Newsome has taught nursing at North Georgia since 1998 and managed the university's Appalachian Nurse Practitioner Clinic since it opened in 2006. She has applied for a $1.8 million grant to continue funding the clinic located on the first floor of the Health & Natural Sciences Building, expand the existing satellite clinic in Cleveland, and open a new location in Union County.
In five years, NGCSU officials say the clinic has provided hands-on training for some 70 nursing students and served more than 5,000 uninsured, low-income people living in Lumpkin, Dawson, White, Hall, Union, Fannin, and Gilmer counties. Some 1,500 patients, most with chronic diseases, currently are enrolled at the clinic.
Dr. Toni Barnett, head of North Georgia's Department of Nursing, said the clinic has been meeting its goals of training students and providing health care for the poor, thanks to Newsome.
"We would not have this clinic, except that Grace really, really worked to get it open. She worked for years on the grant, and didn't give up when it got rejected. Without her, we would not have this clinic," Dr. Barnett said. "It takes that person with the passion and the heart and the willingness to keep working on it."
The university was turned down for the federal Health Resources and Services Administration grant when Newsome first applied, something that's not unusual, Barnett said. North Georgia was the first school in the state to get a grant for a nurse-managed center and Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah still is the only other one.
Newsome, who also has spent time as a grant-application reviewer, said there is no guarantee the university will receive the HRSA grant again, and could get just a partial grant. Even as the economic downturn made the clinic a vital resource for people who lost their health insurance along with their jobs, it also means more competition for fewer grant dollars. The same economic problems squeezing the wallets of the region's residents also has hit the budgets of health care agencies and many county health departments have cut their services or hours, Newsome and Barnett said.
Even with full funding of the grant, there are areas where the clinic needs support -- purchasing medicines, paying for referrals, opening more clinics, and keeping fees low. Those seeking the clinic's services now have to provide tax information to prove their economic status and pay fees based on a sliding scale.
For Newsome, the clinic is the highlight of a career that spanned four decades in nursing and education. She genuinely cares about the clinic's patients and will find it hard to leave them.
"There's a lot of angst related to the clinic, because when you're treating people with these kinds of issues, you don't go home at night and just forget them," she said. "You call them up and ask if they feel better, and, if not, tell them to go to the ER. And of course they don't want to go to the ER because they're going to get a $400 bill and maybe nothing will be done for them. & Once you know they really need help, you can't just go on about your business. You have to make a way to make them OK."
In addition to her work with the clinic, Newsome also helped Barnett establish North Georgia's family nurse practitioner program, which currently offers a master's degree and has a doctorate in the works. For her work with the clinic and the nursing programs, Barnett nominated Newsome for the Atlanta Journal Constitution's Nursing Excellence Awards this year. Newsome and nine other honorees selected from the hundreds nominated were honored in an awards banquet earlier this month.
Newsome said she has enjoyed being involved in nursing education and is proud she helped create the Georgia Association for Nursing Education, a nonprofit organization.
"I would never have dreamed I would have gotten to experience all the things I have," Newsome said. "It's just allowed me to see so many facets of where nurses are and what they're doing. It's been a lot of fun and challenging, but overall a lot of fun."
While she hasn't finalized her future plans, Newsome said she does look forward to being able to spend more time with her three children and 11 grandchildren.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2011/6/239248