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Narrative Summary – Tamarah Pearson

The opportunity to serve as faculty for the Bon Secours Memorial College of Nursing has

provided me with multiple ways in which to develop in my instructor role. These areas of

growth are not just in teaching, but also in scholarship, leadership, professional citizenship and

advocacy. Within this summary lie specific examples that reflect my growth in these areas and

demonstrate the high quality of work that I have accomplished.

Teaching as Service

Teaching Philosophy

Transitioning into the position of instructor in a formal education setting has brought with

it much reflection and consideration on my part. I always desire to be the best I can be at

whatever I do, and the role of instructor is no different. I approach the classroom, lab, and

clinical environments with two specific thoughts. First, active learning engages students and

promotes a positive classroom environment. Second, in working with adult learners I am a

facilitator for the students in their learning process, not just a giver of knowledge. As a facilitator

I can guide students in their learning process using a variety of teaching methods that stimulate

and engage the learners to explore and pursue new knowledge. Students must also take

responsibility for their learning and develop a passion for lifelong learning. In nursing, lifelong

learning is a must and as a facilitator of their educational process I can encourage students to

embrace the personal responsibility that will benefit them throughout their careers.

Personal Growth and Improvement

During my first year at BSMCON, I had the privilege of participating in many activities

that fostered the growth and improvement in my role as a faculty member. This journey began

with attending the National League for Nursing’s New Faculty Workshop. The workshop not
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only provided significant insight on how to teach, evaluate, and develop courses, it provided time

for me to build relationships with the other new faculty members from BSMCON as well as

faculty from other institutions. Weekly, I met with my Faculty Navigator, Lara Ratliff, to work

through orientation, goals, and expectations of the faculty role. I met with the Associate Dean of

Nursing on a monthly basis to check in and ensure that expectations were being met and I had

everything needed to be successful in the faculty role. Monthly, the new faculty met in the Good

Start program to discuss and apply the readings of Billings and Halstead, adding to the

foundation of skills and knowledge needed to fulfill the role of educator. Course mentors, Karyn

Schultz, Wendi Liverman, and Kathy Faw, all offered insight and opportunity to meet and

collaborate on materials and teaching strategies for specific courses. With the introduction to

teaching in the online environment I also spent time in personal development using Magna

Mentor videos, Quality Matters programs, and spending time with Julie Marsh and Laura Vasel

to better understand online methods, expectations, and best practices.

A second year of teaching brought significant growth through participation in

professional development sessions focused on on-line learning and meetings with Laura Vasel as

an on-line instructional mentor. As practicum lead for NUR3104P I facilitated a team approach

to a simple redesign of the course aimed at increased student satisfaction and knowledge

retention. The revised course was implemented in Fall 2018. Collaboration with Karyn Schultz

continued for NUR 2100 with continued improvement in the course design and delivery.

Opportunities to remain current in best-practices and knowledge of my nursing specialty were

achieved by attending several local conferences and a CNE Prep Course. One such conference

focused on engaging learners and provided many new ideas for active learning strategies in the

classroom.
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NUR 2103P: Competencies for Nursing Practice I

This course was my introduction to college-level teaching and provided the opportunity

to build relationships with faculty and students and begin to implement my teaching philosophy.

Jenny Thomas-Wright served as my partner for that semester and helped to fuel my desire to

teach. As a lab course, the active classroom was easy to accomplish. We would lecture about

skills, demonstrate and then validate students through return demonstration. Engaging the

students was interesting as some of them came to the course with more prior experience than

others. I learned that providing opportunities for peer leadership and a little extra challenge was

well-received. To accomplish this I began the semester having two students care for each patient

in the practicum setting, pairing more experienced students with less experienced ones. I rotated

student pairs to allow development of leadership skills and collaboration with as many peers as

possible. By the end of the semester each student pair was caring for two patients and they were

assisting and supporting each other throughout the day. The ownership for their learning was

further demonstrated when the pairs of students started assisting other student pairs.

