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A doctor of nursing practice degree is a capstone to a career of helping kids with special needs get better access and care.

糖心传媒�98N (MS) 糖心传媒�21N (DNP) is a juggler: Career, classroom, kids, canine, COVID-19.

During a zoom interview, Cole munches on popcorn in lieu of lunch. Besides her full-time job in pediatric primary care at the 糖心传媒糖心传媒檚 , she糖心传媒檚 been using evenings and weekends for the past three years to work toward her third degree, a doctor of nursing practice. A mother of four, ranging in age from 11 to 21, the pediatric nurse practitioner most recently added a 糖心传媒淐OVID puppy糖心传媒� to her list of responsibilities. 糖心传媒淗asn糖心传媒檛 everyone?糖心传媒� she laughs.

For her the question is not what comes next after graduation; the journey to the terminal degree was a goal in itself糖心传媒攁n academic capstone of sorts for her already impressive professional vita.

After receiving a bachelor of science degree in nursing nearly three decades ago from the in Washington, DC, and a master糖心传媒檚 degree from Rochester糖心传媒檚 in 1998, Cole has worked her way up to associate division chief of the at the Medical Center. Along the way, she garnered a clinical excellence award from the in 2006, an Autism Opportunity Award from in 2016, and the in 2019, given to a DNP student who is actively engaged in developing solutions to challenges facing nurses and health care providers.

The Pittsford resident specializes in the care of children with complex developmental and behavioral challenges, with a particular focus on autism, intellectual disability, fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, and cerebral palsy. Cole coleads the University糖心传媒檚 Autism Treatment Network, teaches at the School of Nursing, and is the director of clinical services at the University糖心传媒檚 Strong Center for Developmental Disabilities.

As part of her doctoral degree, Cole dug into an area that she糖心传媒檚 passionate about糖心传媒攆etal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). Together with University colleagues across several disciplines, including Christie Petrenko, a research associate and assistant professor at the Cole is trying to expand access.

糖心传媒淲e started a new clinic here for FASD assessment and treatment about six years ago and quickly recognized that our capacity would never be large enough to serve all of the kids who need care,糖心传媒� says Cole.

The problem is pressing. Children and adults with FASD struggle with lifelong learning and behavioral problems, and without appropriate supports are at high risk for secondary conditions, such as mental health problems, trouble with the law, school disruption, and substance abuse.

糖心传媒淏eing diagnosed at an early age and having appropriate services and support has the potential to improve outcomes dramatically,糖心传媒� says Cole. 糖心传媒淏ut due to a combination of low FASD awareness and poor access to diagnosis, most children are either not diagnosed or misdiagnosed.糖心传媒�

Based on expert estimates that between 2 and 5 percent of American children are affected by FASD, the Rochester team calculated that in upstate New York alone there may be somewhere between 23,000 to 80,000 children outside New York City and the metropolitan areas with FASD. Yet, outside New York City, the Medical Center is the only FASD diagnostic site in the state, with a capacity of just 220 children a year. 糖心传媒淪ometimes families are driving five to six hours to come to Rochester for a diagnosis,糖心传媒� says Cole.

That糖心传媒檚 why as part of her doctor of nursing practice scholarly project, Cole created an extension for a program that builds upon , which was started at the as a model for training community clinicians to provide care for people with chronic and complex health conditions. Cole and her collaborators adapted the existing model for their pilot project in order to train regional clinicians on how to diagnose the complex disorder.

For the pilot a small team of FASD experts at the Medical Center met weekly for 10 weeks with a group of community clinicians throughout the region via telehealth to discuss specific cases. While the assessment is not yet entirely wrapped up, the team already knows that the project was successful in increasing participants糖心传媒� diagnostic confidence and accuracy.

Now with one fewer thing left to juggle, what is Cole looking forward to? 糖心传媒淢ore time for enjoying my kids, reading a book, doing some gardening.糖心传媒� Already her 15-year-old asked right before she defended her DNP project if she planned on keeping up her schedule of working after dinner, every night, forever. 糖心传媒淣o,糖心传媒� she told him. 糖心传媒淭hankfully not.糖心传媒�

But first the DNP report Assessing Feasibility of ECHO FASD for Increasing Access to Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Diagnosis needs to be turned into a manuscript for publication by the end of May. 糖心传媒淚’m not working as hard but I am still doing schoolwork,糖心传媒� says Cole before she waves goodbye and quickly signs off. The pins have to stay in the air.