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Blogs

Nursing News and Stories

By Author

Deborah Sherman


Students    Graduation

You Before Me

As a young man, Sam Wellman felt lost. While his friends were pursuing their dreams in college, Sam succumbed to ennui and despair. Without purpose or direction, he drank and drank. Until one day at the bottom of a shot glass, he realized he appreciated and admired the people helping him recover. They were nurses.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date December 06, 2023
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Students

Professor Inspires Students to Bridge Gap in Geriatric Nursing Shortage

Every day, we grow older. Who will take care of us?


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date October 12, 2023
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Education    Faculty    Student and Alumni

CU Nursing in the Last 25 Years and Beyond

If the first century of the University of Colorado College of Nursing is known for its growth and dedication to educate students and care for patients, CU Nursing may be remembered in the last 25 years of its history for focusing on the individual. In the last quarter of a century, faculty have innovated new programs to serve and meet the unique needs of the diverse, Indigenous, uninsured and rural patient. In the middle of this fine-tuning of accessible healthcare came a big wrench. COVID-19.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date September 05, 2023
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Education    Hot Topic

Hot Topics in Nursing: Peer-to-Peer Wisdom

Believe it or not students, graduates from the University of Colorado College of Nursing say you’re going to miss school. It’s the small things you don’t think about now; the friendships, comradery, access to brilliant instructors and the ability to make mistakes without big consequences. Believe it.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date June 26, 2023
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Alumni

Former CU Nursing Grad Transforms Life After Near-Fatal Cycling Accident

One moment, 32-year-old Terry Chase was leaning over the handlebars of her road bike feeling the sun and wind caress her face while her lungs and legs pumped and burned along a 10-mile route in Grand Junction. The next moment, she was airborne.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date June 12, 2023
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Students    Equity Diversity and Inclusion    Graduation

Graduate to Fight for More Diversity in Nursing

When Kimberly Morales-Ortiz was a child, she remembers going to a healthcare clinic with her grandmother who has diabetes. The nurses spoke Spanish with her grandmother, getting her engaged in her own treatment.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date May 15, 2023
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Students    Graduation

Like Mother, Like Son

While most kids were hanging out with friends in middle and high school, University of Colorado College of Nursing BSN candidate Mark Domingo and his two siblings were helping their mom take care of three elderly people who lived in their home. His mom Ruby was a certified caregiver. For 24-hours a day, 7 days a week, they helped her feed the patients, get them showered and dressed, and take them on walks. They treated them like family. The experience sparked Domingo’s passion for helping others.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date May 11, 2023
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Students    Graduation

Graduate Will Go the Distance to Care for Children and Their Families

One foot in front of the other. That’s the mindset Taylor Santangelo used to break two cross-country running records in high school, and what she thinks now as a clinical assistant in the pediatric intensive care unit when she faces children with acute and chronic conditions.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date May 09, 2023
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Students

Former US Army Senior Combat Medic Applies War Experience to Become a Better Nurse

The enemy was relentless. In the Middle East in 2013, the Taliban fired weapons with bullets that could pierce the armored vehicles carrying Sgt. Billy Schwartz (aka “Doc”) and his fellow soldiers. The terrorists packed their vehicles with explosives and drove them at Schwartz’s US Army convoy. Tours of duty between Iraq and Afghanistan can make it challenging for soldiers’ transitioning from military to civilian life.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date May 04, 2023
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Alumni

Love, War, and Healthcare

Forty-eight hours after graduating from the University of Colorado School of Nursing in Denver with a bachelor of science degree in 1967, Mary Dempsey volunteered for the US Army. The new recruit was shipped to Chu Lai, Vietnam to nurse the wounded during the war's bloodiest year.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date April 11, 2023
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Faculty    Alumni    Hot Topic

Hot Topics in Nursing: Taking it to the Streets

On a cold January day, five volunteers bundled in heavy coats and boots stomped around the snow in a remote area of Aurora looking for people experiencing homelessness who may need medical care. The volunteers are part of a team called CU Street Medicine that makes old-fashioned house calls for “rough sleepers” wherever they are; in parks, under bridges, along trails, and on sidewalks.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date March 20, 2023
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Alumni   

