Emory Report

September 13, 1999

Volume 52, No. 4

James Pace to deliver 1999-2000's first Great Teachers Lecture Sometimes even the best medicine isn't enough--just ask a person living with AIDS. That's when nurse practitioner James Pace turns to a more ecumenical style of healing, fostered by spirituality, and one he has encouraged for more than 10 years in his dual vocation as an Episcopal priest. How he meshes his two loves, nursing and spirituality, is the topic of "Spirituality and Advanced Nursing Practice," the first of Emory's 1999-2000 Great Teachers Lecture Series, in Cannon Chapel on Thursday, Sept. 16, at 7:30 p.m. Pace will use his extensive experience as a nurse practitioner with AID Atlanta to illustrate how powerful spirituality can be in health care. Helping patients tap into their own faith and values is a one of the rewarding tasks Pace sets for himself when helping patients and their loved ones. Priestly duties take him to Canton, Ga., on weekends to deliver mass at St. Clement's Episcopal Church, where he has served as interim priest for the past three years. But during the week Pace fulfills a number of nursing roles, not the least of which is mentoring students in his role as associate professor at the School of Nursing. Since joining Emory's nursing faculty in 1995, he has been instrumental in beginning the school's immunology/oncology specialist track in the department of adult and elder health nursing. The track prepares nurses for advanced practice roles. Pace's nursing school appointment also includes a faculty practice position, in which he works half time as an adult nurse practitioner for Mercy Mobile Health Care Services at AID Atlanta. AID Atlanta is the largest AIDS service organization in the Southeast, serving 2,500 clients and an active clinic population of more than 600 patients. Before coming to Emory, Pace taught at Vanderbilt University's School of Nursing in the department of adult health, where 50 percent of his appointment was spent in the practice arena as a chaplain for Alive-Hospice of Nashville. In Nashville, Pace actively provided interdenominational pastoral care services within the HIV/AIDS community. Last spring Pace delivered the nursing school's prestigious David Jowers Lecture on AIDS & Infectious Disease. A few months later he was named an Atlanta Health Care Hero by the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Introducing Pace at the Great Teachers Lecture will be Marla Salmon, the nursing school's new associate vice president for nursing science and chief executive officer. The lecture is free, open to the public and does not require reservations. For further information, call 404-727-5686. -Sarah Goodwin Return to September 13, 1999 contents page