Jan. 20, 2009 issue
For me, it's all about teaching. I spent 15 years as a pediatric nurse,
and I appreciate the value of research and scholarly activity. But when
St. Vincent School of Nursing in Toledo closed in 1999 and I found myself
out of a job, I knew that I wanted to be at a university that was primarily
student-focused. I felt I could make the biggest difference in the classroom.
That made EMU a great fit.
I really like this type of student population. I think they're the grassroots
of the college experience. They don't have as many opportunities as perhaps
some people at your Ivy League or private schools, but I believe they're
much more focused on community. They understand what their communities
have given them, and they return to their communities. They're much more
service-oriented, and local community service has always been a value
of mine.
In 2001, I took an unpaid professional leave and joined the Peace Corps,
working with a midwife in a small village in Turkmenistan
(a Turkic country in central Asia), teaching families about
caring for their children. After the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks, I was evacuated — we were just 150 kilometers from
that country's border with Afghanistan — and
I spent the rest of the year teaching pediatric nursing
and health assessment in Uganda with Health Volunteers
Overseas. I returned to Uganda in 2007.
I always tell people I work to support my volunteer habit, but my students
also benefit from my experiences when I return. I teach pediatric nursing,
nursing fundamentals and professional development courses. I'm able to
bring back some clinical experience with various diseases and health problems
that we don't get to see here.
I also use my experiences to help my students look globally at the state
of healthcare across multiple countries. I think we, as
a society, don't really do a good job of looking beyond
our own small communities, looking outside ourselves and
maybe putting ourselves in a situation that's a little
uncomfortable. I try to reinforce, for my students, the
importance of family- and community-centered care, because
no one operates in isolation. As healthcare providers,
I think it's important we learn to see people in the context
of their own world. — Contributed by Amy E. Whitesall
