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Interviewer: Nurses Week is a great opportunity to celebrate nursing and all of the great work that nurses do. And here at TheScopeRadio.com, University of Utah Health Sciences Radio, we wanted to explore the way that nurses make a difference here at University of Utah Health Care.
Patricia Morton is the Dean of the University of Utah College of Nursing. Dean Morton, why did you decide to get involved in nursing?
Dean Morton: Well, I didn't always know I wanted to be a nurse, to be honest with you. I first did a bachelor's degree in biology, and while studying the human body I got very intrigued. I loved science. I loved math. While I was earning my baccalaureate degree in biology I worked at a hospital on the weekend, and I was so inspired by the nurses. I found a mentor named Ellen Rudy, and Ellen went on to become the Dean at the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing. Ellen really encouraged me to go into nursing. So I did, and I've never regretted it.
Interviewer: What was the attraction? Why were you so compelled to go into it?
Dean Morton: Well, what really attracted me was the integration of science and psychology, and it just all got put together in nursing. I went into intensive care nursing, into the intensive care unit as my specialty, as my practice, where you could really see science in action. But I was also very intrigued by the human element, the taking care of the patient and the family, helping people to cope with critical illness, potentially with death. So it was just the perfect blend for me of science and the human aspect of caring.
Interviewer: You didn't mess around. I mean, you went right into the fire, so to speak. I'd have to believe that intensive care nursing is a difficult area of nursing.
Dean Morton: It is. It's difficult in that it is physically demanding work, but it is also psychologically challenging.
Interviewer: So emotionally demanding.
Dean Morton: Absolutely it is. You have to have good mentors to help you through that, which I was able to have good mentors as I launched my career in the intensive care unit. And it just really was the perfect match for me.
Interviewer: You've been to other institutions, most recently University of Maryland. Tell me what makes the nursing students, educators and researchers here at the U different or special. I mean, is there anything different here as opposed to other places?
Dean Morton: Well, what's really wonderful here is our College of Nursing is so strong. We have excellent programs. We have superb research where our nurse scientists are really making a difference in understanding patient care and patient problems. We have a very vibrant faculty practice where our faculty are actually in practice with their students making a difference.
Interviewer: And is that a little unusual?
Dean Morton: Well, not all schools have as large and vibrant of a faculty practice as we do.
Interviewer: Gotcha.
Dean Morton: And for students, that just makes you so credible when your faculty are actually in practice. They bring those case studies to the classroom.
Interviewer: Yeah, it makes it a lot more real world, right? And a lot less theoretical.
Dean Morton: Absolutely.
Interviewer: You can start applying that knowledge you're getting right away.
Dean Morton: Absolutely. And believe me, the students notice and they compliment our faculty. As a matter of fact, in a recent town hall meeting with our students, I loved it when our undergraduate student said, "I think your faculty really know what they're doing."
Interviewer: That's good at any teaching endeavor, if they think the teachers know what they're talking about.
Dean Morton: They really think we know what we're doing. So that's a great compliment from students.
Interviewer: That's fantastic. So what changes have you seen in your nursing career? A lot has changed and, as we know, we're going to talk about how things are going to continue to change, because I think we're at a very unique place in history right now. But what have you seen change? What are some of the major ones?
Dean Morton: Well, I've seen much more emphasis on advanced education for nurses, graduate education, nursing research. We're just really upping the game and making such a critical difference in the transformation of health care.
Interviewer: Yeah, it's not just giving somebody their medication at the bedside or when there's a problem being the one that calls the doctor.
Dean Morton: Not at all. We really don't emphasize skills the way people think that that's all we do. When we're teaching, we're emphasizing critical thinking, decision-making, prioritization, how to deal with crisis situations with families and patients, and that emotional aspect that patients and families experience. How do we help them through that?