CU’s first Black nurse defied racism, withstood disease and made history serving others

Seventeen years before Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. inspired masses in Washington with his speech, “I Have a Dream,” a young Black woman nicknamed Zippy in Denver was already living her dream. In 1946, ‘Zippy’ Zipporah Parks Hammond became the first Black woman to graduate with a bachelor of science degree from the University of Colorado School of Nursing.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date March 14, 2023
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Students    Hot Topic

Six Strategies to Afford Rising College Costs – from a Student Who’s Been There*

It may take Alex Morgan years after graduation to pay off tens of thousands of dollars in college loans. The 24-year-old senior at the University of Colorado College of Nursing at the Anschutz Medical Campus has taken out 25 grants and loans to pursue two bachelor of science degrees. One in biology and the second in nursing. While it may be more debt than other students have, they all face rising college tuition in the next four years, according to MEFA. Tuition at a national public four-year college for in-state residents will cost an average $24,000 this year and rise to more than $26,000 per year in 2026.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date March 06, 2023
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Education    Alumni

The Secret to Passing the NCLEX RN Exam on Your First Try

After graduating from the University of Colorado College of Nursing at the Anschutz Medical Campus in December of 2021 with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree, Christopher Battelli faced the ultimate test – trying to pass the National Council Licensure Exam (NCLEX). Without it, he wouldn’t be able to work as a registered nurse. He took online preparatory courses, listened to podcasts and studied for hours.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date February 08, 2023
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Education    Faculty

CU College of Nursing Helps Nurses Pioneer New Healthcare Roles in Switzerland

The University of Colorado College of Nursing at the CU Anschutz Medical Campus is collaborating with the Bern University of Applied Sciences in Switzerland and making history. CU Nursing is teaching Swiss nurses advanced practice nursing skills to meet a critical shortage of healthcare professionals facing an aging, sicker population.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date February 07, 2023
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Students    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz

Public Health Nursing in The Last Frontier

You can’t complain about your commute after meeting Claire Geldhof. The dual-degree student with the University of Colorado College of Nursing Doctor of Nursing Practice and Colorado School of Public Health, takes courses online from her home in Alaska, sometimes jumping on seaplanes, and boats; walking when the roads end to take care of patients living in the bush.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date December 21, 2022
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Students

New marching orders for CU Nursing grad: train VA employees to better relate to veterans

Darcie Greuel is earning much more than a master of science degree with a concentration in Veteran and Military Health Care at the University of Colorado College of Nursing this December. The education also led her to create a quality improvement project that could ultimately change the way all employees in the Veterans Health Administration understand the veterans they serve.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date December 13, 2022
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Alumni    Students

University of Colorado College of Nursing Takes Worry, Fear Out of Earning Degrees and Reaching Goals

Krystal Hidalgo was born during a short and cold winter in El Paso, Texas on the Mexican border to a struggling single mother of two. A gambler might have bet against her success, but would have lost. Today, after attending two unique educational pathways at the University of Colorado College of Nursing, Hidalgo is a Registered Nurse, has earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree, and is working on an advanced Master of Science degree.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date November 22, 2022
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Faculty    Hot Topic

Hot Topics in Nursing: Accredited Nursing Programs Open Doors to Quality Education, State Licensing and Good Jobs

Accreditation matters. Whether you want to transfer to another school, take the state NCLEX licensing exam or get a great job in nursing, choosing an accredited nursing program is critically important for students. It can be the difference between success and failure.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date October 31, 2022
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Faculty    Hot Topic

Hot Topics in Nursing: How Simulation Saved Graduation

In March 2020, COVID-19 forced university students around the country to quarantine at home and learn online. That was a disaster for healthcare students who could no longer practice in clinics and earn the hours required to graduate. Faculty at the University of Colorado College of Nursing had to pivot. They expanded simulation training for students to practice with lifelike mannequins, virtual reality, task trainers, and other methods to complete their clinical rotations and earn their degrees.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date September 26, 2022
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Faculty    Hot Topic

