Introduction

Greetings!  I will start with my work life.  I currently work at Riley Hospital Downtown as a Nurse Care Manager, I am the float care manager, which means I fill in when people are on vacation or if one unit is very busy. I really enjoy this because it has allowed me to learn care management in many different areas and my day is different everyday.  I have always worked in pediatrics, I started as student nurse at Riley in 2002, continued there when I graduated and then worked at IU/Riley North from 2005-2013.  I often get asked, how I can work in Pediatrics, but I honestly feel privileged.  Those little ones have taught me many life lessons and in my heart I believe pediatric encompasses all levels of nursing, since you are not just treating them but also their families.  

I'm hoping after obtaining my MSN in Nursing Education to start a career in the academic setting.  I would really love to start by teaching some clinical nursing courses while I continue my job as care manager for a few more years and then forge into classroom setting.  I'm particularly interested in teaching caring in undergraduate nursing students especially if technology allows for the development of caring behaviors.  With all the changes in nursing, it really worries me that caring may take a backseat in both nursing education and nursing practice.  This is alarming since there are numerous studies which link caring behaviors to increased patient satisfaction.  Last semester, I wrote a literature synthesis on this topic and am really hoping I am able to turn this into my NURG 590 project. 

A class which I think would help increase caring behaviors in undergraduate and practicing nurses would be a cultural competency class.  Objectives for this class would be 
                            1. Intervene in social and cultural issues.
                            2. Identify different cultures and their views on healthcare
                            3. Navigate technology to find resources on cultural competent care.
The use of technology in this type of class would allow for various perspectives by use of skype and even the possiblity of connecting with healthcare workers in different parts of the world.  How exciting!                           

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I will end with a little about my personal life.  I am a born and bred Boilermaker (I prefer not to think of myself as a Hoosier), I graduated from Purdue in 2003.  I have been married to my high school sweetheart, Craig, since 2001.  We have 2 children who are completely different, which makes our household very interesting.  Kayleigh is 8, she enjoys dance, basketball, and American Girl dolls.  Keaton is 3, he enjoys Legos, Scooby-Doo, and loves Katy Perry.  We enjoy traveling, our most recent trip was to Disney World in October and the kids are preparing for a Spring Break trip so San Diego with Grandma to visit their cousins.  I also enjoy reading, cheering on Purdue, and have a guilty pleasure for reality TV, especially the Real Housewives.  I feel that my love for Downton Abbey makes up this mindless TV watching.  

I'm really looking forward to this class especially with my interest for my 590 project in mind.