Dr. Afua Arhin FacultySpotlight
Where are you originally from?
I am originally from Ghana, West Africa, where I still have family. My name, Afua, actually means nothing more than a girl born on Friday.
Where did you earn your undergraduate and graduate degrees?
My first degree is from the University of Ghana. After I moved to the United States I pursued a Master of Science in Nursing degree from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, and a Ph.D. in Nursing Sciences from the University of Florida.
Where and when did you start your nursing career?
I am a passionate Obstetric Nurse at heart. I spent about 12 years of my nursing career working in Labor & Delivery, Postpartum, and in the Newborn Nursery in a busy tertiary care hospital in Madison, WI. I tried working in other nursing units but was always drawn back to mothers and babies.
How long have you been in education?
I have been in nursing education for about 16 years now. I had no idea until then that I would be doing this. I loved being a bedside nurse and thought that was where my passion was and would stay. My start as a nurse educator was a result of a chance encounter: The teaching hospital where I worked in Madison always had nursing students, and being the passionate nurse that I am, I made it a point to take them under my wing and teach them the ropes and share my knowledge. A clinical faculty member of a local community college took note of my enthusiasm and recommended me for her position when she had to take a maternity leave, and the rest is history.
The beauty of being a nurse educator is being paid to share our passion of this ominous profession. Nurses have this privilege of caring for people when they are most vulnerable- during birth, during death, and a lot in between. I am honored to have that privilege and think it is so important to communicate to the younger generation of nurses the importance of their role and the responsibility that goes along with it.
What attracted you to the nursing profession?
When I was four, I had an aunty who was a Navy nurse. She wore a blue skirt with a white shirt with shiny gold buttons to work. Even at that age, I had a flair for fashion. I thought her uniform was the most beautiful outfit and I wanted to be just like her. At age 4, I decided I was going be a nurse.
Dr. Afua Arhin is a firm believer that if FSU is to improve its image in nursing circles, the outcomes must do all of the talking. That is why she is anxious to begin her duties at the new chair of the Department of Nursing. 48
FS&U Magazine