Student Spotlight

Hometown: Little Rock, Arkansas

Year/Program: Year 1

What is your research/areas of interest? Pediatrics and Sleep

Do you have a faculty mentor? If so, whom? Dr. Teresa Ward and Dr. Jennifer Sonney

Are you a scholarship recipient? If so, please list the scholarship(s). Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Future of Nursing Scholar

Why did you choose nursing? I chose nursing because I've always been fascinated by the science of health and was attracted to the time that nurses are allowed to develop relationships with their patients and families.

What are your plans after graduation? After graduation, I'm not sure whether I will pursue a position with a hospital or a university, but I know for certain that whatever I do will involve nursing research.

Hometown: Thailand

Year/Program: 3rd year Ph.D.

What is your research/areas of interest? Frailty, Aging, Musculoskeletal conditions, and Quality and Safety

Do you have a faculty mentor? Yes, Prof.Dr. Basia Belza

Are you a scholarship recipient? The Mahidol University Scholarship, The de Tornyay Aging scholarships, McLaws Scholarship

Why did you choose nursing? No one stays with the patient and their family firmly through every stage of life from the 1st day of birth to the last day of life, but NURSES have that opportunity.

What has been an unforgettable experience during your time at the School of Nursing? The best unforgettable experience during your time at nursing is that I always have invaluable advice, encouragement, and support for me when I have met with faculty or others in the school of nursing at UW. As I have exposed to the great passion on academically environment, this excellent working environment can stimulate my creativity in both clinical and research aspects. That’s why this experience is the best unforgettable event for me.

How has your experience at the School of Nursing helped you with your career trajectory? The excellent working environment can stimulate the creativity in both clinical and research aspects. As an instructor and clinical specialist, I intend to employ the faculty role and provide a good academic environment to all of my students and colleagues. The creative environment foster innovation which is significant to my career trajectory.

What are your plans after graduation? My future plans are divided into short and long-term planning. The short-term planning is to complete the dissertation work and graduate on time. For the long-term planning, I intend to be a good representative of the School of Nursing, UW by being an aging specialist in both clinical and research area. Also, I plan to participate in the aging conference and join aging research team to improve aging care in Thailand, then Asia. The ultimate goal is to be one of the experts in the aging field to change and enhance aging care by translating science into nursing care both locally and globally.

Anything else you would like to share? Some people think that nursing is a job, but it is not my definition. For me, the only way to do great work is to love what you do; consequently, I value of nursing care because it humanizes care.

Hometown: Santa Cruz Mountains, Los Gatos, CA

Year/Program: 1st Yr/PhD

What is your research/areas of interest? Pain and Coping/Geriatrics/Virtual Reality

Do you have a faculty mentor? Yes, Hilaire Thompson

Are you a scholarship recipient? Yes, T32 Training Grant

Why did you choose nursing? BSN @ UW - wanted to work with people in a medical setting where I helped provide quality healthcare. PhD @ UW - want to further our understanding of pain and coping in older populations using technology interventions such as virtual reality. Nursing provides a unique ecological perspective that can add to this knowledge base and inform future research in utilizing technology to help with pain management.

What has been an unforgettable experience during your time at the School of Nursing? Our PhD friendsgiving - was fantastic to share some of the best food I've had in the last 3 months with my cohort - a wonderful group who are now more than colleagues, but good friends I hope to maintain ties with throughout the remainder of my academic career.

How has your experience at the School of Nursing helped you with your career trajectory? My BSN helped propel me not only into a good position as a bedside RN at UWMC, but gave me the mindset with which to adequately provide care for those in the inpatient hospital setting. My PhD is giving me a great base from which to build a solid research career.

What are your plans after graduation? Post-Doc at another university and hopefully come back to UW to work within the SoN as a member of the faculty.

Name: Rubee Dev

Hometown: Biratnagar, Nepal

Year/Program: 3^rd year/PhD in Nursing Science

Research/Areas of Interest: Maternal & Child Health, Adolescent Sexual & Reproductive Health, Family Planning

Scholarship Recipient? If so, which scholarship? Yes, Global Opportunity (GO) Health Fellowship, Hester McLaws Nursing Scholarship, Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI) Research Grant, Hegyvary Citizens of the World Endowed Fund

Why did you choose nursing? Eye witnessing of someone leaving this world because of lack of proper health care management and untimely care shook my inner conscience and made me think about the field through which I could enhance the health of the people. I chose nursing because I wanted to help people who are still fighting for the basic health care needs.

What has been an unforgettable experience during your time at the School of Nursing?  I have countless unforgettable experiences during my time at Nursing. The most remarkable one is the support that I received from each and every member of the nursing family at every stage of my nursing time. I feel uniquely blessed to have an academic advisor who has invested her dedicated mentorship in my success. Over the last three years, I have been privileged to work as a Teaching Assistant for a wide variety of classes under the supervision of highly encouraging faculty mentors. With each given opportunity, I have been able to develop a relationship with my mentors that I would cherish forever. Also, as a TA I have enjoyed being with students and being able to mentor (the job that I like the most). I constantly learned from the hardship of students that further motivated me to work harder. Finally, my time at nursing introduced me to one of the best cohorts of PhD students who are my friends now. I am truly blessed to find my lifetime friends.

How has your experience at nursing helped you with your career trajectory?   As a PhD nursing scholar, I got an opportunity to carry out my doctoral research at one of the leading nursing institutes under the mentorship of faculty members expert in advancing nursing science. The knowledge and skills that I have gained here have helped me gain deeper insights in my areas of research interest, which in the future would help me advance my research career.

What will you be doing abroad this summer? I will participate in the World Health Organization (WHO) internship for this summer. My internship at the WHO will span for eight weeks. The principal focus of my internship will involve building the evidence base on adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH) that will support countries to translate the evidence into action through well-conceived and well-managed policies and programs.

Anything else you would like to share? The nursing program at the UW School of Nursing (SoN) has given me an opportunity to grow personally and professionally, which I had not even dreamed of. For the rest of my career, I would work towards advancing nursing science and becoming a better representative of the UW SoN wherever I go.

Hometown: Minneapolis, MN

Year/Program: 1/PhD

Research/Areas of Interest: Health care engagement in adolescent girls with HIV

Scholarship Recipient?  Yes, Pauline Bruno Memorial Endowment

Why did you choose nursing? I knew nursing was going to be a part of my career patch since I was 14 years-old.  I wanted to help care for and comfort people during their time of need.  I also appreciated the medical component of nursing which allowed for performing procedural skills in nursing.  The practical skills, the knowledge and relationships I have made throughout my career are invaluable.

What has been an unforgettable experience during your time at School of Nursing? My most unforgettable experience in nursing was the year I spent teaching midwifery students in Lira, Uganda.  This experience was the impetus to pursing a PhD in nursing.

How has your experience at School of Nursing helped you with your career trajectory?  I have learned and experienced several facets in nursing from patient care in hospital, clinic and home settings as well as teaching and improving infection prevention practices.  The variety of experiences have provided me with a comprehensive view of nursing which includes collaboration, advocacy, critical thinking and respectful care.  Through these learnings, I feel prepared to take the next step in my career which includes research, teaching, and mentorship for the next generation.

Anything else you would like to share? “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” -Les Brown