NUR 2100: Foundations of Nursing Scholarship

Karyn Schultz and I have had the pleasure of collaborating on this course since its

inception with the revised BSN curriculum plan. We were handed this course with the materials

that remained from the pre-revision version and had to add content that was included as part of

the revision. Throughout the previous two years and still this semester, Karyn and I have met

regularly to update content, incorporate new ideas, or update evaluation methods to better reflect

the intention of the course. As part of this collaboration we have incorporated new technology

through the use of Poll Everywhere, Prezi, blogs, WorkFlowy, and streaming videos. We have

initiated active learning activities such as skits, jigsaws, small group discussions, guest speakers,
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and modified the instructions and rubric for the larger group project – which included adding a

peer evaluation tool. Karyn and I proposed a syllabus change to the curriculum committee in

order to remove more formal assessments and replaced them with in-class activities that support

active engagement in the classroom.

I had the additional task of developing three weeks of content into an online format in

order to pilot teaching this course in a hybrid format. In order to develop the online content I met

with Julie Marsh on a weekly basis to discuss which technology or software would best meet the

students’ need and successfully deliver the content for the week. These meetings resulted in the

use of VoiceThread, SoftChalk, and Blackboard discussion boards to develop the modules. I

surprised the students by requiring a visual representation for an assignment rather than a written

paper. This innovation resulted in amazing work by the students and provided freedom in the

assignment to fit multiple learning styles.

The feedback from the initial hybrid semester was positive and led Karyn and I to teach

both sections of the course as hybrid for the second semester, with six weeks of online content. I

met with Karyn to update her on the current hybrid modules and we worked together to develop

three additional modules using Blackboard discussion boards, web site resources, and streaming

videos. While the feedback of the hybrid courses was mostly positive, accreditation standards

made it difficult to keep the hybrid format. This resulted in submitting another syllabus change

to return to a 100% face-to-face format for the Fall 2017 semester and increase the weight of

evaluation used for in-class activities. Now that we have each taught it several times, Karyn and I

scrubbed the entire course – meeting weekly to update, improve, and shorten the existing

PowerPoints, add active learning concepts, include videos, and effectively increase engagement
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with the students. We have even found ways to incorporate some of the hybrid activities into the

classroom to provide increased variety in engagement.

The latest curriculum revision that combines the two sophomore semesters into one full-

time semester is bringing additional changes to NUR 2100. Karyn and I have revised the course

and syllabus to better align with the other content that will be taught in other courses during the

semester. We continue to encourage participation, but have reduced the weight of evaluation of

in-class assignments to better reflect the time and effort spent on the larger assignments.

Throughout the many changes and revisions made in the last two years, the students have

been encouraged to take control of their learning, be engaged and actively participate in the

classroom. The transition away from all lectures to a more active, engaged classroom has been

supported through students’ comments and conversation and demonstrates application of my

teaching philosophy to my courses. The course evaluations reflect approval of the changes as

well.

NUR 3104P: Competencies for Nursing Practice II

Upon accepting the opportunity to teach this course, I also became the course lead. This

lab/practicum course has run efficiently for some time; however, bringing fresh eyes and new

ideas has given this course a boost in both engagement for the students and improvement in

meeting course objectives and outcomes. Initially, the improvements for this course were

smaller. I established meetings between the course faculty and CSC staff on each lab week in

order to evaluate that week and prepare for the next. This provided for consistency in content

taught between the sections and engaged the CSC staff for their input and suggestions. An SBAR

report was written for the Pre-Op Simulation in order to provide comparable experiences for
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students no matter which faculty member is present. Next, I created submission links for the

students to upload proof of ATI module completion rather than handing in paper copies.

