ECU College of Nursing honors its preceptors of the year
When many think of a university education, the images that often come to mind are those of young adults sitting in neat rows in a lecture hall.
Nursing students’ practical educations happens at the bedside in a hospital, in a community health clinic or a school nurse’s office. The hands-on practice they undertake in clinical settings is always overseen by preceptors — volunteer members of the nursing profession who teach, guide and mold the next generation of nurses.
The East Carolina University College of Nursing recognized 14 nurses as part of its 2022 cohort of Preceptors of the Year. (ECU file photo)
Each year, the East Carolina University College of Nursing honors the practicing clinicians who take on preceptees without compensation. The 2022 cohort of Preceptors of the Year have guided, taught and held ECU’s future Pirate nurses to the high standards required of nursing graduates.
This year’s preceptors range from recent graduates who have taken the initiative to show nursing students the practical aspects of the profession to an oncology nurse with three decades of experience who is using her final days as a nursing leader to mold and mentor the next generation of North Carolina’s health care team.
The preceptor volunteers spend many hours with ECU nursing students, demonstrating the technical skills necessary to care for the ill and injured, but just as importantly, serving as a role model, coach and cheerleader. Nursing is a profession of the head and heart, as much the hands, and the preceptors who take ECU nursing students on are among the first to show their preceptees why the nursing profession is unique among health care professionals.
A value can’t be placed on the contributions that preceptors add to a student’s education, said Bim Akintade, dean of the College of Nursing.
“We’re coming out of a very complicated period in the history of health care in our country,” Akintade said. “The COVID-19 pandemic had a lasting impact on the public’s positive regard for nurses, but unfortunately the demands of caring for so many sick people for so long have reduced the number of nurses in the workforce. Without volunteer preceptors, there is no way that we will be able to field the number of qualified nurses that the next decade will require of health care professionals in North Carolina.”
The 2022 Preceptors of the Year represent hundreds of nursing professionals across the state whose quiet dedication to the nursing profession ensures the nationally recognized quality of the education that the ECU College of Nursing provides.
Capstone, Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing Program
Miller
Logann Miller, RN
Miller precepts students at ECU’s clinical practice partner hospital — ECU Health Medical Center. She is not only a caring and dedicated preceptor, but a role model for future Pirate nurses. Miller’s approach is to have a specific plan for each student, with goals and objective for hands-on learning, and hold her students to the high standards of care that she sets. Her teaching method is to prompt students to think critically, use their didactic education in practice, and be flexible in acquiring new skills at the bedside. As a first-time preceptor, she demonstrated exemplary communication skills and a positivity that buoyed her students, in turn enhancing their confidence, motivation and engagement.
Community Health
Whaley
Marla Whaley, RN, BSN
As a Duplin County school nurse, Whaley personifies the word “caring.” She is completely integrated into the school community, knowing the student body she serves and the teachers and staff who support their learning. She cares for students at school and makes home visits when necessary to coordinate care for her students. Whaley has been incredibly committed to the precepting processing, taking on community health students for seven-week blocks throughout the year, exposing students to the realities of community-based health care. She teaches her preceptees to approach care in a holistic manner, following the Whole School, Whole Child and Whole Community model.
ECU Wound Care Center
Williams
Boyd
Hurley
Newton
Heather Williams, RN, BSN
Angela Boyd, RN, BSN
Keli Hurley, RN, MSN, CM, NE-BC
Beverly Newton, RN
This group of nurses precept ECU nursing students completing community health clinical rotations at the ECU Health Wound Care center. They are receptive to the students and dedicated to imparting their knowledge to the student preceptees. Newton originally sought out the opportunity to precept ECU nursing students, which demonstrates the commitment to the future of nursing.
Williams is a staff nurse at ECU Health Medical Center in Greenville. She currently works in bariatric and general surgery and previously worked at the Wound Healing Center in Greenville. She is a 2008 BSN Pirate nurse.
