KATHY DONTJE
KARA SCHRADER
PhD, FNP-BC
MSN, RN, NP-C
Assistant Professor, Health Programs
Director of Graduate Clinical Programs
Assistant Professor, Health Programs
Assistant Professor, Health Programs
Mary Jane Cook spent 25 years in adult surgical
intensive care, where she excelled at communicating
with patients and families in crisis. Thirteen years
ago she decided to transition to helping people
before they reach critical care by becoming an NP.
She is currently pursuing her PhD in nursing health
systems at Indiana University. Her commitment to
good communication is reflected in her practice
philosophy which focuses on getting to know her
patients and identifying their concerns and beliefs to
help determine what they are willing to do for their
health. She uses the motivational interviewing model
to help explore and understand patient ambivalence
to change and help them overcome it.
Dontje has a sense of accomplishment when
building partnerships with her patients. For more than
five years, she has worked with an elderly gentleman
needing a number of medications for chronic
conditions. Periodically he decides not to take them
and reports he doesn't feel any different. Each time
this happens, she listens, considers his concerns, and
negotiates with him, explaining which medications
have priority and why. Her ongoing engagement
with this patient reflects the four core principals of
her practice philosophy: holistic patient care, shared
decision making, empowerment of the patient, and
evidence based practice.
“I was very close to my grandmother, who was a
nurse. Through volunteering, I discovered the nurse
I wanted to be,” says Kara Schrader. She worked for
14 years, mostly in cardiac stepdown, before deciding
to be part of prevention as an NP. She chose the
College’s program for its focus on community health
and hybrid format. In her eight years of practice, she
has taken a holistic approach to every person and/
or family. She empowers their ability to manage and
improve their own health and has experienced positive
outcomes when giving patients the necessary skills,
which include in-depth health education, counseling,
and coordination of community resources.
In practice at the Ingham County Health
Department, Schrader grew to love working with
young people, and this interest has developed into
a depth of experience in adolescent health, reversible
contraceptive management and family planning.
At the Family Health Clinic, she helps adolescents and
people of all ages learn how to make good decisions
and plans of care. In her faculty role, she prepares
students for independent practice, focusing on the
importance of counseling, collaboration with other
caregivers, and the use of tools for gathering health
and community resource information.
OUR PRACTICE FACULTY
Listening to the patient and not just the disease
is something that NPs do well. She recalls a woman,
who had been to a number of providers about her
symptoms over time. All had told her there was
nothing to worry about. “As I listened and put all
the pieces of her physical ailments together,” Cook
relates, “I suspected she had a heart problem. I sent
her for testing, and it was confirmed that she was in
heart failure. She’s actually done very well since then,
because she got the right treatment. The whole key
is to listen to what patients are telling you.”
“I’m one of those people who always knew what
I wanted to be,” Kathy Dontje reports, “and am
very proud to say I am a nurse.” Dontje's greatest
satisfaction has always come from making a
difference in patients' lives. Her passion for mastering
new knowledge has resulted in her pursuit of a number
of nursing career opportunities. An NP for almost 30
years, she began teaching when the College recruited
active practitioners to lead the NP program. Her wide
range of practice and teaching experience, practicerelated research interests, and lead