Dialysis and infusion center observation experiences were next to be updated. They had

been coordinated by Amy Feurer in the past. I took over this planning effort to lighten Amy’s

administrative load. Then I reorganized the student observation schedule to ensure that each

section of the course was attending special experiences at the same time. For example, rather

than four students going to the infusion center and four to dialysis the schedule was re-worked to

have all eight students attend dialysis on the same week. This required collaboration with our

third party sites, but has resulted in a better experience for the students – without having to take

away any existing opportunities.

Additionally, to encourage relationship-building between faculty and students, I assigned

one section of the course to each instructor. While this sounds simple and logical, it was a bit of

a challenge because of the course design. I rearranged emergency department rotations so the

students in each section are assured at least one experience in the ER with their assigned faculty

member. I altered simulation schedules to ensure that each faculty would be in the simulation

experiences for their students. Small group breakout sessions within the lab now generally pair

assigned sections with their faculty, and faculty members now evaluate the same section of

students for both midterm and final evaluations. These changes came with some initial hesitation

from some other faculty in the course, but through our regular meetings and the growing

relationships with their students, the changes were quickly well-received.

Now that the course is running even more smoothly than before, the other three

instructors and I are updating the course for improved content and better flow for the students.

We collaborated one summer and revamped the first three weeks of the course: moving content
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and slowing the pace to prevent overwhelming the students in the first week. Slowing the pace

resulted in moving simulations to week 3, when previously they were split between weeks 2 and

3. This required petitioning to the CSC and completely changing the faculty schedule in order to

accomplish all of the simulations in one week. It also required designing self-learning modules

for the students to complete while not in simulation, since both faculty members were in

simulation or debrief the entire session. The faculty members collaborated with Robin Whelpley

and Jan Ivey to develop seven self-learning stations that would help prepare the students for their

upcoming content and tests in their complimentary courses. Solicited feedback from the students

after that lab day showed positive results.

Collaboration with Jan Ivey has also resulted in updates to some of the other content such

as blood administration, electrocardiograms, and caring for the elderly population as ATI scores

for these content areas were low during the last analysis. Future ATI scores are expected to

increase with the updated content and more intentional teaching to those topics.

I collaborated with CSC staff to update objectives and content for the Advanced

Medication Administration simulation. Updates include a standardized SBAR, modification in

dosing of medications ordered to facilitate improved syringe choice by the student, and providing

vital signs to the student during SBAR to allow more time for the student to focus on medication

administration. Implementation of these changes improved student confidence and accuracy in

the administration of IV piggyback and IV push medications, without the students feeling rushed

during their allotted time. Lab days lost to inclement weather required some strategic planning in

preparing students for this simulation. Wendi Liverman and I worked with CSC to video tape

this simulation for the students that missed the lab intended for simulation practice. The video
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was well received and has been kept in the course as a study aid. To date it has been viewed

more than 240 times.

We continue to develop and mold this course to meet the needs of the students and

faculty. Fall 2018 brought additional changes to the schedule in preparation for increased

enrollment in the course by Spring 2019. The biggest changes include spreading the course out

over five days each week and adding additional observation experiences. Spreading the course

over more days also spread out the faculty, requiring me to redesign the schedule for the ER

rotations. In the past we had all four course faculty working each day – one in each ER. With the

sections spread out there are only two instructors each day. Modifications to the students’

schedule and working with the ERs to accommodate students more often resulted in a new look

for the Fall 2018 semester. While the students may not each see as many ER locations (two

instead of three), they will see only their two lab instructors while in the ER. I expect this to

decrease student anxiety and provide better opportunity for the instructors to evaluate and guide

their students.

NUR 3206/3207: Quality and Safety of Nursing Practice I & II

Last summer provided the opportunity for me to embark on the journey of online

teaching. As a newer faculty member, this provided great growth opportunities for me. My initial

work with these courses involved organizing the content for each week and providing

clarification as to which content connected with which discussion board or evaluation method.

