CSU to Highlight Community Partnership March 21 - University ...

Guiding CSU’s
Nursing Program
By April Davis
The road to becoming an educator
was an unexpected path
for June Goyne. She discovered
an early interest in science
while in junior high school, but one
particular event focused her attention
on a career path that would lead
to greater things.
Inspired by the nurses who cared
for her after an appendectomy at age
13, she began working as a hospital
volunteer. Her interest eventually led
her to a bachelor’s degree in nursing
from the University of Alabama in
Birmingham.
“I remember in nursing school, my
classmates always wanted to study
with me because they thought I was
good at explaining things that we
were learning. I was actually recruited
into teaching after working several
years as a hospital RN by one of
my favorite nursing instructors.”
Goyne added, “The transition had its
challenges, and I had a lot to learn. I
found myself taking every workshop
I could find about teaching.”
Her 34-year career has shifted
between clinical practice as a nurse
and teaching ever since.
She began working in a neurosurgery
unit in Birmingham and
was later asked to teach clinical
labs at the University of Alabama.
She enjoyed teaching so much that
she accepted a full-time position
full-time at a community college
and began work on her master’s
degree at the University of
Alabama in Birmingham. Around
the same time, she joined an
Alabama National Guard Field
Hospital Unit and later moved to
active duty in the Army Nurse
Corps, where she spent nine years.
Over that period of time, she served
as a clinical nurse on a medical sur-
gical floor,
as head
nurse of a
neurosurgical
unit and
later as
head nurse
in the emergency
room.
Her tour of
duty took
her from
Fort Sam
Houston in
Texas to Fort Campbell in
Kentucky and finally to Fort
June Goyne
Professor of Nursing
Benning, where she served as chief
of the Medical Nursing Section at
Martin Army Community Hospital.
In 1992, after her husband retired
from the military, she returned to the
Army Reserves, and she and her
family moved to Columbus, where a
familiar experience awaited at CSU.
“I came to CSU in 1992 to teach
for one year,” she said. “My plan
was to then return to clinical work,”
she added. Nearly 15 years later,
Goyne is still making strides both in
nursing and education. Today, with
an education doctorate from Auburn
University, she serves as both
department chair and program director
of CSU’s nursing program —
home to one of the university’s most
popular majors. “We have nearly
500 students in the pre-nursing program
and 140 enrolled in upperlevel
clinical nursing courses.”
Thanks to grants and generous
financial support from community
hospital partners, the nursing program
has grown extensively.
“Unfortunately,” she said, “we still
are unable to accept all qualified
applicants into the upper-level clinical
track. Despite increasing our
admissions to 90 in a class, we had
36 qualified applicants we could not
accommodate in the fall 2006 class.”
Goyne also notes her program’s
approval by the Georgia Board of
Nursing, nationally accreditation by
the National League for Nursing
Accrediting Commission and a firsttime
national licensing exam pass
rate topping 90 percent. “We, however,
conduct ongoing quality improvement
activities, researching ways to
improve the curriculum, the program
and the department,” she said.
Currently, Goyne’s faculty are
preparing for a Georgia Board of
Nursing site visit in the fall of
2007, participation as a department
in the CSU QEP plan and development
of a “Student Success
Program” designed to help students
achieve higher levels of success.
“This is a challenging program
and we would like to see our graduation
rate increase,” she said. “It is
also essential for our students to
understand the amount of responsibility
that comes with choosing this
field of study. From the beginning,
our department stresses lifelong
learning because this profession has
evolved rapidly and is steadily
becoming more complex. We want
our students to be prepared to meet
and exceed those challenges.”
Goyne said one such challenge is
redesigning the program to emphasize
“evidence-based” nursing practice
in nursing.“There is a big gap
between research and practice,” she
said.“We want our students to leave
our program with the knowledge and
thinking skills needed to find the
best evidence and research, critically
appraise it, then apply it to practice
to improve patient outcomes.”
Reflecting on her career, Goyne
said teaching wasn’t as unexpected
a turn as she thought. “I enjoy
working at CSU,” she said. “The
philosophy of this institution and its
emphasis on high standards in
teaching and learning are exceptional
values that inspired me to
remain at CSU.
Goyne’s husband, Mike, is CEO
of Magnolia Manor of Columbus.
They have two children, Sara, 20,
and Steven, 15.
2 MARCH 2007