So the changes I've seen is the role of the nurse in much more of a leadership role, being very, very involved in decision-making and helping to shape the healthcare system. I've seen a move toward more independent practice, expanded scope of practice. And then as I mentioned, much more involvement in the discovery of new knowledge through our nurse researchers, scientists, writing grants and being funded by the national institutes of health, to really make a difference and understanding patient problems and the interventions that would work best to solve those problems.
Interviewer: I don't necessarily probably have to say this but a physician only sees a patient a limited amount of time. It's really the nurse that sees them all the time, and as a result, they provide a lot of the primary care and are taking more and more of a role, it seems to me.
Dean Morton: Absolutely we are. For the inpatient setting, I read a recent report that said the physician spends an average of eight minutes a day in the inpatient setting with a patient, whereas the nurse is there 24/7. But you're right. With expansion of healthcare, with the movement to prevention, we're going to see the nurse take a much bigger role in primary care.
Interviewer: Let's talk about the future of nursing. Where are we going to go from here? What changes are we going to see from here on out?
Dean Morton: We're definitely going to see an expansion of primary care health services. As we move these uninsured patients into the system, there's just not enough providers. So we're going to see nurses taking a very important lead role in providing primary care and helping to prevent illness, promoting wellness, managing chronic illness, so that we'll be the point of care provider for a huge number of patients in our country.
Interviewer: Do you think that the public is ready for that or is there still a perception issue there?
Dean Morton: I think there is still a perception issue that people don't understand that nurses earn advanced degrees, that nurses have the level of responsibility, authority, and scientific knowledge that they have. Often the public perceives the nurse as very sweet and caring.
Interviewer: Exactly.
Dean Morton: But not necessarily the knowledge worker that we truly are.
Interviewer: And there again, as a support role, not as a primary role of helping me direct my health care or whatever.
Dean Morton: That's right. And we're seeing nurses also taking leadership jobs in foundations, in federal government, with industries. So we're expanding where we're employed so that we're really at the table to make differences. There's a national move to put more nurses on boards of trustees, whether it be for hospitals, community agencies, foundations, so that our voice is at the table to shape health care and transform it.
Interviewer: So a young nursing student today might tell her grandmother or his grandmother, "I'm going into nursing," and that elderly parent or grandparent wouldn't even realize how drastic that has changed and how important of a role that's going to become, and it just continues to develop.
Dean Morton: Absolutely. And people don't understand that. Now today the nurse can choose whether to earn a PhD, a research-focused degree, or to pursue the Doctor of Nursing practice, which is the terminal degree for practice-focused nurses. So we have lots of options. Every specialty is open to you, from neonatal intensive care through geriatrics. There's so many possible ways that you can be employed and make a difference.
Interviewer: And not just necessarily at the bedside. The options are almost limitless, it seems like.
Dean Morton: Absolutely. And we need so many more nurses to be involved in the community setting, to be involved in what we call population health where we're managing populations, to be out in the world for prevention, to make a difference in policy. There's a lot of emphasis now in nursing education on how do you shape policy at the state and national level.
Interviewer: Exciting time, huh? What advice would you give young nurses starting their careers or their education here at the University of Utah? Do you have any thoughts on that?
Dean Morton: I would say be open to all types of possibilities for your career. Be willing to take the risk of change. If, for example, you worked in one area for a while and it doesn't seem to be a good fit, that's fine. Make a switch to a different area. The possibilities are limitless, and explore those possibilities. Make the best of it. Find a good mentor who will help you through those decisions.
Interviewer: And finally, it is Nurses Week, and we are saluting nurses. Why don't you go ahead and say what it is you'd like the nurses here at University of Utah Health Care to know. Say your thank you or whatever message you have for them.
Dean Morton: I'd just like to say I'm so proud of what our nurses do. They're so incredibly dedicated. They're hard-working. They truly care about patients. And as I mentioned, they're very smart knowledge workers. And I want to honor all of our nurses and wish them a wonderful, wonderful thanks through acknowledging them in Nurses Week.
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