Hot Topics in Nursing: It’s OK to not be OK

The pandemic left nurses across the country physically worn out, emotionally exhausted, and asking themselves if it’s worth it. In a survey by the American Organization for Nursing leadership, 36% of nurse managers admitted they are not emotionally healthy. One out of every two nurses has thought about quitting. That’s why the University of Colorado College of Nursing has made mental health and wellness a top priority.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date July 18, 2022
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Community    Alumni    Hot Topic

Hot Topics in Nursing: How the Pandemic Changed School Nursing in Aurora

“It was the most exhaustive, exhilarating, creative, awful, collaborative work I’ve ever done.” So says the lead nurse consultant in Aurora Public Schools Health Services after two years of a global pandemic in one of the largest school districts in the state.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date June 13, 2022
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Students

Graduating Nurse Who Sings will Raise Her Voice for Preventive Care

She’s a little bit caring and a little bit rock ‘n’ roll. Jessi Ridinger, a former lead singer and classic rock radio disc jockey, is graduating from the University of Colorado College of Nursing in May 2022 with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree. As a nurse, she will raise her voice to advocate for preventive health and mental health care.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date May 27, 2022
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Students

Celine’s Anatomy

While most middle school students watch movies like Diary of a Wimpy Kid and the Incredibles, 12-year-old Celine Lumowa watched the TV drama Grey’s Anatomy and YouTube videos of surgeries. So, it was no surprise to anyone in her family that the University of Colorado College of Nursing student who is graduating this month with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing is going to be a surgical nurse in operating rooms.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date May 26, 2022
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Students

Graduating Student Finds Calm in the Storm

Some people will bleed from gunshots. Others won’t be able to breathe. Still more will be rushed into emergency rooms with broken bones, heart attacks, and infections. Elizabeth Phelps, about to graduate from the University of Colorado College of Nursing with a bachelor of science degree in nursing, understands working in trauma care will be intense, thrilling, and exhausting.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date May 25, 2022
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Students

Graduating Student, 41, Proves it’s Never Too Late to Pursue Dreams

Sometimes, the path to success isn’t so clear. At least not for April Gosling. The 41-year-old is about to walk across the stage at the University of Colorado College of Nursing and grab hold of a hard-fought degree in Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN). She’s graduating with the college’s highest distinction Summa Cum Laude.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date May 21, 2022
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Students

Former Foster Child Earns PhD, Vows to Help Other Vulnerable People

From foster child to doctor of philosophy. Dawn Taylor is about to earn the highest academic degree despite the lowest possible start in life. Even as she graduates this month from the University of Colorado College of Nursing with a PhD in Caring Science, she’s remembering where she began and how far she still wants to go.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date May 20, 2022
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Students

The Student Who had Three Lives

In the middle of an uprising in 2011, Upasana Nepal and her family fled their homeland; one of the poorest countries in the world that’s their namesake, Nepal. Under a United Nation’s program, the family landed in Aurora where they made a new life. But she’s never forgotten her past.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date May 18, 2022
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Community    COVID-19    Faculty

Art Representing Life: Pediatric Nurses Share Their Pandemic Stories Through Unique Art

A faceless angel with long dark hair glides toward heaven in a sky of blue and green leaving sparks of light in her wake. Hundreds of folded paper cranes in the shape of a flower, poetry, time capsules and musical compositions – comprise an exhibit of the human spirit. The exhibition, Seen and HeardThe Sacred Stories of Pediatric Nurses During the Pandemic, is part of a study that examined what 30 pediatric nurses experienced during 15 of the worst months of COVID-19.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date April 25, 2022
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Community    Faculty    Hot Topic

Nursing Burnout is Real. What Can Be Done?

