Shelia Mann, MSN, RN

Central Virginia VA Healthcare System, Richmond, Virginia

NOVA Chapter 420

Ms. Shelia Mann, MSN, RN has been part of the Central Virginia VA Healthcare System for eight years. She is the Lead Charge Nurse for Surgical Specialty Clinics (SSC) which includes the 2D multi-Surgical Specialty Clinic, Orthopedic Clinic, and the Podiatry Clinic. 

Ms. Mann started her career in nursing as a Licensed Practical Nurse. In 2006, she returned to school and graduated from Aiken Technical College in 2007 with a degree in nursing. She started her RN career on the Medical-Surgical Unit at the University Hospital in Augusta, Georgia and gained experience in many areas of nursing. As a military spouse and mother of two, she traveled with her family to military installations across the United States and worked in various hospitals, clinics, and nursing home settings. 

She began working at the Central Virginia VA Healthcare System in 2013 in the emergency department and later transferred to SSC in 2017. Ms. Mann returned to school in 2019. Ms. Mann earned a BSN and MSN in Leadership and Management from Western Governors University (WGU).

Ms. Mann was recognized by NOVA in 2020 and was awarded the RN Excellence Award. In 2019, she was selected as one of the top nurses in the Richmond area and was highlighted in Our Health Magazine for the Central Virginia region. As the lead charge nurse, Ms. Mann has worked to improve the quality of care for Veterans and their families.

Ms. Mann is actively involved in shared governance.  She is a liaison for the SSC Professional Practice Committee and serves on the facility’s Professional Practice Committee. Ms. Mann has been a NOVA member since 2014. 

Emily Larimer, MSN, BA, RN and TJ Wilcox-Olson, MHS, RN

VA Portland Health Care System, Portland, Oregon

NOVA Chapter 332

        Emily Larimer                           TJ Wilcox-Olson                            

April is National Donate Life Month. During this time Americans are encouraged to register to give life-saving gifts through organ, eye, and tissue donation. We offer this explanation through statistics.. There are more than 107,000 men, women and children waiting for transplants as of February 2021. Approximately 85% of these individuals are waiting for a kidney. In 2020, there were 39,000 transplants performed. Only 3 in 1,000 leave this earth in a way that allows for organ donation. Every 9 minutes another individual is added to the waiting list.

Ultimately, one donor can save the lives of up to 8 people and through tissue donation can impact and heal 75 lives through tissue donation. These gifts not only impact the recipients but also the family.

In honor of Donate Life Month we are sharing insights of a donor mom: Emily Larimer and a recipient daughter: TJ Wilcox-Olson.

Emily is a Veteran and was employed as a VA nurse from 2007-2015. As a nurse at the VA, she was a member of NOVA and most recently rejoined as a community member in 2021. She is the mom of an organ donor. Her son, Nehemiah, offered life-saving gifts of both his kidneys, pancreas, liver and offered sight to two recipients through the gift of his corneas following a tragic accident and his passing in 2015.

TJ Wilcox-Olson has been a VA nurse for 13 years and is the daughter of an organ recipient. Her mother, a VA nurse for over 35 years, received the gift of a liver donation in 2019.

How did you and your family become involved with organ donation?

Emily: I marked the box on my driver’s license as a youth in the state of Michigan. I had no idea the impact this decision could make until 2015. That year the earth suddenly stopped on its axis. My husband and I were told our son had been in a terrible accident. We rushed to the scene. I met the eyes of a policeman in the intersection while frantically scanning for a glimpse of my son. He offered a spark of strength and responded Nehemiah was in good hands as EMT caregivers were working to regain his heart rhythm in the ambulance. We followed behind the ambulance to the hospital and prayed for a miracle. The miracle(s) which followed were not as we had prayed for. Miracles, instead, occurred through our son’s selfless act of donation.

Nehemiah too, had checked his box 6 months prior on his 18th birthday. Several months later, through a sequence of grieving and hope, we received a most incredible gift-the arrival of my son’s liver recipient. He flew in to meet us alongside his wife. It was a humbling moment as I took in the realization. Within him lived an aspect of my adventurous son. This most thoughtful gentleman offered his own story. Previously at life’s tipping point, on the top of the transplant waiting list, he now stood in front of us as a refreshed life, full of color and kindness, no longer struggling in the yellow hue of liver failure. Gratitude was brilliantly shared through the sparkle in his eyes. Unbeknownst to me, this was one of many miracles we had prayed for while driving behind the ambulance. That’s the start of our involvement with donation.