Boyd is a seasoned RN who cares for patients at ECU Health Wound Healing Center. She previously provided nursing leadership as a nurse case manager and a quality nurse dpecialist. She is also a Pirate nurse, having graduated with a BSN in 2011.
Hurley, a 2013 ECU MSN graduate, is a nurse manager at the ECU Health Wound Healing Center. She has provided leadership as a case manager and senior care transitions liaison in eastern North Carolina. Hurley has received numerous nursing profession awards and is the former vice president of the Beta Nu chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International.
Newton is an experienced nurse who brings decades of experience to her patient care and preceptorships. As an American Board of Wound Management certified staff nurse for wound patients, she facilitated student learning of wound care physiology and nursing management. She role modeled patient and family education regarding home care management of wound care.
Nurse Midwifery
Ipock
Jessica Ipock, CNM, MSN, RNC-OB
Ipock’s, MSN ’14, dedication to teaching nursing students is unfailing — from her role as an adjunct faculty member at the CON to mentoring students for each semester of 2022 at Eastern Carolina Women’s Center in New Bern. Her teaching style is driven by prompting students with questions that demand critical thinking and her evaluation of preceptees is consistently fair and helpful.
Neonatal Nurse Practitioner
Clevenger
Lisa Clevenger, MSN, NNP-BC
As a Pirate nurse and current CON adjunct faculty member, Clevenger, MSN ’18, BSN ’14, understands the quality of students that ECU graduates, and upholds the college’s high standards. She went above and beyond in the 2021-22 academic year to precept several NNP students at Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte.
Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner
Major
Catherine Major, MSN, FNP-BC, PMHNP-BC
Major is another of the preceptors who goes the extra mile to offer clinical learning experiences for ECU nursing students. She accepts students each semester at ECU Behavioral Health in Washington, N.C., and her students find her to be knowledgeable, professional and eager to help them become the best behavioral health nurse practitioner they can be.
Clinical Nurse Specialist
Bruce
Susan Bruce, MSN, RN, AOCNS
Even in her final months working as an oncology nurse at the Duke Raleigh Hospital Cancer Center, Bruce has again volunteered to take on an ECU nursing student to gain learn from her career-long wealth of knowledge. Bruce is a dedicated oncology nurse who previously serves as a board member of the Oncology Nursing Society. She makes students feel comfortable and accepted in unfamiliar settings and always has time for student questions. Her mentorship has been a blessing for her students and her impact will be felt for generations to come through the Pirate Nurses she precepted.
Nursing Education
Allen
Downing
Vicky Allen, MSN, RN
Vickie Downing, MSN
Allen is a Pirate nurse, BSN ’79, who teaches at Johnston Community College in Smithfield. Downing is a professional development specialist at ECU Health Medical Center’s oncology department. Both are knowledgeable, work to build confidence in their preceptees and provide hands-on experiences with real world nursing education situations so that ECU nursing students can enter the nursing education workforce prepared to make a difference on day one.
Family Nurse Practitioner
Blevins
Mergy
Andrea Blevins, ANP-C, GNP
Kelly Mergy, MSN, WHNP
Both Blevins and Mergy are family nurse practitioners, doing the important work of providing primary care in their communities.
Blevins’ practice — Pleasant Garden (NC) Family Practice near Greensboro — is a perfect fit for nursing students who live in or near the Triad and are embarking on a career in primary care – a critical need across the state. Blevins is a long-term supporter of the College of Nursing, having precepted students since 2009 which gives her a wealth of understanding about how to shape nursing students’ final phases of training.
Mergy works for the Cumberland County Health Department providing care to women in underserved communities. In her role as a preceptor, she has mentored nursing, medical and physician assistant students for two decades.
Both share their professionalism and extensive bases of knowledge with their student nurses to provide realistic, engaging training in clinical settings which is invaluable for future Pirate nurses.