Why do you teach? To change a person's life by helping them become part of the nursing team and thus make a difference in the care of a patient in the future. I love teaching entry level nursing as I feel I make the most difference in the future care of our elderly, children and adults.
What is your real world experience? I have been a Registered Nurse (RN) for over 36 years, working in hospitals, clinics, MD (Doctor of Medicine) offices, long term care being a home health nurse and teaching. I have worked in surgery, urology, geriatrics, visiting nurse and infection control nurse as well as nurse educator.
What kind of transformation do you see in your students during a course? I am encouraged by the level of understanding and concern for all patients that my students exhibit as they learn and grow and gain confidence during the class/lab and mostly during clinical. During the clinical experience the moment that the student shows me that they get the entire concept of care is when they stop seeing the patients as individual skills and look ahead for things that need to be done or could cause injury to the patient if not taken care of. They can take the perfect book patient and transfer their knowledge to the imperfect and sometimes difficult patients that need extra care and consideration.
Tell us about a time that you were most proud in your role as an instructor: I felt the most pride when a former student honored me by nominating me for the March of Dimes Nurse Educator of the year 2014.
What do you think your students value most about CLIMB? I believe that our students come to the CLIMB Center because of the quality and respectability that we offer. Our students are highly prized as CNA employees in the community.
What is one major misconception you see about this field? One of the misconceptions about what a CNA actually does is that they are not "professional" And that they don't need education. This was just changed by law in Oregon and CNA's are now listed as professional employees and are expected to have a great deal of knowledge regarding the illnesses of their patient's and the treatments that they are receiving.
What do you like to do for fun? I enjoy reading, horseback riding, going to the beach, taking long walks in the sun or rain, shopping for others and cooking.
