Current Courses

Fall 2024

  • NURS 3305-001
    Foundations

Summer 2024

Spring 2024

Professional Organizations

  • American Association of Critical-Care Nurses Wasatch Front Chapter. 07/01/2021 - 06/30/2023. Position : Secretary.
  • American Association of Critical-Care Nurses Wasatch Front Chapter. 08/2020 - 07/01/2021. Position : Secretary-Elect.
  • American Association of Critical-Care Nurses. 10/2015 - present. Position : Member.

Practice History

  • University of Utah Cardiovascular ICU. College of Nursing. 07/07/2014 - 08/11/2020 .
  • Medical City Arlington Heart and Vascular Center. College of Nursing. 09/2012 - 06/2014 .

Teaching Philosophy

No matter what area of nursing you pursue, educating will always be a part of it. Whether it is to students, nurses, patients, etc. we need to ensure that those we educate understand, internalize, and apply the things we teach them. As a nurse educator I want my students to understand the “why” behind their patient’s current state and the “why” behind their interventions. I want them to make connections from one area of nursing and apply it to another. For example, understanding what happens physiologically in the operating room and applying it to our care post-operatively in the intensive care unit.

               When I teach, the content I am trying to convey to my students dictates my method of presentation. If it is more content related, I prefer to lead a discussion using visuals and hands-on practice. When I want my students to think critically and relate what they learn to other areas of practice, I prefer using case studies and “what if” scenarios. These can be delivered in a lecture format and/or by dividing the students into smaller groups with different scenarios that they then present to the class. I find these methods most effective as they enable the student to practice and think through solutions in a safe, controlled environment where mistakes do not have dire consequences. Each student is unique and learns in different, yet overlapping ways through tactile and cerebral experiences.

The environment I create will not only be for patient safety, but for the student’s safety, as well. As a nurse, keeping calm, even in an emergent situation, is extremely important, and I want my students to learn how to recognize symptoms of panic in themselves and how to intervene appropriately. I want my students to feel they can come to me and not that they will be punished, judged, or embarrassed because they have a question or thought through a situation incorrectly. I include stories from my own practice of when I didn’t know what to do or made a mistake and how I went about the situation. I help them understand that they will not know the answer to every question, but they do need to understand their resources and how to find the answer.

               I encourage my students to take control of their own learning by enabling them to think through questions rather than me giving them the answer. I use prompting, follow up questions, and silence to help them develop critical thinking skills they can then apply when I am not present. I evaluate the effectiveness of my teaching in students by assessing their ability to correctly apply skills to other situations, successfully explain why they are doing what they are doing, and initiate interventions without me prompting them.

               Throughout all my teaching, I emphasize the importance of treating people, not monitors or prioritizing our own learning over the needs of the patient. I try to model these behaviors and those of kindness, compassion, caring, patience, and an enthusiasm for learning in my own practice. Even as an instructor, I want to maintain a bedside nursing position so that I can better relate to my students and the environment they will be practicing in after graduation. Medicine is continually evolving and we all need the ability to learn, teach, and adapt to changes in evidence based practice so we can provide the best care to those around us; and we should expect nothing less.