Nursing at Michigan: Our Journey to Excellence
The 13th annual UMHS Nursing Grand Rounds celebrates achievements and outlines goals for the future.
Bright images and photos rotated on a large display screen on the stage of the Dow Auditorium at Towsley Center as audience members filed in to hear Margaret (Marge) Calarco, Ph.D., RN, Chief of Nursing Services, University of Michigan Health System 
(UMHS) and University of Michigan School of Nursing (UMSN) Adjunct Professor, deliver her annual address. The slides listed awards, publications, and accomplishments by members of the UMHS and UMSN communities.
“I hope you had the opportunity to take a look at these slides that were playing as you came in,” Dr. Calarco began her presentation to UMHS nurses and UMSN faculty, staff and students. “We wanted to show you some of the accomplishments, and these really are just some of them, that we’ve achieved this year. It’s been a dynamic year and I’m very proud of what we’ve done.”
Dr. Calarco’s presentation on May 30, 2013, showcased numerous publications of UMHS’s nursing personnel and UMSN’s faculty, as well as UMHS’s improvement in areas frequently used in nationwide hospital comparisons such as patient education and nurses with advanced degrees. In addition, Dr. Calarco explained target areas for improved patient care, such as streamlined nursing guidelines and policies and developing better “quiet times” for patients.
Dr. Calarco also highlighted the clinical excellence shown by graduating nursing students due in large part to the success of collaborative education between UMHS and UMSN. She shared the benefits students receive by their embedded clinical experiences at the hospital and from the adjunct faculty members who bring their work experiences and clinical expertise to the classrooms. “Dr. Calarco's leadership is inspirational--one that I am proud to partner with in bringing out our vision for a health care environment that is patient-centered, interprofessional, evidence-based, and always aimed at excellence,” says UMSN Dean Kathleen Potempa, Ph.D., RN, FAAN. “Our students and faculty are enriched by our relationship with our UMHS colleagues.”
“Our promise is to create a shared vision and powerful voice which will advance the science of nursing and revolutionize leadership, education, and research and transform patient care,” said Dr. Calarco.
