Fall 2004

Message from the Dean | Ethicon Endo-Surgery Supports New Mexico Nurses | Endowment Assists RN-to-BSN Students | Mercer to Receive Distinguished Alumni Award | Real Estate - A Great Asset in Charitable Planning | Events and Notes

by Jennifer Bayley

New Mexico faces severe shortages of nurses and nursing faculty, shortages that exceed the national average. Based on projections developed in 2002, New Mexico’s need for nurses will outpace its supply by 25 percent in 2005. The national shortage of nurses, in contrast, will average only 7 percent next year. Both national and state deficiencies are projected to increase sharply over time, and several consequences result from a lack of qualified nurses: hospitals and public-health offices may cut services, home-care agencies may refuse referrals, and long-term-care facilities may refuse admissions.

At UNM’s College of Nursing, private support plays an essential role in educating tomorrow’s nursing professionals. Because tuition and state support do not cover the full cost of educating students, the college relies on alumni, friends and businesses like Ethicon Endo-Surgery to fund studies at all levels.

Commitment to UNM
Ethicon Endo-Surgery Inc. (EES), a Johnson & Johnson Company, has contributed to the College of Nursing for more than two decades. “We have a strong commitment to aiding the community,” says Shelley Walker, Ethicon’s human resources administrator in Albuquerque. “Ethicon contributes to health-care research, prevention and education. We are especially proud to support the UNM College of Nursing.”

“Ethicon has consistently and generously assisted the college as a model corporate citizen,” says Rosemary Reichert Gregory, director of development for the college. During the 1980s and early ’90s, Ethicon’s philanthropy benefited the Nursing Scholarship Fund, assisting individual full-time nursing students. More recently Ethicon has regularly donated to the Nursing Legacy Fund, an unrestricted resource that the dean of the college directs to areas of greatest need, including scholarships, equipment, classroom renovation and student and faculty research.

Dean Sandra Ferketich has used the Nursing Legacy Fund to develop courses and teach students on the Internet. On-line coursework in the RN to BSN program (registered nurses who wish to complete a bachelors of science in nursing) and the MSN program (master’s degree) reach rural students, working students and those unable to relocate close to UNM. Because nursing instructors must hold advanced degrees and are in short supply, the on-line master’s curriculums are especially important. This year Dean Ferketich also utilized the Nursing Legacy Fund for the institutional capital contribution to qualify for a Nursing Faculty Loan Program from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The program is for Masters and Ph.D. students who agree to work in an academic setting when they finish their degrees. Percentages of the loan can be cancelled depending on the length of the academic teaching commitment.

Ethicon contributes additional resources to UNM’s Health Sciences Center through generous gifts to the School of Medicine, Cancer Research & Treatment Center and College of Pharmacy. Ethicon has also supported the Lobo Booster Club and the Presidential Scholarship Program.

Innovation in Surgical Procedures
Ethicon creates and markets surgical instruments that allow physicians to perform procedures with minimally invasive techniques. Doctors perform these less invasive surgeries through very small incisions, rather than relying on larger openings. Ethicon’s innovative tools and techniques foster more rapid recovery, reduced pain and scarring, decreased risk of complications, and a lower total cost of care as compared to more conventional methods of surgery.

Ethicon’s Albuquerque office, which packages and sterilizes most of the company’s products, employs about 550 people. The plant houses two gamma irradiation sterilizers and has received international recognition for innovations in process control.

Humility in Action
Formed in 1992, Ethicon Endo-Surgery follows its parent company’s credo, introduced by Robert Wood Johnson in 1943, which states, “We are responsible to the communities in which we live and work. . . We must encourage civic improvements and better health and education.” Consistent with these principles, Ethicon supports many nonprofit organizations like UNM, both nationally and internationally.

Says Walker, “We like to focus on access to health care and help meet the dramatic need for nurses and community health education.” Rather than elaborate on Ethicon’s abundant strengths, she says instead, “We prefer to keep the focus on UNM, where it belongs.”