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Honoring Dr. Kathryn Hoehn Anderson’s Contributions to IFNA and Family Nursing

Kathryn Hoehn Anderson, PhD, ARNP, PMH, PHMCNS-BS, LMFT, Professor, Georgia Southern University, USA, was a Founding Member of IFNA and served as the Director of the Center for Nursing Scholarship at Georgia Southern University.

In her role as as the co-chair of the IFNA Family Nursing Practice Committee (2011-2018), she led the development and dissemination of two important IFNA Position Statements:  IFNA Position Statement on Generalist Competencies for Family Nursing Practice and the IFNA Position Statement on Advanced Practice Competencies for Family Nursing.

News of Kathryn’s untimely death was received on October 27, 2018 and has been reverberating throughout the IFNA community.  The IFNA listserv was chosen to serve as a “digital gathering place” to mourn Kathryn’s loss and remember her generous contributions to IFNA and to family nursing.

Tributes to Kathryn’s life and vision for family nursing have been pouring in from IFNA members and colleagues around the world. Please read:Kathryn Anderson Condolences from IFNA.Nov 9.

The IFNA Family Nursing Practice Committee has written a tribute to honor Kathyrn’s scholarly leadership in family nursing practice.

Kathryn’s family has requested that IFNA create the Dr. Kathryn Hoehn Anderson Student Travel Fund where your tax-deductible donation will provide family nursing students an opportunity to attend and participate in the biennial International Family Nursing Conferences. 

Dr. Kathryn Anderson.Obituary

Dr. Anne Ersig Examines the Health and Well-being of Individuals with Childhood Chronic Health Conditions and Their Family Members

Anne L. Ersig, PhD, RN, is an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Nursing. Her research focuses on the biological, psychological, and behavioral effects of stress from childhood chronic health conditions on individuals  and their family members. Chronic health conditions in children affect the whole family as they integrate management of the condition into their daily routine, respond to crises, and face developmental challenges and condition-related health transitions. Dr. Ersig’s current research explores chronic health condition-specific stress, its contributions to cumulative life stress, allostatic load, and later-life health, and factors such as genetic variation that may influence these relationships. Identifying individual, family, and contextual factors that are part of the stress response helps care providers identify at-risk families, and develop and implement interventions to improve the health and well-being of individuals with childhood chronic health conditions and their family members.

Dr. Ersig is currently a member of the IFNA Research Committee.

For more information contact IFNA member, Anne Ersig.

 Twitter: @AnneErsig.

 

 

Dr. Suja Somanadhan Studies Child and Family Health and Wellbeing in Ireland

Suja Somanadhan, PhD, MSc, BA (Hons), HDip (Children’s Nursing), RCN, RGN, RNT is an assistant professor of Children’s Nursing at the University College Dublin (UCD) School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems. Her research focuses on translating care for people with rare genetic diseases into practice using Integrated Family System-based research approaches. Currently, she is leading several research projects related to child and family health and wellbeing. They include measuring the impact of caring for children with rare diseases (IMPACT Study), giving a voice to the children and their families with rare diseases through sand play, arts, music, photovoice, and interviews (SAMPI Project), the Rare Disease Research Partnership (RAinDRoP), and the Co-Designing Head Safety Interventions with Children Project (Co-HSi Project).

In 2020, Dr. Somanadhan received national health research project funding to lead an international collaborative project: How can we help children adjust to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond?   

Dr. Somanadhan is an active member of the IFNA UK/Ireland Chapter and is currently serving as the IFNA country liaison for Ireland. For more information contact IFNA member, Suja Somanadhan.

LinkedIn:  dr-suja-somanadhan-45321b24

Twitter: Suja Somanadhan@sujas15

IFNA Statement to Promote Family Advocacy

On October 5, 2018, IFNA President Dr. Jane Lassetter (USA), issued a statement outlining Policy Guidelines for IFNA Response to Events that Affect Family Well-being. 

Since then, several events throughout the world have once again highlighted the challenges families face as a result of local and national policies, politics, and laws as well as natural disasters and violence. As a result, many families are suffering. Please do not let the ubiquitous nature of these challenges cause your hearts and minds to grow numb to these families’ needs. While we recognize that IFNA members are incredibly busy family nurses and family health scholars, we call upon you to carve out time to advocate for families where you are and in whatever way will be effective in your location. Use IFNA’s Core Values to guide you. Be informed. Vote. Write letters to political leaders. Attend meetings and speak up on behalf of families. Basically, whatever your local or national challenges may be, please use your passion for families to advocate for them. 

This statement was drafted by IFNA President, Dr. Jane Lassetter (USA) ; IFNA Vice-President, Dr. Sonja Meiers (USA); and IFNA Past President, Dr. Carole Robinson (Canada).

American Family Therapy Academy (AFTA) Position Statement: AFTA Grieves AFTA Persists

On October 16, 2018, a family organization called the American Family Therapy Academy (AFTA) issued a new Position Statement titled AFTA Grieves AFTA Persists to identify AFTA’s ongoing and grave concerns about the well-being of families in the USA.

IFNA President, Dr. Jane Lassetter, recently outlined a policy to guide IFNA responses to national and international events that impact family health and well-being.  

The International Family Nursing Association (IFNA) Board of Directors wishes to share the concerns raised in the AFTA Position Statement with all IFNA members.

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