UNews - Bow Island

Penner's dedication recognized with honour

trevor.kenney — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 22:32:57 +0000

To say Jennifer Penner wears many hats would be an understatement.

She's the team lead and nurse clinician at Lethbridge's Heart Function Clinic/Heart Failure Network, a regular guest lecturer in ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge nursing classes and an advocate for more connected and patient-centric health care. Yet, at heart, her professional scope is unified by a very personal philosophy.

"The thing that has inspired me is the connection with patients and families, and the ability to deliver excellent care in such a way that it will empower people to live better lives," says Penner.

Penner relishes the opportunity to work collaboratively with the u of L's Faculty of Health Sciences.

Clearly Penner has passed that inspiration along to others. This year, her longstanding contributions are being recognized with the 2012 Friends of Health Sciences Award, an annual honour from the Faculty of Health Sciences that recognizes an individual or agency that has made a significant contribution to health education and research at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge.

Originally from Bow Island, Alta., Penner completed her initial nursing education at Medicine Hat College and her bachelor of science in nursing degree at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta. She has spent most of her 25-year career in southern Alberta. Today, Penner supervises five nurses at the Heart Failure Clinic, as well as leads the relatively new and forward-thinking Heart Failure Network, which she helped to create in 2008.

By encouraging greater collaboration between diverse roles such as case managers, acute care workers and even family doctors, the network integrates health services among these practitioners and increases their awareness of their roles relative to their colleagues, and even more significantly, to the patient.

"When we understand what everyone's role is, the patient in the middle gets better benefits and outcomes," says Penner.

With an estimated 500,000 heart failure patients in Canada and more than 80,000 in Alberta alone, the significance of this work becomes even more apparent. At 10,000 admissions per year, heart failure is one of the most common diagnoses for medical admission to hospital, says Penner.

"It's a huge chronic disease. That's why we need an approach that's far reaching to promote better care, better outcomes and wise utilization of health-care resources."

She adds that greater integration tends to increase patient stability, which cuts costs by reducing the burden on busy emergency rooms and contributes to fewer admissions to acute care facilities.

On top of her leadership in the Heart Failure Network, Penner also shares her expertise with the next generation of nurses, a commitment that began in 2003. Today, she lectures for several faculty members in both nursing and research courses, grounding her talks about heart failure in actual case studies that the young nurses-in-training are likely to encounter early in their careers.

"Lecturing is near and dear to my heart," says Penner. "I love having an influence on promoting clinical excellence and building the future of nursing."

She also helps students gain experience by connecting them with practical work experiences in clinics, and helping with other real-world skills such as cardiac assessment.

While Penner is clearly motivated by factors beyond awards and accolades, she says she is "deeply honoured" to be recognized by the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, noting that her work in the academic setting has helped her realize her own personal potential.

"It is so rewarding to be collaborative, to work with the esteemed professionals at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ and to experience the infectious vitality of new nurses. It motivates me and inspires me to be better."

The Friends of Health Sciences Award reception is Saturday, Oct. 13 at 2 p.m. in the Markin Hall Atrium.

This story first appeared in the October 2012 issue of the Legend. To read the full issue in a flipbook format, follow this link.

Penner to receive Health Sciences Award

trevor.kenney — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 17:47:44 +0000

On Saturday, October 13, 2012, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Faculty of Health Sciences will host the third annual Friends of Health Sciences Awards reception, giving the Faculty the opportunity to show its appreciation to the many individuals and organizations who have supported its programs in practice settings.

Each year, the Faculty of Health Sciences recognizes an individual or an agency that has made a significant contribution to health education and research in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge.

This year, the Faculty is pleased to honour Jennifer Penner, RN, BScN, as the 2012 Friends of Health Sciences Award recipient.

Penner is a veteran health-care professional with more than 25 years experience as a registered nurse and nurse clinician in a wide variety of settings across Alberta.

Originally from Bow Island, Alta., Penner entered the health-care profession as a multi-award-winning graduate of the Medicine Hat College School of Nursing and began her career in Bow Island, Alta.

