NURSE IN AN ACADEMIC SETTING
Debra Servello , dnp , aGNP
Chairperson at Rhode Island College Zvart Onanian School of Nursing Graduate Department
What drew you to the academic route of nursing ? I always wanted to be a nurse or a teacher . When I was working in the nursing field , I worked as an NP at the Miriam Hospital from 1997 to 2001 and Landmark Medical Center part-time for about three years . A former faculty member asked me to be adjunct at RIC part-time for a few years , and during that time , I received my doctoral degree . When a full-time position opened , I took it , and I ’ ve been teaching for nineteen years . I love my students ; they keep me going , they keep me challenged . You never stop learning . A CRNA brought forward a case study that I didn ’ t have a lot of knowledge on and I had to study . Something you learned twenty years ago is not the same as today .
What do you hope each of your students takes away from school ? I hope they learn to be caring and compassionate with their patients , to always ask the whys rather than memorizing the facts . When you ’ re learning new material , it ’ s one thing to learn the facts and how something ’ s done . I want them to learn why they ’ re learning it . Anyone can memorize steps . It takes a skilled clinician to understand why . I love teaching , and while I miss the NP setting , I ’ m touching so many more lives by teaching them to be good practitioners . I currently serve as chair of the graduate program and director of the master ’ s program . In the past , I served as interim dean for the school of nursing for two years . It was a huge learning experience to take on the leadership role .
76 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l SEPTEMBER 2023