From her first job working in a medical records department to becoming the MSU College of Nursing’s Associate Dean for Community Engagement and Public Service and Director for Diversity and Inclusion, Denise Ferrell, DNP, RN, is driven by curiosity and public service.

“While two patients may have the same diagnosis, I believe nurses should provide individual and personalized care,” said Ferrell. “In other words, you can’t put all of your patients into one box. When caring for patients, we need to use a holistic approach and examine them mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.”

Growing up in Joliet, IL, it was rare for me to see a woman play an important role in the workforce. As a young girl, I often wanted to spring into action and save my family as they struggled with high blood pressure, diabetes, breast cancer, and obesity. As I grew and learned more about common illnesses and diseases that plague underrepresented populations, I developed an interest in nursing.

Nurses are superheroes who spring into action.

• Nurses save lives;
• remain calm under pressure;
• and make things happen in an emergency.

Melanie Dreher: Visiting Scholar and Thought Leader

As educators, we prepare students whose careers will last 50 years. The challenge is that we have no idea what the next 50 years is going to bring.

How do we begin to think about this? I think that we might tend to demure from it because we’re worried that if we don’t know everything, we can’t teach everything. Let’s move forward and make our students continuous learners, make sure that they are flexible, make sure that they are open, and make sure that they have a foundation. That their career goal is helping people to live well and that we have to use all the available technology and the technology of the future to help us fulfill that mission. If we could do that, then we wouldn’t have to worry so much about the future.

Ann Annis, PhD, MPH, RN, is an Assistant Professor tenure faculty member. Her research focus is on the application and measurement of care delivery processes.

Sherry Bumpus, PhD, MS, FNP-BC, is an Associate Professor tenure faculty member. She practices as a Family Nurse Practitioner at the HOPE Center in Ypsilanti, MI. Her program of research is with cardiac patients and outcomes research.

Jessica Ery, MSN, RN, APRN, CNM, is an Assistant Professor teaching in the undergraduate traditional nursing program. She comes to the College of Nursing with over twelve years of practice experience.

Kristine Rose, MSN, RN is an Instructor teaching in the undergraduate nursing program. She comes to the College of Nursing from Saint Francis Medical Center College of Nursing in Peoria, Illinois where she taught for over 10 years.

Karen Springer, BSN, is the Administrative Assistant for Community Engagement & Public Service. Karen has been at MSU for 12 years working in a variety of roles at the Residence Education and Housing Services, College of Agriculture & Natural Resources, and College of Human Medicine.

Tsui-Sui Annie Kao, PhD, FNP-BC, is an Associate Professor tenure faculty member. Her research focus is in family research among ethnically diverse populations, particularly in exploring ways to reduce adolescent risky health behaviors.

The Oncology Nursing News published the article "Meditation App Benefits Hospice and Palliative Care Clinicians" written by Rebecca Lehto, PhD, RN and Carrie Heeter, PhD.

Gastroenterology Nursing published the article, “A Mobile App to Increase Informed Decisions About Colorectal Cancer Screening Among African American and Caucasian Women: A Pilot Study” written by Kelly Brittain, PhD, RN and PhD student Kendra Kamp.