They're exhausted. They dread going to work. Others are retiring early and quitting. Nurses all over the country are burned out. Three years into the pandemic, the toll of working short-staffed, without enough supplies and in crowded hospitals is overwhelming. Many nurses are simply not OK.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date April 18, 2022
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Faculty    Hot Topic

HOT TOPIC: New Bill About Abortion Rights in Colorado

Colorado could become a safe haven for women around the country if new legislation in the House makes it to the governor for a legal signature. House Bill 1279 will ensure every individual has the fundamental right to choose or refuse contraception; every individual who becomes pregnant has a fundamental right to choose to continue a pregnancy and give birth or to have an abortion; and a fertilized egg, embryo or fetus does not have independent rights under the laws of Colorado.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date March 14, 2022
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Faculty

COVID-19 Sparks Professors to Create Virtual Medical Emergencies for Students

The emergency room was overflowing with sick patients. The graduate nursing student had 15 minutes to figure out what was wrong with the deathly ill woman, consult with his colleagues, and get her help. With the clock ticking, he asked questions about her medical history and examined her.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date March 04, 2022
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Faculty   

CU College of Nursing Professor Proved to be a Force of Change for People with Intellectual Disability

When Marilyn Krajicek, EdD, RN, FAAN, was a young college student in Omaha, NE in the 1960s, a worldwide movement was underway to change the perception and treatment of people with intellectual disabilities. The movement, led by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, took a “bold new approach” to addressing the needs of the neglected population.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date February 14, 2022
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Students   

CU Nursing Student Wins 2021 Woman Veteran of the Year Award in WI

A nursing student at the University of Colorado College of Nursing has been named the 2021 Woman Veteran of the Year in Wisconsin for her dedication to helping post-9/11 service members leave the military and make the transition to civilian life, her volunteer work and serving her country with the U.S. Army Reserve.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date December 22, 2021
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Students    Equity Diversity and Inclusion

Graduating Student Will Focus on Creating More Diversity in Nursing

War, terror, pain, death. It will change someone. It changed the course of Salwa Mourtada Bamba’s life when she was a child living with her family in Liberia, West Africa, and led her to study medicine in Colorado.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date December 08, 2021
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Community    Students

Get to Know You - Kiera Connelly

Whether it’s taking a class, helping the disadvantaged or planning her future, Kiera Connelly likes to dive in deep. Before she started school at the University of Colorado College of Nursing, she worked  with the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless on the COVID Response Medical team.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date November 04, 2021
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Research    Faculty

The Top Moisturizers for Your Dry, Red, Itchy Skin without a Prescription

Just in time for winter when dry, cracked skin and eczema flare up most often, a new article by the University of Colorado College of Nursing helps consumers and providers by listing the most effective therapeutic moisturizers, their cost, and medication adherence levels. The article is expected to be used by nurses and doctors to better treat people with atopic dermatitis (AD), a common, chronic inflammatory skin disease that requires frequent moisturization to manage. 


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date October 29, 2021
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Faculty

Listening, Learning, Leadership

While any new job can be stressful, Dr. Kelly Stamp has taken on the challenge of leading academic programs at the University of Colorado College of Nursing during an ongoing pandemic, a nursing shortage and a changing profession. And the new associate professor with tenure and associate dean of academic programs is up for the challenge.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date October 22, 2021
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Patient Care    Community    Faculty   

"Say what?" Dental Students Learn High-pitched Drills Double the Risk of Hearing Loss Among Dentists

When Natalie Newton was a dental student on the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, she worried about damaging her hearing as she and other students operated high-pitched handpieces (often referred to as drills) while they practiced fixing teeth.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date August 31, 2021
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Community    Faculty

Suicide Prevention Collaborative Wins National Award for Building Suicide Prevention Programs to Assist Veterans and Their Families

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has awarded the VA Patient Safety Center for Inquiry Suicide Prevention Collaborative (PSCI-SPC) and their community partners, including the University of Colorado College of Nursing, for implementing programs to reduce suicide among thousands of Colorado military veterans, their families and survivors.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date August 18, 2021
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Faculty

University of Colorado Professor Flying High as She Joins Nation’s Most Accomplished Nursing Leaders

