SDSU nursing faculty honored by peers

Two current and one retired member of the College of Nursing faculty at South Dakota State University have been honored by their peers. 

The service of Lori Hendrickx, Tom Stenvig and Marge Hegge was recognized by the South Dakota Nurses Association at its 2023 convention in Huron Oct. 1-2. 

“The SDSU College of Nursing’s programs and students have long benefited from the expertise of our faculty, and these awards highlight the importance of impactful practices in high quality nursing education excellence,” College of Nursing Dean Mary Anne Krogh said. “Each of these individuals have created opportunities and excellent learning experiences for students to set them up for success throughout their professional careers.” 

Marge Hegge 

Hegge, who taught at SDSU for 45 years (1969-2014) and advanced from instructor to distinguished professor during her career, was one of three people to receive the Hall of Fame Award. 

Hegge, now of Sioux Falls, increasingly took on leadership roles in the college, including serving as interim dean, coordinating the continuing nursing education program, heading graduate education, directing the University Evaluation/Assessment Center and directing numerous grant projects. 

One of her major leadership roles outside of the college was directing Colleagues in Caring from 1996 to 2003. The purpose of this project was to convene the fields of nursing education, nursing practice and nursing regulation to address access quality and cost of nursing care as well as to formulate a strategic plan to anticipate and resolve nursing shortages. 

Roberta Olson, the nursing dean emeritus at SDSU who nominated Hegge, said, “There are pockets of nursing shortage in rural areas, long-term car and mental health, but fewer than would have existed without the Colleagues in Caring strategic planning.” 

Hegge also chaired the commission that revised the American Nurses’ Association Code of Ethics in 2015, which remains in use today. 

Tom Stenvig 

Stenvig, another longtime educator, received the Nurse Educator Award. 

Stenvig, of Nunda, joined the SDSU College of Nursing faculty as an adjunct assistant professor in 1982 while serving as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Public Health Service. He chaired the nursing department at Presentation College in Aberdeen from 1995 to 1999 and became a tenured full-time faculty member at SDSU in 2001. 

Stenvig began his nursing career 52 years ago, and his list of awards and accomplishments is equally as long. Among them are serving as faculty adviser for more than 200 graduate students, assisting curriculum development and grant preparation to launch SDSU’s nursing PhD program in 2005, the Doctor of Nursing Practice program in 2008, and helping to coordinate creation of the University of South Dakota/SDSU joint master’s in public health program in 2016. 

From 2003 to 2008, Stenvig was project director for the Wokunze Nursing Scholarship Program that was operated by the college with Indian Health Service funds. A total of 16 Native American students graduated through the financial aid and mentoring program. 

He now serves as an associate professor, Ph.D. program director, and director of the Wicozani Project, which also provides scholarships to enrolled tribal members seeking a degree in nursing. 

In 2010, Stenvig received the Distinguished Membership Award at the American Nurses Association’s House of Delegates for sustained support of the purposes of the association. He received the South Dakota Nurses Association Hall of Fame Award in 2013. 

A past president of the South Dakota Nurses Association, Stenvig is the first and only nurse from South Dakota to serve on the American Nurses Association Board of Directors, serving a total of eight years. 

Lori Hendrickx 

Hendrickx, of Park Rapids, Minnesota, was honored with the Nursing Practice Award. Although she has taught at SDSU since 1998, she has maintained an active practice in the emergency room at Essentia Health at St. Mary’s in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, since 1991. 

Hendrickx serves as a staff nurse and preceptor for new hires and for nursing students from area nursing schools. She believes this is crucial and the best way to remain current in the latest technology, changes in health care, medications and advancements in practice. This past year she served on a committee to establish new guidelines for a student nurse intern program and a new grad residency program. 

A professor at the Aberdeen location, Hendrickx works at least one shift almost every weekend at Detroit Lakes as well as many holidays and uses faculty release time to maintain her clinical practice. She also completes occasional evening four-hour shifts. 

Stenvig, who nominated Hendrickx, noted she takes her training back to the classroom. 

For example, she took content from a trauma nurse core course and augmented it with three trauma case studies to benefit of the next generation of nurses. Hendrickx also serves as a mentor for staff nurses in their professional activities. 

Pickard tabbed as VP 

In addition to these awards, officers for the South Dakota Nurses Association were elected for two-year terms. Deb Fischer-Clemens of Sioux Falls will serve as president with former SDSU nursing faculty member Sylvia Pickard of Brookings as vice president. 

Pickard graduated from SDSU in 1990 and did a little bit of teaching at SDSU while working at the Brookings Hospital. She earned her master’s degree in 1997 and taught full time until 2010, after which she continued to teach part time for a few years.