Author: Jamie Stoskopf

Congratulations to Wichita State University’s School of Nursing faculty members Mary Faraher and Jamie Harrington for receiving Wichita Business Journal’s 2022 Healthcare Hero Awards.

Health Care Heroes recognizes Wichita-area health care professionals who achieve excellence in their fields.

The Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic at Wichita State is open all summer. The clinic provides services to people across the lifespan who have communication difficulties, including speaking, hearing, swallowing, and spoken and written language impairments.

The clinical staff includes highly trained faculty in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. The clinic is open to the public. Call 316-978-3289 to schedule an appointment. The Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic is located in the Hughes Metropolitan Complex at the intersection of 29th Street and Oliver. 

Congratulations to the Dental Hygiene Class of 2022 for achieving a 100% pass rate on their written and clinical licensure examinations. Both exams are required for licensure. Good luck to all the graduates in their careers as dental hygienists.

WSU’s Delta Dental of Kansas dental clinic is moving to 3D dentistry with the capacity to create crowns and other dental prosthetics.

The process begins with a digital scan of the patient’s teeth to create a 3-D image. Based on the scan, a prosthetic (crown, bridge, or implant) is designed, and a small block of synthetic material is milled at high speed on a cutting disk to the shape of the dental restoration. The process produces dental products with very high precision, at a much faster rate, and at a fraction of the cost. The 3-D virtual models can be used during consultation with clients to illustrate treatment options.

WSU’s dental clinic has begun operation of the equipment and expects to see reduced patient wait times and fewer visits for completion of the dental procedures.   

The WSU dental clinic provides a full range of services including cleanings, whitening, fillings, and implants, along with in-house specialists for periodontics, endodontics, oral surgery, and prosthetics.  The clinic is open during the summer and is currently taking new patients. To schedule an appointment, call 316-978-8350 or visit wichita.edu/WSUdentalclinic. 

The Evelyn Hendren Cassat Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic at Wichita State offers free hearing evaluations to faculty and staff.

Hearing loss is a common problem that can significantly affect a person’s ability to communicate.  During the evaluation, an audiologist will test the patient’s hearing to determine if there is hearing loss and the type and severity of the loss. If a patient does appear to have hearing loss, the appointment may last longer.

To schedule an appointment, call 316-978-3289. The clinic is located at the Hughes Metropolitan Complex at the intersection of 29th and Oliver streets.

The College of Health Professions is pleased to share its 2021 annual report. The report highlights exciting accomplishments, including major simulation upgrades and other initiatives that demonstrate how the College is Leading Change in Healthcare Education. 

The Dean’s Advisory Council for the College of Health Professions (CHP) met April 29 to discuss the significant impact of simulation and robotics on the training of healthcare professionals.  A major limitation to training in most health professions programs has been the ability to identify and recruit hospitals and health clinics to provide practical experience working with patients in a clinical setting.

Recently, the availability of high-fidelity manikins and robotics has allowed programs to provide practical experience to students through simulated situations in a safe environment for learning.  Simulation training has been shown to better prepare trainees for interacting with human patients and result in better health outcomes.

The CHP has invested over $1 million in new simulation facilities and equipment that will allow the College to provide cutting-edge training to students from undergraduate through doctoral programs.

“High-fidelity robotic simulation will continue to be an important and growing part of training in the health professions,” said Dr. Gregory Hand, dean of CHP. “Our goal is for the college to be second-to-none in providing health science simulation across our programs.”

The School of Nursing is hosting virtual info sessions to help prospective students learn more about the Registered Nurse (RN) to Bachelor of Science in nursing (BSN) program at Wichita State. The following dates are available:

• 9 a.m. May 3
• 4 p.m. May 6

Register for RN to BSN info sessions at wichita.edu/rnbsninfosession.

The Wichita State and Kansas State Pathway to Nursing Program has been approved by the Kansas State Board of Nursing. This dual-degree program is a unique collaboration that provides students the opportunity to earn both a Bachelor of Science degree from K-State, and a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from Wichita State.

Both degree programs will be based in Manhattan, Kansas, and the facilities at the K-State campus have been remodeled and equipped with new supplies and cutting-edge simulation equipment. The first cohort will begin in fall 2022. 

“We are very excited to see this program come to fruition,” said Debra Pile, chair and associate dean for nursing practice. “This type of program has never existed in Kansas, and we are pleased to provide more students with a path to education in nursing and positively impact local health care.”  

Dr. Susan Kruger, 92 — of Holdrege, formerly of Hesston, and Wichita — died March 23. Kruger was a longtime professor in the School of Nursing at Wichita State.

Kruger earned a BA in biology at Tabor College in Hillsboro. She received graduate degrees in nursing and a specialist degree in marriage and family counseling from WSU. Her doctorate in education and child development was earned from Kansas State University. Kruger began her professional career as staff nurse, supervisor, and instructor in Saskatchewan, Canada. She was director of a medical clinic in Congo, Africa, and an instructor at Wesley School of Nursing in Wichita.

Kruger began teaching at WSU in 1974 and played an integral part in the growth and development of the School of Nursing. She held various positions, including professor, chair of the Department of Nursing — which later became the School of Nursing under her leadership — and assistant dean of the College of Health Professions. While acting as chair, the School of Nursing received a federal grant to support disadvantaged students, the graduate program almost doubled in size, and the family nurse practitioner program began. Kruger also was responsible for the Nursing Alumni Society and successful grants to purchase interactive video and multimedia technologies.

Her area of clinical practice and teaching was pediatric nursing and counseling families with young children, particularly disabled children. Parenting was a topic of particular interest to Kruger. She was a certified family therapist, and her research interests were primarily on issues related to young families.

In 1993, Kruger received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the WSU Nursing Alumni Society. Kruger retired faculty emeritus from WSU in 1995 and the Susan Kruger Scholarship, an endowed fund created by the School of Nursing faculty and alumni, was named in her honor. She is also a Plaza of Heroines honoree.