| Message
from the Dean | Do You Want
Shrink-Free Income? | Leading by Example
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Midwives Bring Experience, Talent to CON |
Nursing Briefs | Seeking
Solutions
Supporting Students One Purchase at
a Time
It is great to be in New Mexico! In fact, it really does feel like I have come home. Some of you know that I got my start in the professional world of nursing in Colorado. I graduated from CU with my bachelor of science in nursing and master of science in nursing. I went on to spend 18 years at Texas Tech where I completed my doctorate degree and began to get a taste of academic administrative roles in nursing. Illinois State University became my home for the next nine years while I was dean of its School of Nursing. Before coming to UNM, I had the good fortune to spend 18 months in Washington, D.C. as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Fellow in Health Policy, working on Capitol Hill with the Ways and Means Committee.
The UNM College of Nursing is absolutely the perfect place for me now. There is the Nursing Health Policy concentration in the Ph.D. program, the distinctly diverse student body, a state with rural outreach and tremendous need, nationally ranked programs and invaluable partnership opportunities with our Health Sciences Center colleagues in medicine, cancer, pharmacy, the hospital and allied health.
For me change is always immensely powerful and promising. As a nurse, I have constantly embraced the chance for something new, even when there are challenges... and never have there been so many. Nevertheless, I am a nurse practitioner and those roots are forever resilient. Whether it is the nursing or nursing faculty shortage, the scarcity of clinical sites, the lack of teaching space and the overwhelming need for more private money, I find myself stimulated and inspired to do more for all of us because we need the best and the brightest nurses.
With our team of faculty, staff, students, alumni, friends and donors, we will continue to be a college “on the move” growing our student enrollment, the largest capacity undergraduate degree programs in the state, nationally ranked graduate programs, and Web-based programs like none other in the state.
I am very aware of our wonderful donors joining our contributors’ lists each year and affecting the good fortunes of the college. I am committed to maintaining the unsurpassed gift success achieved during the past two years. The consistent philanthropy has meant more student scholarships, faculty fellowships, professorships, teaching awards, equipment and an enhanced academic program. Thanks again to each of you who contribute in your own special way.
In this spring issue, you will enjoy reading about a new donor, the Thomas A. Plein Foundation and its interest in scholarship for Navajo nursing students, and the huge impact of a community program created by our special friends at the New Mexico Educators Federal Credit Union supporting our students with scholarships for a second year. You will be amazed by the exceptional generosity of our students with their Senior Class Gift Program and energized by our student and faculty profiles.
Remember that we must keep dreaming, planning and executing important, cutting edge programs, providing excellent nursing education, research, service and leadership with vision and passion!
Nancy Ridenour, PhD, RN, APRN, BC, FAAN
Professor and Dean
