UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Elizabeth Schenk, executive director of environmental stewardship at Providence St. Patrick Hospital, and assistant research professor at Washington State University College of Nursing, will be this year’s speaker at the 2021 Jean Vallance Lecture in Nursing Innovation on April 9. The lecture will be hosted virtually this year and registration is required.
Schenk’s talk, titled "Passion Drives Change: Environmental Stewardship in Health Care," will be followed by a live Q&A session and feature an update from the Penn State College of Nursing’s Sustainability Council. Schenk will draw on her work focused on acute care environmental stewardship and what nurses can do in support of sustainability. She will also use her own experience to discuss how passion can be a helpful energizer for change.
Schenk is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, earned her doctorate from Washington State University, a master of healthcare innovation from Arizona State University, and her bachelor of science in nursing from Montana State University.
“The college is pleased to share this event with the community as sustainability in nursing and health care at large is critical to developing equitable, sustainable health related solutions across the globe,” shared Dean Laurie Badzek. “Dr. Schenk’s expertise can help nurse leaders develop practical solutions for a more sustainable future.”
This endowed lecture series honors Jean S. Vallance, a 30-year State College resident who helped design and organize the Family Planning Clinic, later known as Family Health Services, to bring low-cost health care to women in central Pennsylvania. Vallance was among the first nurses in Pennsylvania to be registered as a Certified Registered Nurse Practitioner. Her husband, Theodore Vallance, was a former associated dean in the College of Health and Human Development and retired as professor emeritus of human development in 1983. Their daughter, Mary, is a Penn State Nursing alumna and nurse practitioner. In honor of Jean Vallance and in support of the Nursing program at Penn State, the family said they established this lecture as a way to share nursing innovation and insight with current and future nurses.
This event is projected to offer 1.0 contact hour for registered nurses. Penn State College of Nursing is approved as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the Pennsylvania State Nurses Association, an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.