Kappa Zeta At Large

  “I was born in Farmington, Maine, the oldest of four, and raised in what was originally the apple orchard section of my great-grandparent’s 200 acre mountain-top farm in New Vineyard. The home my dad built burned when I was 3, so until I was 11 we lived in its daylight cellar.  I have often thought that I could write a book entitled, “When You Are Raised in a Cellar There is No Place to Go But Up.” Education was to be my way out…to make a different life for myself. College was the goal from an early age; luckily, both of my parents believed college was important. My first two years of college were at the University of Maine in Farmington and the last two years were at Orono where I graduated, with honors, earning my BS in Nursing in 1987. In 1994, I obtained my Masters with high honors from the University of Southern Maine and began teaching full time at Westbrook College.  I went on to receive my Nurse Practitioner Certificate in Advanced Graduate Study from Simmons at Westbrook in 1998 and then completed my PhD in Adult Health Education back at UMaine in 2003. I searched for scholarships and grants while working part-time for my BS and then worked full time for the MS, NP, and PhD.  I graduated owing nothing for school bills.

My husband and I were married about a year after I became a nurse and right after we were married I was diagnosed with cancer. The cancer re-appeared twice in 1994 despite conservative treatments and I had a hysterectomy during my first teaching job over Christmas break. I once remembered hearing “teach your students well as they will one day care for you”…funny thing--some of my students were the ones who took care of me while I was in the hospital. I was not even 30 and had seen this!

During school, I first worked as a Nurse Tech in Maternity at Eastern Maine Medical Center. After graduation I stayed on there on a Med/Surg Unit. My husband and I moved to South Portland so I took a job at Maine Med in the Maternity Unit. My husband later took a job in Liquor Enforcement with the State and we moved to the Lewiston/Auburn area where we live to this day. I worked maternity at St Mary’s Hospital in Lewiston and then later at Kennebec Valley Medical Center in Augusta where I worked in Med/Surg. In most of these capacities I was also a Relief Charge Nurse and did Staff Development and Education. My role here at Saint Joseph’s College as Program Director for Online Nursing is a logical extension for me with my emphasis always on the educational aspects of healthcare.
    I started right from the beginning knowing that teaching was my favorite part of nursing.  I must also say that in order to satisfy national certification requirements I remain clinically active as a Nurse Practitioner so I volunteer 1 day/week at a free clinic in Buxton, Maine. I work there as a primary care provider (PCP) and get so much satisfaction from interacting with hardworking people who simply do not have health insurance. Working at the Leavitt Mills Health Center with this population allows me to honor my roots and the sacrifices both of my parents made. They died at the ages of 57 and 64.
     
     

This past year I received the New England Achiever Award from Upward Bound/TRIO which is the federally funded program that aids disadvantaged students to attend college. I speak with high school students in Upward Bound to encourage them to look for scholarships. I tell them that ‘education is the way anyone can change where they are now to wherever they want to be’. That is true whether you are a patient or a student in the healthcare system; education is the way to make positive change in your life. I believe education is always the answer. I find it very rewarding and exciting to encourage this in others

I want people to feel that they can go on to school; age is never a barrier. Higher levels of education will be needed and schools need to accept the challenge and facilitate the process.
 Now that I am in educational administration I feel that my role here at Saint Joseph’s College is to develop a community of learners where all of the students feel supported.  It is important in my work to make sure the faculty is happy because if I support the faculty they better serve the students.
I love to sit in our Jacuzzi, go out to eat, go to the movies, write, quilt/knit, dance and travel. I used to hand quilt with my grandmother but actually, Margaret Hourigan, a fellow OMNE member, just got me back into quilting. Tuesday evenings we go to a local quilt shop and try to get in a couple of hours of machine and free motion quilting together. I belong to a creative writing group that meets 6 hours/month and I like to take nature walks, go to movies, discuss books, or go out dancing with friends. My husband and I particularly love to go to the movies, go out to eat, and to travel. We have been to Ireland and I actually went to Africa once while I was in college. Most of our travel is in the U.S. We especially like to go to Florida and Colorado.

Amander is from Friendship, Maine.  Currently living in Portland, and is employed at Mercy Hospital. A 2006 graduate of Saint Joseph's College of Maine, Amander chairs the Research Council at Mercy Hospital, chairs her Unit Based Practice Council and was the Administrative Clinical Nurse Lead for her former unit.  Now, a member of the Float Pool, she is trying to broaden her nursing skills and "tools in her toolbelt".  She sits on the Institutional Review Board, Patient Care Executive Council, Steering Council and Patient Care Leadership Committee at Mercy.  Clinically, she is a Professional Nurse III and a member of the Skin Wound Assessment Team (SWAT).   Amander has become a clinical instructor for Saint Joseph's College in January 2009, and serves as Department of Nursing Faculty Resource for Saint Joseph's College beginning in Fall 2009 (a part-time on campus position).  She also has begun her Master in Nursing with focus in education in 2008.

Amander contributes to her community by volunteering at the Portland Free Clinic on India Street 1-2 times a month and holds an annual personal care items drive at Mercy Hospital for Preble Street. She also volunteers twice a month at the Southern Maine Chapter of American Red Cross.

Her special interests are shared governance, evidence based practice, multigenerational work forces, team building, professional development and leadership. 

As for fun, she is an ocean baby and loves the beach!  She enjoys painting, writing, singing, dancing, yoga, spending time with her family and traveling.  Also, currently training for her first 5K EVER! (Tips strongly encouraged!)