The clarity provided allowed students to better navigate through the course. Modular objectives

were not present, so I began slowly updating these within both courses. Assignment instructions

and rubrics for NUR 3206 have been updated based on feedback from the students and best

practice expectations. Weekly bridge videos have been incorporated in the announcements.
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Along with the weekly video I post a quote or Bible verse that supports one of the Bon Secours

values or ties to the mission and vision. In this way I am able to connect the students with the

heart of our program, even from a distance. Additionally, I organized the students into Groups in

Blackboard to facilitate a small group community for discussions and minimize confusion.

These courses are phasing out of the RN-BSN curriculum, but I continue to make updates

each semester to provide a better student experience. For example, I rearranged the entire

calendar for NUR 3206 in order to spread out the assignments and not have 80% of the course

weight due in the second half of the semester. Discussion board prompts and questions are being

updated this semester in NUR 3207 to better align with the larger assignments and enhance the

major concepts of the course.

Academic and Professional Citizenship and Engagement as Service

Curriculum Committee

Since arriving at BSMCON I have served on the Curriculum Committee. During the

monthly meetings, this committee approves syllabi, reviews policies, approves textbooks,

reviews and analyzes the curriculum, and reviews the end-of-year course reports. As a member

of this committee I have a voice in the development and design of the curriculum and participate

in reviewing our assigned SPOE. This committee had official input on the curriculum revisions

for both the BSN and RN-BSN tracks for the 2018-2019 academic year. The committee

continues to provide input on new course syllabi that are in development for the curriculum

revision.

During the 2017-2018 academic year I assumed the role of Chair-Elect of the Curriculum

Committee. As Chair-Elect I have kept record of the meetings, assist the Chair in meeting

preparation as needed, run meetings or present to Faculty Organization in her absence, and use
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this time to truly learn all of the nuts and bolts of curriculum in preparation to take on the Chair

position. My leadership skills are developing immensely with this new responsibility. Monthly

meetings with the Chair, Susan Massengill, are helpful for my knowledge of the flow and

expectations of the committee.

As part of the curriculum committee I participated in a subcommittee working on

subjective grading. This committee evaluated the inconsistencies in current assignment

instructions and rubrics and developed a template for faculty to use to format the subjective

assignments in their courses. Designing a template is intended to provide the student with

consistent expectations for each course. The subcommittee met once a month through most of

the 2017-2018 academic year. With implementation of the template and rubric, each member of

the subcommittee facilitated a professional development session. My session included members

of the faculty and administration, as well as one adjunct faculty that called in to the meeting.

Initial feedback from students and faculty has been positive.

Faculty Organization

As a member of the Faculty Organization committee I participate in discussions that

relate to all faculty, such as policies, Gallup, and committee updates. This committee met

monthly my first year and semi-monthly during my second year on staff. While this change was

made in an effort to streamline meetings and improve faculty workflow, it was not an effective

change. Meetings have returned to a monthly gathering for the 2018-2019 academic year.

This forum is an opportunity for faculty to have open communication with one another as

well as administration, approve or discuss changes to policies, procedures, or bylaws, and

receive updates from the other committees. Personal leadership development happens through
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observation of the Chair, active discussion when appropriate, and by gaining a better

understanding of the other committees’ activities and contributions to the school.

Faculty Navigator, Mentor and Preceptor

I have had several opportunities to informally mentor other faculty. New adjuncts joining

NUR 3104P, Marilyn Dargitz and Kaitlin Chidley, were provided with their materials for the

course and I met with them as needed to review content, discuss procedures, or answer any

needed questions. I paired each adjunct with a seasoned faculty member to ensure adequate

resources were available to them during lab. The next semester I intentionally paired myself with

the adjunct in order to foster a deeper relationship and discover her strengths and opportunities

when teaching the course. New full-time faculty have joined the course as well: Carrie Butler

and Leslie Buck. I have provided content, information and guidance to them as needed

throughout this semester.