TJ: I have long supported organ donation and marked the box to be a donor when I applied for my first driver’s license. It is the ultimate gift to provide to someone. I had the honor of seeing this gift in action through the choices Emily’s family made and the celebration of life that came from a very difficult time in their lives. This reinforced my decision to be a donor. My attention to donation grew even stronger when my mother’s health was affected by Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency which leads to serious lung and/or liver disease and she was placed on the transplant list.

What were your biggest fears related to donation?

Emily: Once I had met Nehemiah’s recipient, I had an epiphany. As a nurse and a mom, living out a mingling of hope and grief, what if I joined the mission? As in a role in donation, perhaps I have, within my heart and skills, what it takes to live donation as a nurse with an Organ Procurement Organization (OPO). Here’s where the fear snuck in. Fear might be too strong a word. I didn’t know how to measure my heart’s ache against its strength. Was I capable to face, with greatest compassion, another mom in her moment of darkest brokenness, in the capacity that my own grief could surface? There were no guarantees, except back to the prayer for a miracle. Out of the blue sky, an opening for a role in western SD appeared. I applied to work at LifeSource (the OPO in my region) and was embraced to join the team. I have been in this role of Clinical Hospital Coordinator now for nearly four years. This biggest fear still surfaces occasionally, on my ability to face grief which mirrors my own. And each time, the miracle I prayed for years ago surfaces and I extend the hope of donation alongside families facing their own donation journey.

TJ: Once someone is added to the transplant list the waiting game begins. There is a lot of fear that your family member may not survive until a match is found. Once matched, there is then fear that the organ will not be able to be used. Until the surgery is over there is always doubt mixed in with a great deal of hope. And then there is fear that it won’t work! The first year involves a lot of change, a lot of lab work. Making it to that 1-year mark was a great relief? That fear also extends to the donor family. They provided an amazing gift and we all want it to be a success. There is a fear of somehow letting them down if it doesn’t work.

Have you met the organ recipients or donor family?

Emily: I’ve met my son’s liver recipient. I haven’t had the chance to meet his other recipients.  Hopefully one day. I’m eager to. TJ’s mom is a shining light I look forward to meeting one day. I appreciate following her story through TJ’s support.

TJ: My mom’s donor remains anonymous but our family is grateful to his or her family for choosing the gift of donation.

How can nurses help spread the word about registering to become a donor?

Emily: I’d recommend searching out and meeting your OPO liaison. Of the 57 OPOs in the U.S., there is one OPO designated to support your VA and they would be honored to hear from you. Together, work to set up a plan to spread the word. Set up a donor sign-up, create a 5K, lead a campaign, request a Mayor Proclamation for a Donate Life Day, share in conjunction with your school or faith institution, and share stories.

TJ: Sharing stories is so important. Stories really put a face to donation. It goes from being this ethereal idea to this real person, to this real life that has been impacted. Take opportunities to learn more about how lives have been impacted by both giving and receiving these gifts.  

How can nurses grow donation within the VA?

Emily: And as a nurse in the hospital setting, your leadership in the donor process is a unique opportunity. In partnership with your OPO, nurse awareness is vital to the effective timing and initiation of a donation referral. Depending on your role--participating in a Donation Committee, guiding policy updates in alignment with Partnership Agreements, implementing donation education for your VA or VISN, or supporting a family donation discussion by your presence—each strategic action multiplies the impact of our donation process excellence. Other focuses, not as specific to one’s role may include encouraging VA led Donate Life Month activities, participating in a Donate Life flag raising ceremony, or supporting an honor walk process to offer visible alignment with the donor and his/her family.

Together we can grow donation within our VAs. In our communities, we can encourage everyone to put into action the support of donation by signing up as donors and sharing this decision with family and friends.

Nehemiah Larimer

Nehemiah Larimer

Eileen Grubbs, BS, ADN, RN, MEDSURG-BC

Oklahoma City VA Medical Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

NOVA Chapter 330 

Left to Right: Eileen Grubbs, Cecelia Armstrong, 

Jessi Abraham, Cline, Thomas Gremling, 

and Patrick Johnson

NOVA Chapter 330 members learned much throughout 2020, the year of the COVID-19 pandemic. While our chapter gained members during this time, we also weathered personal losses together as one. 

Our chapter worked with Oklahoma City (OKC) Beautiful and the Parks and Recreation Department to sponsor a park near our VA in honor of Tanya Leasure, LPN, who passed away in April 2019. Tanya was one of the first LPNs to join NOVA Chapter 330. The sign and our care in the park will last for two years. We plan to plant daffodils in the park and enjoy sitting on the benches and pavilion.

