Media Contact: Michael Schwartzberg, GBMC Media Relations Manager

 (O): 443-849-2126/Cell: 410-258-3465eMarch 2:]

State Grant Allows GBMC Nurses To Pursue Advanced Education

BALTIMORE, Md. – July 24, 2008 – Grant funding provided by Maryland’s Health Services Cost Review Commission is enabling five Greater Baltimore Medical Center nurses to participate in advanced training opportunities.

Lynn Marie Bullock, RN, MS, and Lisa Paris, MA, RNC, both of whom work in GBMC’s Norman Baetjer, Jr. and Jeanne H. Baetjer Center for Nursing Excellence, have been accepted into the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing and will begin in the fall of 2008. The Baetjer Center supports the learning and professional development needs of nursing students and also coordinates orientation and educational opportunities for GBMC nurses. 

A resident of Bel Air, Bullock serves as the clinical program manager for the Baetjer Center.  She has been a nurse for 15 years and employed at GBMC for 10 years.  “I feel fortunate to have been given this opportunity,” Bullock said.  “I am excited to learn how I can assist in implementing research into our nursing practice.”

Paris, of Westminster, has been a nurse for 24 years, 22 of which she has spent at GBMC.  “We have a lot of opportunity to further improve our excellent nursing care through nursing research and I look forward to this education preparing me to play a role in that endeavor,” said Paris, an education specialist.

Jody Porter, RN, BSN, MBA, CNOR, GBMC’s senior vice president of patient care services and chief nursing officer, and Kim Bushnell, RN, BSN, MSN, an administrative director in nursing administration, also are enrolled in the DNP program. 

Jessica Thomason, RN, BSN, a nurse on the Medical Intensive Care Unit and a resident of Parkville, was previously awarded an HSCRC grant to pursue a masters of science in nursing degree, also at Johns Hopkins University School Of Nursing.  Thomason, who has been a GBMC nurse for two years and has five years of experience in medical intensive care nursing, plans to become a clinical nurse specialist in critical care.

“We are very grateful to the HSCRC for providing these funds which will enable our nurses to gain advanced education and training,” Porter said.  “Opportunities such as these allow GBMC to make significant improvements to our training and education opportunities as well as help recruit new nursing staff.”

GBMC was awarded $1.6 million in grant funds over a five-year period by the HSCRC, whose Nursing Support Program administers the funds as a way to encourage hospital-based programs that address the short- and long-term nursing shortage in Maryland hospitals.

About GBMC   

GBMC HealthCare includes Greater Baltimore Medical Center (GBMC), Central Maryland’s leading community hospital with a mission of Health, Healing, and Hope; Gilchrist Hospice Care, which provides comfort and care to patients with life-limiting illnesses; and the GBMC Foundation, which manages fundraising efforts.  Located on a beautiful suburban campus, GBMC provides a total of 359 beds for patient care (310 acute care, 25 subacute and 24 for hospice inpatients), handles more than 26,700 inpatient cases annually, and provides approximately 60,000 emergency room visits.  For more information, go to www.gbmc.org