I am a resource for existing faculty as well, using programs such as VoiceThread, Poll

Everywhere, and Blackboard. I co-facilitated a professional development session on

VoiceThread with Julie Marsh. This was an opportunity for me to share knowledge about a

program that I used in one of my courses.

More formally, I served as preceptor for graduate student, Carol White, during the Spring

2018 semester. This unique experience allowed me to grow in my knowledge and ability to share

what I have learned about being a faculty member and encourage Carol to share her strengths

with our students. It was truly a pleasure to return the favor of precepting a graduate student, as

Catherine Mikelaites did for me when I was in graduate school.

For the 2018-2019 year I am serving as the Faculty Navigator for Kaitlin Chidley. She

has been an invaluable asset as an adjunct instructor and is a strong addition to our full-time
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faculty team. As her navigator, I meet with her weekly to touch-base on development and growth

as faculty, discuss work-life balance, encourage leadership development in her role, and provide

a safe place for her come with any questions. Our next hurdle will be her transition into teaching

a new course in Spring 2019.

Learning Communities

Over the last year I have been part of several different learning communities at

BSMCON. First was the Good Start program. This community was comprised of new faculty,

the Associate Dean of Nursing, the Coordinator for Instructional Design and Distance Education,

and visited at times by other key personnel. This community focused on the development of new

faculty through educational activities based on the NLN Nurse Educator Competencies and the

Billings and Halstead text. We met monthly during my first full academic year, participated in

team building exercises and built our knowledge base for delivering premier courses for our

students.

During the 2016-2017 academic year I participated in the Non-NCLEX Learning

Community. This small group focused on the revision of content for the new BSN courses that

did not include NCLEX-style testing. Our focus was to take the topics of servant leadership,

informatics, and vulnerable populations and reallocate content to the appropriate courses and

design a new course emphasizing global health. In addition to sharing ideas and reviewing

syllabi, I evaluated the servant leadership content for consistent threading throughout the

program, including what was delivered in my NUR 2100 course. Recommendations were made

and ideas discussed for implementation. Based on this discussion, Lead Like Jesus concepts

were incorporated into NUR 2100 more intentionally, along with Greenleaf’s Servant Leadership

principles. Initial response from the students regarding the balanced content was positive.
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Team Flourish was a book-club-style learning community that met during the 2017-2018

year. This small group was composed of faculty and staff from the school, working through a

book study of Seligman’s Flourish. In a small group setting we discussed the power of positive

thinking and how we can relate the concepts to our campus, with a Bon Secours twist.

Involvement in this group required reading the book, considering discussion questions, and

openly communicating how these concepts can be applied to our environment. Team Flourish

met monthly throughout the academic year.

Ministry Footprints was a small group of employees from throughout the Windsor

campus that met monthly. This group offered opportunity for me to build relationships with

employees outside of my daily work environment, grasp a better understanding of the Bon

Secours ministry and apply the concepts in my teaching. Led primarily by the missions

department, this group was a safe environment to share ideas and concerns, grow personally, and

be open to seeing the Bon Secours mission in a new light. These concepts apply directly to

content in NUR 2100 and proved useful when teaching about Catholic Health Care Ministry.

Curriculum Collaborative 6 met monthly throughout the 2017-2018 year. This group of

three faculty members had a lofty goal of evaluating the use of ATI skills modules in the

Competencies I & II courses, revising the student nursing skills checklist, and determining the

value of reflection within these courses. The ATI modules were evaluated and we reported out

to the Curriculum Committee. The skills checklists were evaluated and compared to checklists

from nearby institutions, as well as the VBON requirements and other regulatory bodies. The

necessity of skills practice and validation was provided as a professional development session by

Karyn Schultz and me in April 2018. Attendees included faculty from CON and SOMI. The

collaborative’s effort continues through this academic year as we focus on redesigning the
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existing skills checklist to better reflect our program needs and expectations. We now have a

team of four and are making great progress on the revised checklist.

