Dorothy - Change is Something that has Always been Fun and Challenging for Me…

Dorothy - DR







...and change has never scared me. My career has taken many forms and has changed many times in the 50 years since I started my nursing education. I believe that in order to be most effective in your work, change needs to happen every six to nine years.

I always wanted to be a nurse. When my father died a few years ago, we found in his belongings a photograph he had taken of me when I was four years old. I’m dressed in a nurse’s uniform and taking care of my doll. It’s always been a meaningful picture.

My career began in emergency nursing. I moved around to various parts of the country and held several jobs, but eventually decided to further my education.

When I graduated from my master’s program at the University of Maryland, I was recruited to work on a pediatric focused, federally funded research project at Johns Hopkins Hospital under the auspices of the university. It has always been fun to say I did research at Johns Hopkins!

When my husband decided to take a job back in Spokane, I applied to the Intercollegiate Center for Nursing Education. They picked up on my pediatric background, because there has always been a shortage of nursing faculty in that area. "It's a time of change, and it's a time of challenge, but it's a time of excitement."I taught pediatric nursing for awhile, but eventually went back to my first love, emergency care. After a number of years, I moved into an administrative position as a coordinator/department chair. I liked the administrative duties and decided to go back to school to get my doctorate. By the time I decided to get my doctorate I was a single parent. My preference would have been to get my doctorate in nursing science, but my kids were in high school, and I didn’t want to move them, so I decided to attend Gonzaga University and enroll in their Ph.D. program in educational leadership. This turned out to be a superb experience for me.

My dissertation chair and advisor was Father Pat Ford. He was a wonderful mentor. He really helped me see that I could succeed and I had a lot to offer. This was the first time in my career I felt I was credible and as good as any of my classmates. It was a real eye-opening experience for me.

I observed that the other nurses in the program had nothing to apologize for. We, in fact, were probably farther ahead than the rest of the students in the class, who were educators or had other backgrounds. We had more knowledge in the areas of research and statistics and we had stronger critical thinking skills. It was evident that we did very well in a leadership environment. Gonzaga taught me a lot about myself and about nursing.

I taught graduate students for awhile, but then, being the change-seeker that I am, decided to take a job as dean of the school of nursing at Pacific Lutheran University. I learned a lot about being a dean at PLU. It was a very good, supportive environment. I was dean there for about 8 ½ years, which meant it was time to either decide to stay until I retired, or move on to something new. That’s when I took my current position as dean of the Intercollegiate College of Nursing (ICN).

I’m very proud of the work I’ve done at ICN. One of the most significant accomplishments was getting the name changed from Intercollegiate Center for Nursing Education to Intercollegiate College of Nursing.& It helped people understand this is a program that operates on five campuses across Washington State, and with our web-based programs, we are really a statewide entity. We currently have 860 upper division and graduate students and probably another 1,000 students in the advising pipeline. In June of 2007, we will begin our Ph.D. nursing program. During the nine years I have been dean at the ICN, enrollment has increased by about 65 percent. We are now the largest college of nursing in the West.

One of my most rewarding experiences was working in an emergency department one summer, side by side with a young woman who had been my student. One night I was talking with her and was so proud of the fact that I’d had a very small role in her education and there was a little piece that I had given to her success. I also knew that, in terms of being an emergency department nurse, she was far better than I would ever be again. Not that I hadn’t been a very good nurse, I was, but she was outstanding in her work. Knowing what a wonderful job she was doing, and that I had a role in shaping her as a nurse, was very rewarding.

When I talk with nursing students today I tell them this is an exciting time to be a nurse. They need to recognize they are the backbone of the health care system, and that system is going to be very different in five, ten, or 20 years. They can be a part of creating how the system will look, and they will have a significant role in making it what it will be. It’s a time of change, and it’s a time of challenge, but it’s a time of excitement. I also tell them to never forget who they are, and never forget what it means to touch, and to remember that they need to make this a career and not just a job. I tell them to nurture their families and their relationships and their communities and focus all of that with the same energy and effort they put into their careers.  In the long run, it’s those relationships and the interaction and the touch that is going to make the difference

Power Strategies: Leadership, Influence, Diversity
go back to main page