During this global pandemic, wearing masks, cappers, gowns, gloves, and shoe covers became routine. We were stretched  as we transitioned  from outpatient to inpatient nursing. Our strengths  were  in patient and staff  education and sharing  our nursing experiences. Leaders in administration were there to assist in many new experiences as well. Chapter membership numbers and methods of staying connected have changed greatly, but our mission  to support NOVA and nursing at our facility continues. 

Bette L. Davis, MSN 

NOVA Past President/Nurse Emeritus

Washington, DC VAMC, Washington, DC

NOVA Chapter 156

Bette L. Davis, NOVA Past President and Nurse Emeritus, was one of the first clinical nurse specialists to be hired at the DC VAMC in the summer of 1971. Bette was also in the first group of 101 nurses in 1978 to be certified by ANA as a Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) in psychiatric and mental health nursing practice. In addition to her specialty in consultation-liaison psychiatry during her years in Washington, DC, she assumed pivotal positions in the movement to forge new legislation and policies to advance nursing and the quality of care in the VA healthcare system.

Her broad background of teaching, clinical nursing, research and writing began when she graduated in the first class of the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill School of Nursing and was one of the first women at UNC to receive a four-year degree in nursing.

During the early years of her nursing career, she remained in North Carolina, teaching at the School of Nursing in Chapel Hill, and gaining experience in psychiatric nursing and public health. nursing. In 1964, she moved to Dallas, TX and became a VA nurse, a head nurse on a medical unit for five years. In 1969, she entered Yale University where she obtained a MSN degree and became a clinical nurse specialist in psychiatric nursing in 1971.

In her national leadership role for the Nurses Organization of Veterans Affairs (NOVA), first as the legislative director, and later as President, she authored and presented numerous professional nursing testimony to the US Congress and the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) to improve health care for US Veterans, accurately addressing critical and timely national concerns, such as the future of the VA healthcare system, the role of the VA and of nurses in national health care reform, women’s health care, nurse pay, and federal funding for nursing education, research and practice.

Throughout her career, Bette has made a significant impact toward raising the status of nursing and improving the quality of working life for those who have focused their careers on caring for men and women who have served our country in the military.

In 1992, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Nursing honored her as the Alumna of the Year for her excellence in psychiatric liaison nursing and as a national spokesperson for the nursing profession and for health care.

In 1997, NOVA presented Bette with the Barbara Chambers Award for her leadership and outstanding contributions to NOVA. Chambers was the founding President of NOVA in 1980. Bette was cited for her work in enhancing the political power of VA professional nursing, making it a visible and interactive force in shaping the Department of Veterans Affairs health care policies and nursing’s role in that health care. 

From 1971 to 2000, Bette practiced as a CNS at the Washington, DC, VA Medical Center. This position kept her at the forefront of direct care. “Nurses before me pursued ways and means to improve nursing education and advanced practice, making it possible for nurses to remain in the clinical area.” 

As a result, Bette forged new legislation and policies that advanced nursing and the quality of care in the VA healthcare system. 

Bette retired in 2000 but continues to keep in touch with alumni and professional nursing organizations.

Bette speaking at the ANA nursing rally on Capitol Hill in 1992.

Partnering with the dedicated men and women of NOVA to award our ‘Continuing Service’ Scholarships this year has been a privilege for FED Benefits Center. Going through the applications we received, the dedication, advocacy, and passion you all bring to your work with our nation’s Veterans every day is evident and inspiring. 2020 was a year of extraordinary circumstances that our nation navigated due to the extraordinary resilience, dedication, and passion of health care professionals and front-line workers. FED Benefits Center would like to recognize  this year’s scholarships recipients, Tiaa Padgette and Anastasia Aryee.

Tiaa Padgette is the Chief of Education at the Columbia VA Health Care System pursuing her PhD in Nursing from Walden University. As part of her work at the Columbia VA, Ms. Padgette initiated the Strategic Tools Empowering Mobility (STEM) program to help her colleagues develop tools and skills to further their careers within the VA. Ms. Padgette describes her view on service as ‘practicing servant leadership, placing the needs of others at the forefront and supporting them in a meaningful way.’

Anastasia Aryee is an Assistant Nurse Manager at the VA Boston Healthcare System. Her commitment and passion are on constant display with her colleagues whether Ms. Aryee is pivoting to cover a need on another unit or assisting residents in the Community Living Center. Ms. Aryee shared that she is passionate about her role in ‘Veterans’ long-term holistic health’ through ‘gentle humility and patience that keeps Veterans’ spirits lifted.’

It is our pleasure to support the service of Ms. Padgette and Ms. Aryee in adding to their considerable skills and talents to serve our Veterans. At FED Benefits Center we cherish the opportunity to serve you as you serve others. Thank you all for your commitment and dedication to our nation’s heroes. 

Take care and stay safe!