Nominating

The NTNC Nominating Committee is pleased to announce nominees for the 2013 election of NTNC officers.

Nominees for President-Elect:

Barbarah Brissette, RN, Chief Nurse and Nurse Consultant, Houston, Texas

Barbarah Brissette is currently Chief Nurse at the City of Houston Bureau of Tuberculosis. Barbarah has been with the Bureau for the past five years and her responsibilities include supervision of the nurse case managers. She is the Training Focal Point and Nurse Consultant for the Bureau and is also tasked with providing oversight of the Bureau’s Hansen’s disease Program. Barbarah has over 23 years of nursing experience in various nursing roles in Goshen, New York and in Katy and Houston, Texas. She has over ten years of experience in the field of tuberculosis.

Over the past few years Barbarah has served as faculty for Heartland National TB Center and various TB summits and conferences sponsored by the Texas Department of State Health Services. She also serves on the Advisory Board for Heartland National TB Center.

Vision Statement
As a public health nurse, I understand the value and importance of nursing in the field of tuberculosis control. Nursing serves as the backbone of the various TB initiatives. We are the front line of patient advocacy. As President of NTNC, I would strive to:

• Support the standardization of nursing care in TB programs. By doing so, we would be able to better perform our nursing duties and advocate for our patients with the goal of elimination of tuberculosis.
• Obtain and distribute TB related news, literature, protocols and policies that may be of value to my TB nurse colleagues throughout the United States.
• Be available by phone, e-mail or in-person to discuss TB topics and research questions as they may arise from my TB nurse colleagues.
• Foster an environment of shared opportunities for ongoing professional growth (webinars, CEU offerings, and other formal trainings) within the NTNC.

Maria Dalbey, RN, Nurse Consultant from Kentucky

Maria Dalbey has served in the health care industry since 1985. Graduated from Jefferson Vocational Community College 1985 as a Certified Limited X-ray technician with licensure for both Kentucky and Indiana. Graduated from Eastern Kentucky University BSN with honors 1997. Worked in Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit as well as Cardiovascular Cath Lab for 10 years at Central Baptist Hospital. Became the Director of the Cardiovascular and Respiratory Department at Frankfort Regional Medical Center from 2005 to 2008. Graduated with Masters in Management and Leadership from Webster University with honors 2008. Graduated with Masters in Business Administration with honors 2009.

Began working for Kentucky Tuberculosis Program as the Nurse Consultant in 2008. Job tasks include:

• Provides consultation and guidance regarding tuberculosis (TB) control procedures to TB coordinators and others in local health departments and to other agencies and healthcare providers. Leads and/or participates in outbreak investigations, when necessary.
• Assists in the planning, evaluation, and development of TB prevention and service strategies, with particular attention to distribution of TB educational information provided to local health departments, other health care providers and the general public.
• Assists in the planning, evaluation, and development of TB prevention and service strategies, with particular attention to distribution of TB educational information provided to local health departments, other health care providers and the general public.
• Reviews and updates statewide TB control policies and procedures, in accordance with accepted medical practice. Revises and writes legislation and/or regulations necessary to update and implement TB control in the state.
• Develops curriculum; schedules and participates in training on tuberculosis control procedures, including identification of cases and outbreak management, for local health department staff and other professionals.
• Assists in monitoring TB control programs at Local Health Departments and the quality of TB prevention and services provided throughout the state. Gathers current data about TB control programs and drafts reports.
• Keeps current on the latest TB literature and advances by reviewing books, pamphlets, journals, and other professional materials. Establishes and maintains on-going working relationships with health care providers, hospitals, local health departments, and other agencies throughout the state.

Currently hold Instructor Certification for CPR and ACLS 1997 to present. Work PRN for Frankfort Regional Medical Center in the Intensive Care Unit from 2009 to present.

Vision for position:
I am a very motivated person who has a passion for public health and would continue to support members of the coalition as well as coordinate education and training programs, advocate for community based prevention and control at the local level and assist local communities in determining the role of public health nurses. I would continue to move ongoing projects to completion and begin working on other projects to not only benefit the role of nurses providing care and education to our TB patients, but also improve communication and problem solving ideas between states related to our TB patients.

Nominee for Secretary

Karen Martinek, RN, Nurse Consultant from Alaska

Karen Martinek has over 38 years of experience providing consultation, managing diverse public health programs and delivering direct services to individuals and families in both rural and urban communities, with a special interest in tuberculosis education and training. She has spent 34 years in Alaska working as an Itinerant Public Health Nurse, AIDS Surveillance Coordinator, Public Health Specialist for Alaska’s Breast and Cervical Health Check Program, and Alaska’s Children with Special Health Care Needs Director, responsible for Alaska’s Early Intervention/Infant Learning Program, Specialty Clinics, Genetics Clinics, Newborn Hearing Screening, and the Early Childhood Behavioral Health Program.

In her current role as a Nurse Manager/Nurse Epidemiologist, duties include supervising the Epi nurse team and support staff in addition to functioning as a member of the infectious disease outbreak investigation and public health preparedness team. She advises health care providers across the state on case management of tuberculosis to assure that appropriate standards of care are followed. Ms. Martinek also functions as the TB special projects lead which includes acting as Alaska’s focal point for the TB Program Evaluation Network and the TB Training and Human Resources Development Plan since 2006. She partnered with the Francis J Curry Center to bring Nurse to Nurse training to Alaska in 2008 and continues to use the curriculum to bring face-to-face Nurse to Nurse training to several regional public health centers each year. Additionally, she has been invited faculty and/or facilitator for Curry Center courses and Nurse-to-Nurse training since 2008 as well as a programmatic Warmline consultant since 2010. Ms. Martinek also provided training on TB program management, nurse case management and MDR prevention for the Ministry of Health in Suriname in 2011 and 2012.

Vision:
Nurses play a critical role in TB prevention and control activities at the local, state and territorial levels. Tuberculosis case management is an extremely complex and challenging process that requires knowledge, skill, collaboration, problem-solving, flexibility, cultural sensitivity and the ability to “think outside the box”. The NTNC provides a strong and united perspective to advise and support essential nursing contributions to individual and programmatic TB activities and outcomes. I am proud to be involved in TB nursing and value the contributions and passion that so many nursing colleagues bring to this important work.