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Member Spotlight

Mary Joe White, PhD, RN

National ARN Research Nurse Role Award, 1997

 

Current Employment:          The University of Texas School of Nursing

Position:                                  Associate Professor of Nursing

                                                   Coordinator of Innovative Educational Programs

 Dr. White is responsible for the RN to BSN/MSN Program.  This year she is starting an Accelerated Second Degree Program for students who have a degree and want to become a nurse.  They are called “second degree” students.

ARN Member Since:            1982

SETX Chapter Member Since:  1982

SETX Chapter Involvement:      Mary Joe has served several times as a board member and has been on many of the various committees.  Currently, she is co-chair of the research committee with Rhonda Olson.

Why did you decide to join SETX Chapter ARN?

Mary Joe writes, “I had worked at TIRR and loved rehabilitation nursing.  I was looking for an organization in which I could be involved.”

 

Awards Received:

National ARN Research Nurse Role Award, 1997

 

Community Involvement:            MS Society

                                                            MS Camp

Mary Joe has taken nursing students to MS camp in the spring for one week.  The nursing students care for a camper with MS for the entire week of the camp. 

 

Exceptional Accomplishment:

Mary Joe writes, “Rhonda Olson and I have been able to complete two research projects with the ARN membership.  Hopefully, we have “turned on” some of the members to the excitement of nursing research.”

 

Previous Experience: 

Mary Joe has worked at TIRR and has also had a faculty practice there doing research with individuals with SCI.

 

Madrid, Spain Experience:

“I recently had the opportunity to take 16 nursing students to Madrid, Spain for 2 weeks.  We were very impressed with their openness to the physically challenged population.  All of their street lights have the sounds of birds chirping to let the visually impaired know when they can cross the intersection.  We visited the Once Foundation which works with the physically challenged population.  We were also able to meet with the emergency preparedness team only 3 days before the bombings in Madrid.  They were extremely prepared for this kind of disaster…. much more so than we in the United States.”

Hobbies:  “My only hobby is flying with my husband who has an aerobatic airplane.  I still have to be careful and not eat before we go flying!”

What Rehabilitation Nursing Means to Me: The Essence of Real Nursing

Mary Joe writes, “Rehabilitation, I believe, is the essence of real nursing.  It is the privilege of being with people when they are most vulnerable and helping them cope during the rehabilitation process.  The best part is the longevity of being with the patient and their family.  This does not occur in many areas of nursing.”

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