Apart from returning to school to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree and Critical Care Nursing Certification from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta, Penner has spent her career in southern Alberta in a variety of clinical and managerial roles. Most recently, she has led a variety of initiatives that support health-care professionals working with people experiencing chronic heart failure.

In addition to developing a comprehensive educational resource book to help patients and families, Penner has worked on several evidence guided heart failure optimization projects in conjunction with physicians, interdisciplinary care professionals and nursing professionals who worked to transfer evidence into practice and endorse an integrated approach to heart failure care.

As a guest lecturer at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge and Lethbridge College, Penner has freely shared her knowledge of the nursing profession and, in her capacity as a mentor to numerous nursing students, has provided valuable advice, employment supervision and preceptorship to the next generation of health-care professionals.

"Through her commitment to advancing health-care practices and knowledge, Jennifer Penner exemplifies the values and vision of the Faculty of Health Sciences," says Dr. Chris Hosgood, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences. "We are very proud to recognize her contributions by honouring her with the 2012 Friends of Health Sciences Award."

Droog gift establishes Chair in alternative health care

trevor.kenney — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 17:15:57 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Faculty of Health Sciences will broaden its research and teaching horizons in a unique research discipline with the establishment of a $2 million endowment at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ – enabled by a gift of $1 million from southern Alberta businessman Dr. Tom Droog (LLD '06).

Droog's gift will allow the U of L to establish the Emmy Droog Chair in Complementary and Alternative Health Care – the Faculty's first endowed Professorship. The professorship will enable evidence-based research to explore the issues and care practices associated with complementary and alternative medicine.

"I believe in education and alternative healing and I'm happy to be able to support them both through this gift," says Droog, who received an Honorary Degree from the U of L in 2006. "I believe that ideas come from ideas and I think this has awesome potential."

Dr. Tom Droog sees amazing potential in the creation of a unique research discipline at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge.

Mark Pijl Zieber, a Faculty of Health Sciences nursing researcher, says that complementary and alternative health hasn't always been complementary or alternative – at one time it was the norm. Even today, statistics show that more than 75 per cent of Canadians access complementary and alternative health care.

"Humans have been delivering health care throughout history, and before western medicine, these were the therapies people used," says Pijl Zieber. "It's only since the development of western medicine that traditional beliefs have been labeled alternative. While we certainly do benefit from the advances made by western medicine, we've lost many of the other options."

Pijl Zieber says that providing effective health care is not always about a cure, especially when considering chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease and even cancer.

"Sometimes these diseases can't be beaten, but they can, and need to be, managed – it's about maximizing a person's quality of life. This is at the heart of the Droog gift. It's not about abandoning the institution of western medicine, it's about facilitating a broader approach to health care."

The award is named for Droog's late wife, Emmy, who lost a long battle with cancer in 2010. Both originally from Holland, the couple met in Ontario and headed west in 1972 to take advantage of the opportunities offered in Alberta. They settled near Bow Island, Alta., and farmed for several years before founding Alberta Sunflower Seeds, Ltd., which grew over a 30-year period to become Spitz Sunflower Seeds, a popular North American snack food. Partners in everything, the Droogs worked together to build their business while raising two children: a daughter Christy (Droog) Strom (BN '03) is a U of L graduate in nursing who is a community care case manager at Lethbridge Community Care, and son Randy, who lives in Ontario. In 2008, the Droogs sold Spitz to PepsiCo.

Tom and his late wife Emmy established Spitz Sunflower Seeds and grew it into one of North America's top snack food companies.

Dr. Christopher Hosgood, the dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, is looking forward to the opportunities afforded by this significant gift, which will benefit all programs in the Faculty.

"Nursing, addictions counselling and public health at the U of L are naturally inclined to understanding alternative therapies, although we've never had the chance to fully explore some of those options. Thanks to Dr. Droog's gift, we can now develop expertise in these areas."

