ALUMNI AFFADAVITS - School of Nursing - University of Virginia

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72334_out.qxp 1/19/06 3:50 PM Page 15 ALUMNI AFFADAVITS HOW SOME U.Va. NURSES PRACTICE U.Va. nurses have found many ways, beyond providing direct care, to help patients and to make life better for their colleagues in the field. Take, for example the following three alumnae. They began their careers as practicing nurses more than twenty years ago, but decided to use their education and experience to find success practicing law or influencing public policy. Here are their stories. 14
72334_out.qxp 1/12/06 1:28 AM Page 16 Advocate in the Courtroom “My knowledge of the human body and the human psyche serve me well. I’m helping people as a nurse and a lawyer.” Jayne Gosnell Helm Jayne Gosnell Helm (BSN ’64) never set out to become a lawyer. She didn’t embark on a legal career until she was already an experienced nurse and educator—and after she had married, divorced, and was rearing two teenagers. “This career is not something I planned for in any way,” says Helm, whose solo practice in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, focuses on elder and probate law. “But nursing and law have a lot in common. Both require you to make a lot of important decisions on behalf of others.” As a high school student in New Jersey, Helm seemed destined to follow in the footsteps of her mother and aunt, who were both nurses. But she wasn’t interested in just any nursing school. “U.Va. had one of the country’s best undergraduate nursing programs,” she says. “It was the only place I applied.” Since the University was still a decade away from admitting undergraduate women, Helm spent her first two years at Mary Washington College. She completed her clinical work in Charlottesville, where she was required to work in the University Hospital. “Thanks to my great clinical experience, I was comfortable walking into a job as a bedside nurse in a New York City hospital right after graduation.” After two years as a staff nurse Helm was recruited by acting dean Zula Mae Baber Bice to return to the School of Nursing as a faculty member. It proved a good match. Helm enjoyed teaching so much that she entered Emory University to earn her MSN degree. While her husband completed his medical training, she continued teaching—first at U.Va., next at Columbia University, and once again at her alma mater, where she was an associate professor. In addition to a fulfilling career, Helm wanted children. She and her husband had a son and a daughter—and she stayed home with them for ten years before returning to work as a staff nurse in Columbia, South Carolina, and a nursing instructor at the University of South Carolina. After her divorce she began to seek new challenges. A lawyer friend suggested that she consider law school. “He told me that my nursing background would be useful, but I couldn’t see how at first,” she says. It turns out her friend was right. Armed with her JD from the University of South Carolina, Helm has become an elder law attorney. In this role, she establishes wills, powers of attorney, guardianships, and conservatorships for her clients. She recently served two years as an associate judge in her county’s Probate Court. “My knowledge of the human body and the human psyche serve me well,” she says. “I’m helping people as a nurse and a lawyer.” Although the law may be Helm’s niche, the School of Nursing is never far from her heart. Six years ago the former senior class president and her new husband, Michael, came to Charlottesville on their honeymoon. But sightseeing was not the only thing on the bride’s agenda: she was helping to organize a reunion for her nursing school classmates. Helm made another trip to Charlottesville in October 2005 to participate in the second Nursing Leadership Forum, sharing her life experiences with today’s students. A Niche in Public Policy Debra Hardy Havens (FNP ’79) thought she would work on Capitol Hill for only six months—just long enough to pay some bills after completing her FNP at the School of Nursing. She had already worked part time as a clerk for Congressman George M. O’Brien (R-Ill.) while gaining some of the clinical experience required by her graduate program at nearby Fort Belvoir. “As a trauma nurse I had been working nights and holidays, so by comparison, this job seemed like it would be calm and predictable. I figured I would be working regular business hours,” says Havens with a chuckle. “My näiveté had become a standing joke in the office.” Colleagues laugh because Havens, a self-described fan of policy and politics, replaced the hospital’s excitement with the exhilaration of life on the Hill. After working in the congressman’s office for six years, she and a partner started Capitol The Virginia Legacy WINTER 2005–06 15
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