Academic year 2018-2019 brings with it two new communities for me. First is the

Quality Matters Fellows. This group of on-line instructors is meeting together periodically to

provide support and encouragement as we all work toward completing the 7-course Teaching

Online Certificate, plus the two courses needed to become peer reviewers. To date, I have

completed two of the courses with the others scheduled throughout this year. The second new

learning community is the Faculty Retention and Advisory Subcommittee. I have agreed to be

one of the two representatives for the Instructor-level faculty. This committee is expected to

begin meeting within the next few weeks.

Student Advocacy and Advising

Building relationships upon mutual respect with students is a high priority when it comes

to academic success. Reaching out to students who are struggling in a course, and staying in

touch with their advisors, is an important step that I have taken to engage in the relationship

building process. Offering resources such as REACH, Student Success, and Peer Tutoring are

important as well.

As an advisor, I contact my advisees at least twice during the semester, more often if

needed. Additional time is given to students that need additional assistance. Reach outs are sent

to students through email when performance alerts are triggered. Last fall a struggling student

reached out to Student Success requesting a new advisor. I have taken her on as an additional

advisee and have built a relationship with her. We have met several times, revised her

curriculum plan to better accommodate her work-life-school balance, and I continue to reach out

as needed to provide guidance and support.

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I have worked with each of my advisees to coordinate their nursing elective requirement,

prepare them for graduation, or offer a listening ear. I took the initiative to send a small gift to

my first advisee that graduated from the program. She found me in the hospital just last week to

thank me for the thoughtfulness.

BSN Revision Team

During Fall 2015 I had the unique opportunity to serve on the BSN curriculum revision

team. As a graduate student at that time, I was unsure how I could help. Interestingly, I

discovered that because I was still a student and not affiliated with BSMCON I viewed the

curriculum from a different perspective. I became an active participant of this team and often

shared ideas or thoughts that were unique. When conversations regarding curriculum revision are

held now I can see the impact that the BSN revision had on the entire curriculum. Engaging in

the revision team has provided me with a more robust grasp on the goals and purpose of our

educational program, while recognizing the exceptional features within our curriculum that make

it superior to others.

Professional Citizenship

Nursing is fortunate to have many professional organizations that encourage development

of skills, leadership, and education. As a Lifetime Member of the Emergency Nurses

Association, and a Certified Emergency Nurse, I have maintained active participation in the

organization by participating local meetings and attending local, state, and national events. At the

local level I was the chapter’s Fundraising Chair from 2015-2017, Treasurer for 2016 and

Treasurer-Elect for 2015. Nationally, I served as a delegate for Virginia to the General Assembly

while attending the Emergency Nursing 2015 National Conference. These opportunities allowed
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me to stay current on hot issues and evidence-based practice, advocate for the needs of

emergency nurses and the populations in which we serve.

A passion for lifelong learning is not just something that I strive to instill in my students.

It is a personal passion and I pursue many avenues of continuing education – from nursing to

education to personal interest. Lifelong learning in nursing involves several things from

certifications to continuing education. I maintain certifications in BLS, ACLS, and PALS, and

renewed my Certified Emergency Nurse (CEN) in 2017. I have attended several state and local

conferences in the last few years. As part of the ENA I attended the Virginia ENA State

Conferences in 2015, 2017, and will attend in 2018. In March 2018 I attended the Odyssey

Conference geared toward acute and critical care nurses.

For lifelong learning specifically related to education I have completed Quality Matters

courses in Applying the Quality Matters Rubric and Gauging Your Technology Skills, several

Magna Mentor courses and a variety of professional development sessions on campus. Larger

conferences attended include the NLN’s New Faculty Workshop and CNE Prep Course. In

addition I attended and presented at the 2018 Central Virginia Association of Nursing

Professional Development (CVANPD) Pathways to Knowledge conference.