Hosgood adds that as the largest individual donation to health sciences programming at the U of L, Droog's gift represents a vote of confidence in the Faculty and helps set the stage for future growth.

"It is very encouraging for our Faculty to know that we have such a strong, committed individual working alongside us. We are honoured to have been chosen as the recipient of this gift and are committed to using the resources we've been entrusted with wisely," says Hosgood.

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge President Dr. Mike Mahon says the gift will be a unique complement to existing health sciences programming and will help the U of L to better serve its students and the community.

"We are proud to have the opportunity to work with Tom and his family in developing this professorship, which we expect will further connect our university to the community through the various individuals and organizations offering alternative and complementary health-care solutions," says Mahon.

"The Emmy Droog Professorship in Complementary and Alternative Health Care is a wonderful tribute and shows Tom's commitment to educating the next generation of health-care professionals."

For Droog and his family, education is key.

"When doctors mention the word cancer, people stop listening," says Droog, who was devastated when his wife was diagnosed with the disease in 2007. Over the next three years, the couple worked together investigating various health-care options that would help improve Emmy's quality of life as she battled her illness.

As a health-care practitioner, Droog's daughter Christy Strom sees the benefits that training in many different health-care disciplines can provide.

"It's important to get this information into the mainstream," says Strom. "Some of the alternative and complementary treatments are very simple, the problem is they're expensive and not everyone has access to them. We also need to educate health-care professionals about alternative therapies so that they can better serve their patients."

The U of L will develop a position description for the Emmy Droog Professor in Complementary and Alternative Health Care, and begin a recruiting process that could see a person placed in the Faculty of Health Sciences in time for the Fall 2012 semester.

Spencer forges new frontier

trevor.kenney — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:51:41 +0000

Space exploration has always been about firsts. It's only fitting then that the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge's first graduate from the Earth, Space and Physical Science PhD program worked on a groundbreaking instrument that promises the first images from the deepest parts of space.

Locke Spencer (MSc '05, PhD '09), working with graduate supervisor Dr. David Naylor, played a key role in the development and eventual deployment of SPIRE, an instrument on the Herschel space telescope. Now, Spencer will be able to continue his work on Herschel/SPIRE, having accepted a position as a post-doctoral researcher at Cardiff ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ in Wales.

"I had such a great experience doing research-based work at the U of L," says Spencer, a ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta undergrad who came to Lethbridge as a master's student and remained to complete his PhD. "Staying here and completing my PhD allowed me to continue with my project until it was launched into space. I now am working with actual flight data from the Herschel telescope in space, some 1.5 million km away from Earth."

Being able to work with Naylor was a huge factor in luring Spencer to the U of L to pursue his master's degree. Once he got on campus, he quickly learned the finer points of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ experience.

"The U of L is small enough to still be personal," says Spencer, who was born in Cardston, Alta., but lived in Vauxhall, Edmonton, Bow Island, Stirling, Lethbridge and Calgary all before graduating from high school. "I am known by name by the registrar's office, the dean, the president and so on. This is very rare at larger institutions; there really is a close-knit community on campus.

"At the same time, through the international relationships the U of L has developed, I've been able to do field work at some of the most prestigious labs in the world."

His involvement with the SPIRE project was far from peripheral and it was that opportunity, to fully participate in a project with a world-renowned researcher of Naylor's calibre, that most benefited Spencer.

"Professor Naylor is the lead investigator for Canada on this project," Spencer says. "Our work was essentially buying access to the Herschel telescope for astronomers across Canada.
"I was able to provide an explanation for an unanticipated instrumental effect which was discovered very late in SPIRE's development. My work provided critical input to the instrument data processing routines within the project, and future instrument development for projects just on the horizon."

At Cardiff, Spencer will continue working with Herschel/SPIRE, as well as the European Space Agency Planck satellite. In the long term, he looks at coming back to school, as a professor.

"I would like to continue researching astrophysics and instrumentation and if possible, our family would love to be based in western Canada and even Alberta," Spencer says.

That's an application the U of L would do well to receive.

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