Three miles up and three miles down. Dr. Kathleen Flarity has skydived more than 2,500 times out of balloons, Russian helicopters and even two Boeing 727 airliners. She’s inspired her children to free fall. But perhaps the biggest thrill Flarity’s experiencing right now is getting selected to become a fellow at the American Academy of Nursing in October.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date August 05, 2021
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Students

Nursing Student One of 30 in Nation to Win Prestigious Scholarship to Learn to Help the Mentally Ill

A student at the University of Colorado College of Nursing has been awarded a scholarship from the American Psychiatric Nurses Association (APNA) to study and eventually treat an epidemic of mental illness and suicide in Colorado. Julie Bremer was one of 30 student scholars chosen nationwide by APNA.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date July 22, 2021
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Students

Mom, Son Overcome Obstacles During COVID-19 to Graduate at the Same Time

It was a promise between a mom and son that would prove to be much harder to keep than either could ever imagine. In the fall of 2017, Emily Barr made a deal with her son Maren (who goes by Michael), that’d they’d graduate together in the spring of 2021 and celebrate with a party.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date July 09, 2021
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Students

An Officer and a Scholar

While on duty in Syria in 2017, insurgents routinely shot at U.S. Air Force nurse Damon Toczylowski and other military troops as they transported patients to safety in helicopters or fixed-wing airplanes. Now, years later as a first-year student at the University of Colorado College of Nursing, he remembers the chaos, the stress, the fear - and wants to help other military veterans.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date June 30, 2021
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Students

New Nurses Need Specialized Training to Help Veterans with HIV/AIDS, says Jonas Scholar

Across the country, more than 30,000 soldiers fight an internal battle against the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that turns their cells into factories that seize other cells and weaken their immune systems. If the veterans aren’t treated quickly, it can lead to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), for which there is no cure.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date June 28, 2021
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Patient Care    Faculty    Public Health

Sleepless and Sick

When John was in the hospital last month getting ready to have open heart surgery, he felt exhausted. It wasn’t just from his damaged heart. John couldn’t get enough sleep. As soon as he dozed off in the evenings, at least three medical professionals woke him up to take blood, deliver medicine and ask questions. John wondered why they couldn’t all come at once and let him get some rest. As it turns out, he’s not alone in that idea.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date May 20, 2021
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Students

Honors student wants every voice to be heard

When Omarah Macias was in middle school, kids made fun of the way she spoke. She had learned most of her English and Spanish from her father, who had moved from Ecuador to New York when he was 14 without knowing the language. So, her voice had a unique sound with a Spanish and Bronx, New York accent.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date May 15, 2021
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Students

Double Diplomas

Parents usually sit in the audience rooting on their sons and daughters as they walk the graduation stage and accept their diplomas. But this May, Julia Plotke will be right next to her daughter Abigael during the University of Colorado College of Nursing commencement ceremony and also graduate.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date May 09, 2021
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Faculty

Want to Get Better? Tell Me Your Story.

When Joe went to the hospital with congestive heart failure, a nurse didn’t just ask him how he was. She also asked him who he was. Joe says that personal connection helped him cope with his mortality and terminal diagnosis.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date March 29, 2021
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Students

First class in CU’s new doctorate program for health systems and leadership graduates

Three doctors, three different treatment plans. X-rays. MRIs. Referrals to new doctors and new examinations. Despite months of medical appointments, it will still be at least six more weeks until Alexis Koutlas knows the extent of her 83-year-old mom’s arthritis in her neck and how to treat it. And that, Alexis says, is not O.K.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date December 11, 2020
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Students

When facing loss and heartache, nurse finds support from family, friends

While COVID-19 has hit many of us hard, Nurse Jeanne Burnkrant who works with people at the end of their lives, lost eight patients in April alone. She grieved. She missed them. But Jeanne never once questioned what she does or why she does it.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date December 08, 2020
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Students

CU graduate goes full circle to discover his life purpose

Sometimes you have to find your own way. When Michael Morgan graduated high school, he knew he didn’t want to follow in his parents’ footsteps. His mom is a dental hygienist, and his dad has spent 30 years in a cardiac catheterization lab.


Author Deborah Sherman | Publish Date December 04, 2020
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