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A Tribute to Pauline (Polly) Cerasoli: 1939-2011

2011; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; Volume: 25; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1097/00001416-201107000-00003

1938-3533

Bette Ann Harris,

Nursing Roles and Practices

At the 14th Annual Pauline Cerasoli lecture this past February, I was given the honor to say a few words about my friend and colleague Polly Cerasoli. I think most of you know that this annual event was initiated in 1997 as a tribute to Polly, whose life was interrupted and tragically cut short by an act of violence over 15 years ago. Polly finally succumbed to her injuries this past fall and now is finally at peace. Many of you never knew Polly personally, although you have read about her professional legacy in the publicity surrounding this annual lecture. In this tribute, I am going to share the more humanistic attributes of Polly and share some highlights of Polly's professional career that are a part of her legacy to her beloved profession. (Just for the record, Polly is also remembered as being the loving "Auntie Mame" to her nieces and nephews and a loving family member.) I sincerely believe that Polly would also like to be remembered as a dedicated professional who made major contributions to the profession of physical therapy. Polly was passionate about advancing the profession of physical therapy and was a risk taker. Polly believed in teamwork, interdisciplinary education, and the development of leadership skills in health professionals. She was never afraid to move forward as an individual or as an advocate for the profession. Although change used to make her nervous and somewhat uncomfortable, Polly would overcome her discomfort if she believed in a new idea. She often did this with a glass of wine with her close friends and lots of chatting (and yes, venting). Polly just loved to laugh!Figure: No Caption available.What Was Her Career Path? Polly began her academic career at Northeastern University. During her long tenure from 1967-1981, she served in a variety of roles including therapeutic exercise expert (she just loved PNF!), academic coordinator of clinical education, and acting chair of the Department of Physical Therapy. In 1981, she was recruited to Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) where she served as the director of rehabilitation services and physical therapy. I really got to know Polly at MGH, especially as we planned the graduate program in physical therapy at the MGH Institute of Health Professions where she was an associate professor. Then, in 1988, the Vermonter headed west to become assistant dean of Allied Health and the director of the Physical Therapy Program at the University of Colorado. Polly brought her New England sensibilities and energy to Denver where she found a new home and loved leading the department. She was in that position when she was injured. So that sums up where she worked, and now I will share some of her spectacular accomplishments. There are so many stories that I could tell you about Polly, but since this is a professional tribute, I decided to focus on her leadership legacy. My friend and colleague, Colleen Kigin, was the second Cerasoli lecturer and she, too, was a good friend of Polly's. Colleen's talk focused on leadership, and she talked about the five "C"s: Commitment, Caring/Mentoring, Collaboration, Comfort with change, and Comfort with self.1 With Colleen's permission, I have cited examples of Polly's leadership in each of these categories. These are just a snapshot of her numerous professional accomplishments. Commitment In 1987, Polly received her doctorate in education degree from Northeastern University. Her dissertation was titled "The Relationship of Leadership Style and Job Satisfaction in Physical Therapy Clinicians." Her commitment to excellence and professionalism was clear as she completed her education while working fulltime and serving on many APTA leadership committees. Polly's doctorate in education program was interdisciplinary, and her fellow classmates included health professionals in occupational therapy, nursing, dietetics, and social work. She experienced firsthand how learning together can help break down misperceptions of the roles of each other's professions. From that experience, she embraced interprofessional education and enthusiastically developed (along with Dr. Nancy Watts) a course in leadership for MGH Institute postprofessional students. (This course included students from nursing, dietetics, social work, and physical therapy.) Polly taught students to understand leadership theories that could help improve their leadership skills—theories such as locus of control and discussing documented leadership styles. Caring/Mentoring For Polly, caring and mentoring was hard wired. While serving as the director of physical therapy at the University of Colorado, Polly was asked to accept a student who had a severe visual impairment. I clearly remember talking with her on the phone about how the program could possibly accommodate this student in a responsible way. Her first reaction was: "This is nearly impossible," but in her usual way, she researched the problem and brainstormed with her faculty and colleagues to come up with a realistic workable solution. The outcome was a happy, successful student and a sense of accomplishment for all. Collaboration Collaboration was a skill that Polly found easy as both a professional and a friend; after all, Polly loved to have fun! Polly was famous for bringing together friends for ski weekends, parties, and other fun events. Professionally, Polly was always willing to get together with colleagues to work on new ideas. In the 1970s, Polly was one of the founders of the Boston Education Consortium, which brought together academic and clinical leaders to discuss clinical education challenges and figure out how to work effectively as a team. This collaborative effort was the precursor to the common clinical evaluation and courses for clinical educators that are part of our profession today. Bringing together the academic clinical coordinators from New England to work on common clinical evaluations and bringing together occupational therapists and physical therapists at MGH to deliver more effective care are just two examples of Polly's collaborative effort. Comfort With Change In 1977, Polly, along with her colleague Mary Watkins, published "Research Experience in an Undergraduate Physical Therapy Program" in Physical Therapy.2 This article was based on their experiences teaching principles of clinical research to the physical therapist students at Northeastern. Principles of clinical research were a content area rarely taught at the time. Now, almost 35 years later, it would be considered heresy to not have our students understand the principles of research design or evidence-based practice. In 1981, Polly was successful in appointing Meryl Cohen, CCS, as the first non-MD clinical specialist at the Massachusetts General Hospital. This historic appointment paved the way for board-certified physical therapists to be recognized at MGH. With over 10,000 board-certified clinical specialists, we've come a long way. Polly would be so proud of the MGH Physical Therapy Department that employs 48 clinical specialists (and the number keeps growing) Polly's humanity made her who she was, and her contagious laughter still echoes in my mind. She retained her sense of humor in the best and worst of times. Her leadership style can be best described as fiercely loyal and supportive—these characteristics clearly made her loved by her staff, students, family, and friends. I will always miss my friend Polly, with her wonderful energy, enthusiasm and passion, but I know in my heart that her legacy will live on!