Personal development has included Team Flourish and Ministry Footprints groups at

BSMCON. These two groups provided relationship opportunities with Bon Secours employees

that are not in a faculty role and offered a better understanding of how servant leadership and

positivity play a role in our everyday lives. While this list does not include all of the required

courses taken through the health system or the non-nursing, non-educator courses that have been

taken just for personal edification, it does demonstrate my continued desire to lead by example.

Engagement as Service
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Volunteering comes naturally for me. It is something that I do all the time and I place

value on the benefits that it has for me and others. Helping others in a tangible way offers hope,

reflects Jesus, and makes me feel as if I have done something worthwhile. I participate in three

primary areas of volunteer service at this time and several smaller areas.

First, I have been a member of Fairmount Christian Church since 2007 and have

volunteered in many areas over the years. I have served on the Praise Team tech crew

consistently for at least ten years, helping to run the lights, sound or media for the contemporary

and modern services once a month. I also coordinate the church’s scrip program – a fundraising

program that sells gift cards. Through this program I have encouraged the church membership to

raise more than $10,000 toward the funding of the worship center. As needed I volunteer in the

preschool or infant classrooms and often help with special events such as the fall festival, spring

fair, block party, etc. Knowing that my services are promoting the work of the Lord is rewarding.

Next, I am the Troop Coordinator for American Heritage Girls Troop VA2015. This

Christ-centered scouting program for girls offers leadership, service, and life skills activities to

girls ages 5-18. I am one of the founding board members of the troop and am in my fourth year

as the Coordinator. As the Troop Coordinator I organize registration, designate and train leaders,

recruit girls, plan service events, mitigate disagreements, and jump in anywhere needed. Our

troop of more than 40 girls have packed hundreds of shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child,

helped lay more than 700 wreaths at the veteran’s cemetery, built campfires, and so much more.

My leadership skills are thoroughly tested in this environment, yet I am so proud of the program

for the investment made in the girls and their willingness to stretch out of their comfort zones.

Third is the Parent Teacher Fellowship at New Bridge Academy. As the Fundraising

Chair I have organized more than a dozen spirit nights at local restaurants, I am gathering
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donations for our annual Christmas Bazaar, established a scrip program for selling gift cards, and

am worked with a local vendor to create spirit wear for the school. The Parent Teacher

Fellowship provides connection between the teachers and the families, keeps parents up to date

on what is happening in the school and encourages relationship building. This is all done to

generate the best teaching environment in which the students can thrive.

Although not an ongoing activity I volunteered in the medical tent at the Hanover Tomato

Festival in July 2016 and July 2017. This was a unique collaboration between Hanover EMS and

Bon Secours. We provided first aid supplies and basic medical supplies to manage patients with

a variety of conditions, from skinned knees to dehydration and stroke. As needed, patients were

transported by Hanover EMS to MRMC for further evaluation. This event placed Bon Secours in

the spotlight and served as a representation of our support to the communities around Richmond.

In September 2016, 2017, and 2018 I volunteered to help with PPD placement and

reading for the All Saints Catholic School in Richmond. In 2016 I spent an afternoon with

Christine Turner placing PPDs for the staff. In 2017 I spent an afternoon with Lara Ratliff

reading the PPDs that had been placed earlier in the week. 2018 paired me with Karyn Schultz

for placing the PPDs. This is a great opportunity for Bon Secours to give back to our local

community and raise awareness. We had one person that had a positive reaction to the test in

2017 and was referred to his primary care provider for follow-up. Perhaps this event facilitated

further medical evaluation for someone before they became a risk to the students and other staff

at the school.

I had the opportunity to volunteer with the 2017 MRMC Nursing 5K planning committee.

We recruited sponsors and runners, organized supplies, coordinated vendors, and much more.
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Prior to the race we stuffed welcome bags and race packets for the runners. This event raised

more than $1,900 for the nursing education fund at MRMC.

