outcomes Management), a disease management service.

Her research examines the practice activities of College of Nursing faculty. In addition to conducting quality improvement research and teaching related content in the graduate program, Dr. Hartig has written and spoken to many groups about faculty evaluation activities and development of evidence-based practice. She is also active on various committees for a local managed care organization, which gives insight into the business and regulatory aspects of health care. Dr. Hartig is a member of the Faculty Practice Committee and Chair, Academic Nursing Center Special Interest Group of the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties. In this role, she has worked on several projects to define the scholarship and quality associated with faculty practice.

Craig Stotts, DrPH, RN

• 25 years' experience in nursing education
• Holds rank of full professor with secondary appointments in cancer research center and college of medicine
• Graduate of the one-year UCLA Online Education Program
• Offered the first fully Web-based course in Arkansas, January 1997
• Created 4 websites, currently webmaster for the Southern Nursing Research Society
• Currently the Principal Investigator on a 5-year federal grant to develop an online RN-BSN program
• Received awards in teaching, research, writing, & service
• Developed and directed the Annual Summer Institute on Online Education, begun in 1998
• Developed the DNP in Public Health Nursing (the first in the nation) in 1999 at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Nursing

Susan B. Patton, DNSc, APRN, BC

Dr. Susan Patton is an Associate Professor with the College of Nursing, at University of Tennessee Health Science Center. In 2002, she developed and is currently coordinating the nation’s only Forensic Doctor of Nursing Practice Program in Memphis, Tennessee.  Formerly, she was Director at the Memphis Regional Forensic Center, which housed the Medical Examiner’s Office. In addition, she is a proprietor of East Arkansas Children’s Clinic, where she practices primary care pediatric and cares for victims of child abuse and sexual assault.  She has served the International Association of Forensic Nurses as a member of the Advanced Practice Core Curriculum Committee and the Education Committee. Dr. Patton served as President of the Forensic Nursing Certification Board from 2004 to 2007. During her leadership, the SANE-A certification exam was revised and the SANE-P exam was developed. She is recognized as a scholar in the publication of the Core Curriculum for Advanced Practice Forensic Nurses, Forensic Nurse Scope and Standards of Practice, Elder and Vulnerable Population Abuse and Neglect Curriculum. She is an item writer for both the SANE-A and SANE-P examinations.  Most recently Dr. Patton has lead efforts in collaboration with the American Nurses Credentialing Center to establish credentialing for advanced practice forensic nurses. Dr. Patton has been honored with a number of service awards including the Arkansas Advanced Practice Nurse of the Year, University of Arkansas Alumni Award, Special Recognition from the Arkansas General Assembly, the Community Nursing Award from the Tennessee Nurses Association, the University of Tennessee Excellence in Teaching Award and the Innovator’s Award at the Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care.