School Updates

New Faculty

Megan Beach, MS, RN, RNC-OB, C-EFM Assistant Lecturer The last eight years since I graduated I have been working with Women and Children’s Services at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center. I mainly specialize in Labor & Delivery, but also work on Postpartum, Pediatrics, and Nursery. I spent the last four years working as a charge nurse for all these units; it was helping new nurses that made me want to go back to school for my masters in nursing education. I have helped out the last two semesters since graduating with my masters, working as adjunct faculty leading OB and medical clinical rotations for nursing students. I also love traveling and being outdoors. Shannon Schneider, MS, RN Assistant Lecturer I am not a traditional nurse. What drew me to nursing was lived experiences and having to figure out what the best path would be for me. It was not a direct path, but a path of twists and turns that finally lead me to nursing. I can say now, five years later, I really enjoy being a nurse! I graduated with my BSN from Blessing-Rieman College of Nursing and Health Sciences (BRCN), Quincy, IL in 2016. In 2020, I received my MSN-Education from BRCN. I have worked in the hospital, public health, and community health settings. I enjoy the teaching aspects of nursing and I think that helped guide me in the direction of becoming a nurse educator. When I am not nursing, I am with my family traveling, outdoors, or working on some type of renovation project. I am looking forward to my new role as a faculty member at UW! Sherra St Clair, DNP, PMHNPBC, MFA McMurry Chair of Mental Health Clinical Assistant Professor Please see full article on pg. 6

Retired Faculty Faculty/Staff Awards: Outstanding Teacher and Outstanding Staff Member

Congratulations to Nursing Faculty member Candy Stidolph and Nursing Staff member Dawn Carver. Both were recognized at the College of Health Sciences annual Faculty & Staff Awards Celebration on April 29, 2021 through a first-time ZOOM event. Stidolph received the “Outstanding Teacher” award in recognition for excellence in classroom and clinical teaching in the College of Health Sciences. Carver received the “Outstanding Staff Member” award, which recognizes an outstanding staff member within the College of Health Sciences who has made significant contributions early in their career. Candy Stidolph: Outstanding Teacher Stidolph was recognized “for consistently going above and beyond to ensure excellence in clinical education” for the UW Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) family nurse practitioner students. A sophisticated and diverse skill set is need by such students, so Stidolph recruits and arranges quality clinical experiences with clinical preceptors and agencies across Wyoming and bordering states. Additionally, she assures each student has mastered necessary clinical skills for the provision of primary care prior to embarking on their clinical journey. Students are well-prepared and highly sought-after graduates, who make sure to give credit to Stidolph in their exit-interviews for her efforts in individualized clinical instruction.

Fellow faculty as well as current and former students contributed to the nomination packet. Following are representative comments: • “Candy Stidolph has an unfailing commitment to excellence in every sphere of graduate and undergraduate education. She is clearly one of the finest, most well-prepared and natural teachers I have had the pleasure of working with at the academic nursing level.” • “Seeing [Candy] in practice inspired me to pursue nursing myself…when it came to pick a program for my DNP I knew I wanted to learn from

NPs I loved and respected, so it was clear I wanted to be a part of any program Candy was part of!” • “Candy has been one instructor I have always felt I could approach.

She has been nothing but kind, compassionate, and supportive. I was

really struggling once, and she took the time to listen to my concerns…she has a calming sense about her and makes you feel like you are valued and important.” • During unprecedented challenges of supporting a clinical program during a pandemic, one student noted that Candy “took the time to make a lengthy video response” in order to more personally relate to the student. Dawn Carver: Outstanding Staff Member [for 0-5 years of service] Carver was recognized for her significant impact throughout all nursing programs at the Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing, for her professionalism, intellect, leadership, and commitment to growth and excellence.

Caver joined the School of Nursing as a Credentials Analyst/ Academic Advisor for the BRAND, MS, and DNP programs in September of 2016, bringing insight and order to the three distance programs with which she works. She is a valued member of the DNP faculty team, routinely offering important insights and solutions toward working more efficiently and effectively. In recent months, the school has undergone major curriculum revisions to meet its accrediting body’s new educational requirements. This revision process was huge and had to be done quickly to be in place by fall 2021. Carver not only managed the hundreds of course action request forms (CARFs) and old/new syllabi required, but with her background in adult education, she also contributed greatly to curricular redesign itself –including programs of study, course titles, course descriptions, and course learning outcomes. According to a nominator, “I also am impressed by Dawn’s leadership and her personal commitment to excellence and to self and system improvement. She is always looking for and implementing processes to make all work more efficiently, and views challenges and errors as opportunities, not setbacks. Although she was not able to do this during the pandemic, Dawn routinely (and voluntarily) spends a week of her vacation time every year attending a leadership conference in Minnesota. Finding this event personally recharging, she also uses and applies the knowledge and skills from this conference to improve her work at the School of Nursing. In summary, Dawn has been a wonderful addition to the School of Nursing, strengthening professionalism and instigating improvements to the DNP program. Faculty and students alike have benefitted immensely from Dawn’s work.”

2021 Basic BSN PRECEPTOR AWARD: Tara Legler, RN Banner Wyoming Medical Center • Casper, Wyoming “Tara was recently nominated one of Wyoming’s Nurses of the Year. After my semester with her, it is no surprise. I came to her a timid student with little self-confidence and full of doubt. She took my potential and built me up in ways I didn’t know was possible. She imbedded a deep confidence and sense of hope within me. She essentially went from holding my hand with each little task to trusting me to take on the multiple assigned patients alone, while she still worked in the background but let me take the lead. I am unsure I will Tara Legler, RN ever be able to properly thank her for the way she impacted me as a person and a student. I will be a great nurse, and it’s because of her. I will never forget us being in the room as a patient was told he only had a couple weeks to live. He teared up and thanked us for caring for him. When we left the room we were both emotional. She looked at me said, ‘This happened to me when I was a student, and my preceptor told me to get it together and suck it up.’ She told me, ‘Never be ashamed of your compassion and empathy. The day you stop having empathy for you patients is the day you should no longer be a nurse.’ I will never forget that moment and many others with Tara. I feel beyond fortunate to have learned from her. –Haley Crews, Basic BSN Student 2021

2021 Basic BSN PRECEPTOR AWARD: Whitney Smith, RN Campbell County Health • Gillette, Wyoming “Stepping into the nursing world as a student is intimidating to say the least. The overwhelming desire to know everything coupled with inevitable imperfection is a stressful relationship. However, having a preceptor who understands these emotions and remembers what it is like to be in our shoes can make a world of difference—and I was lucky enough to have just that. My preceptor, Whitney Smith, has gone above and beyond to facilitate my transition from student to professional. As a FWWSON alumna, she truly embodies the type of nurse the program strives to produce. Whitney has truly committed herself to my education, providing me the time, understanding, and expertise necessary to allow me to grow and develop, preparing me to make the difference I want to and know I can make. Throughout my clinical capstone, Whitney continually provided me the gentle nudge that I needed towards independence while ensuring that I was supported through every step. Her expertise and passion for ER nursing has inspired me every day to explore unfamiliar concepts or learn a new skill. I truly believe I have been able to reach my full potential under Whitney’s knowledge and guidance. I owe every ‘you will make a great nurse’ patient comment to Whitney’s ability to educate. If one day I end up being half the nurse Whitney is, I will count that a success in my book.”

Whitney Smith, RN