My newest volunteer experience is being the Assistant Coach for my children’s soccer

team. This opportunity is raising awareness for me in how Parks and Recreation sports are

managed and is offering lots of insight in to how to manage boys that are the same age as my

girls. Coaching has been rewarding for me, as I think I learn as much as they do! Additionally, I

think the opportunity for a co-ed team to have a female coach provides a new perspective for

some of the children and their parents.

Scholarship/Contributions to the Knowledge Base as Service

This area is the one that has the most potential for future personal growth. During the past

two years, though, I have actively pursued scholarship through a variety of means. As a member

of the National League for Nursing and the Emergency Nurses Association I receive email

updates, read the Journal of Emergency Nursing, and have access to the vast reservoir of

knowledge on their web sites.

April 2018 provided two opportunities for me to present for our institution through

professional development. The Curriculum Committee’s subcommittee on subjective grading

and the Curriculum Collaborative’s skills checklist and validation were both presented during

this time. I presented the subjective grading content individually as one of three sessions, while

Karyn Schultz and I presented the skills checklist session as a joint effort. Both of these

presentations allowed me to further practice facilitating sessions among peers rather than for

student learners.

Our Good Start team is working to write a journal article on the topic of recruiting,

retaining, training, and integrating new faculty into a college setting using a program such as our
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Good Start community. We are meeting periodically to discuss ideas and work on the article.

While it is slow-moving the effort continues with the goal of publication in a peer-reviewed

journal.

In March 2018 Kimberly Brownie and I submitted an abstract, Facutly Orientation: A

Good Start, for the 2018 CVANPD Pathways to Knowledge Conference. Our abstract was

accepted and we were invited to present the poster as well as a 5-minute podium presentation to

an audience of 200+ nurse educators. The topic of our poster was the Good Start program and

how it improved retention of faculty. We also plan to submit the abstract to additional

conferences in the future and plan to use the poster information to support the journal article in

progress with the Good Start team.

In September 2017 I presented a hands-on training for Alaris infusion pumps for a mixed

class of nursing faculty and health system nurses. I introduced them to the basic pump features

and provided practice scenarios for them to complete before the new pumps were introduced into

the inpatient environments. The purpose of the course was to increase patient safety during the

transition and prepare staff to manage and effectively use the pump in the live patient

environment. This training material was then incorporated into NUR 3104P.

September 2017 also brought the opportunity for me to co-teach a professional

development session on VoiceThread with Julie Marsh. This was a lunch hour drop-in session

that offered guidance and examples on how to use VoiceThread in the education environment.

We demonstrated how to create or edit a VoiceThread module, navigate through the program, as

well as basic troubleshooting.

Diane Smith and I had the opportunity to present one of the Good Start learning

community sessions in January 2017. Our topic was evaluation methods and we used the
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concepts from the TV show Survivor. Each group participated in a challenge to gain immunity

and then the groups had to answer a question based on the NLN Competencies for Nurse

Educators or the Billings and Halstead text. This program added to the strong rapport within the

group and still reinforced the topic of evaluation with the participants.

In September 2015 I had the opportunity to present at Memorial Regional Medical

Center’s quarterly Grand Rounds. The topic was workplace violence and several members from

the MRMC Nursing Night Shift Council worked together to develop and present the material.

We incorporated active learning strategies, videos, activities, and each led a portion of the

program. Grand Rounds are open to all employees of the hospital and participants are awarded

one nursing contact hour for attending. I used this presentation during the interview process for

my currently held instructor position.

Conclusion

The opportunity to pursue new heights and achieve new goals is something that has

driven me for decades. Promotion in rank is yet another way for me to continue the path toward

excellence and reflects the efforts put forth to achieve that stepping stone. This portfolio is a

sampling of the activities and collaborative labors that have been accomplished in the last two

years, and are representative of the different areas of service required for promotion to Assistant

Professor. My dedication to the mission of BSMCON, the students, and the curriculum and are

reflected in my everyday work and in this portfolio.