11:47 a.m., Jan. 19, 2010----Madeline Lambrecht, professor in the School of Nursing at the University of Delaware, has been selected to receive the 2010 End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC) Award from the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN).

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Lambrecht received the award primarily for her work in disseminating ELNEC throughout the state of Delaware.

“Your dedication to developing partnerships throughout the state is remarkable,” Pam Malloy, ELNEC project director, wrote in an email to Lambrecht. “This is an award that you truly deserve. We thank you for your dedication to improving palliative care in your community and state.”

The national ELNEC project provides training to undergraduate and graduate nursing faculty, continuing education providers, staff development educators and nurses so they can teach this essential information to nursing students and practicing nurses. The program includes modules covering a wide range of topics, including palliative nursing care, pain management and cultural considerations in EOL care, symptom management and final hours, ethical issues, communication, and loss, grief, and bereavement.

“This project would not have been possible without the expertise and support of the Delaware End-of-Life Coalition and people throughout the state,” says Lambrecht, “including participants from Wesley College, Delaware Hospice, and Wilmington University.”

The award from the AACN also recognizes Lambrecht's work with the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS). In May 2009, she broadcast a national Webinar for TAPS, which went to all military facilities and was available to healthcare professionals working with the military as well as with their families.

The focus was on supporting survivors of suicide, given that the rate of suicide in the military has surpassed that of the civilian population and the latest reports show an increasing number of suicides in all branches of the military.

A suicide survivor herself, Lambrecht understands well that grief following a suicide is complex and multidimensional, with physical, cognitive, affective, behavioral, and spiritual components. Her oldest son took his life at age 25.

“Survivors often feel overwhelmed by the sudden death and experience a sense of disbelief or unreality,” she says. “In addition, suicide still carries a stigma, which can disenfranchise the grief of survivors. There is often silence or an unspoken edict not to mention the word 'suicide' or talk about the circumstances.”

Lambrecht published an article in the summer 2009 issue of TAPS Magazine entitled “Suicide: The Aftermath,” and she will be one of two TAPS presenters offering a free seminar, “Bereavement Support for Survivors of a Military Suicide,” to be held in Dover later this month.

She will also be a presenter on traumatic/complicated grief at the 2010 Deployment Mental Health Symposium, to be held in May in Pensacola, Fla., and at the 16th annual TAPS National Military Survivor Seminar and Good Grief Camp, to be held from May 28 - 31, 2010, in Arlington, Va. In addition, Lambrecht is a content matter expert and member of the TAPS Speakers Bureau.

She has received a number of awards for her work, including the 2009 Jefferson Award for Public Service, which honors “individuals who are deemed shining examples of community service and volunteerism.” She was cited for her work with programs to train Delaware health care professionals, social workers, pastors and psychologists to improve end-of-life care.

Lambrecht is certified as a fellow in thanatology by the international Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC) and as an end-of-life trainer by ELNEC. She currently serves as president of the Delaware End-of-Life Coalition and is a past president of ADEC.

Lambrecht holds a doctor of education degree from Temple University and has been a member of the UD faculty since 1978. Her areas of expertise include death education, grief counseling, the use of technology in teaching and learning, and distance education.

Article by Diane Kukich