College of Nursing & Health Care Professions

Kirk Cameron’s Fall Commencement keynote address underlines the importance of perseverance. The former “Growing Pains” star and now prominent Christian actor addressed GCU’s most recent group of graduates with congratulations and a powerful message of overcoming fear, fulfilling their mission and finishing the race. “This was really exciting,” Cameron said. “I was a little nervous, I’ve never done it before … I knew with all these Christian families, it was just really a special blessing to be part of this day that they’ll remember for their whole life.”

The second One Foundation Lunch and Learn of the fall semester finished the discussion on human value and dignity and featured some excellent examples by faculty from the College of Nursing and Health Care Professions. Faculty are urged to make sure the next session, scheduled for Friday, Nov. 8, is on their calendar.

Denise Matus, Immersive Simulation Facilitator in the College of Nursing and Health Care Professions, is known for her sense of humor and the way she says things. She loves it when students come back after graduation and remember how she taught them a particular concept. Her outside interests include kickboxing, and she dreams of trying something that has a punchline.

Stephanie Herrick Kays, Graduate Simulation Manager in the College of Nursing and Health Care Professions, has strong feelings about access to medical care and, as a result, wants to create nurse practitioners who will be change agents.

Women can be leaders too, if they set their mind to it. That is why Miss Arizona and Honors College Alumna Jacqueline Thomas’ LLC and blog Lady Leaders partnered with GCU’s Honors college to host the Empowering Female Leaders Panel. Thomas brought several strong GCU women in leadership positions, such as the College of Nursing and Health Care professions Dean Dr. Lisa Smith, Executive Vice President of GCU Sarah Boeder and Vice President of Faculty Operations Kelly Palese, to help empower young women on campus to unlock their leadership potential. “Lady Leaders is committed to providing tangible resources, tools and mentors for women,” Thomas said. “Now that I have been blessed with this network and resources, I want to be able to give it back. That’s the soul purpose for these lady leader panels.”

“I really do believe the big gap between engineers – male and female – is that girls are told it’s a boy’s job,” said sophomore psychology major Madi Abercrombie, a member of the GCU Robotics Club, at Saturday’s Girl Powered STEM Workshop. “We’re empowering girls at a younger age and helping them to have confidence.” About 40 fourth through eighth grade girls spent the morning programming robots, making a slime-like non-Newtonian fluid called gooey gak and making simple battery-powered motors. They also listened to a panel of women, including GCU Associate Dean of Engineering Dr. Janet Brelin-Fornari, speak about their careers in STEM fields. The workshop was a collaboration between the Robotics Club and K12 Educational Development, as well as VEX Robotics and the Robotics Education Competition Foundation.

Six medical professionals spoke to Grand Canyon University students Wednesday night about what it takes to get into their field. They emphasized that it’s not just a matter of mastering a specific medical skill — they want to see applicants who are well-rounded.

Freshmen in STEM fields who wanted to learn how to suture got their opportunity this week during Living and Learning Communities Week. A dozen students who aspire to be in health care practiced stitching up cuts on pigs’ feet because it is the closest to human skin.

The One Foundation Lunch and Learns, which began Friday, offer a perfect opportunity for faculty members to learn more about teaching from a Christian perspective. “It sustains a conversation that is necessary,” said Dr. Jason Hiles, Dean of the College of Theology. Five more one-hour sessions are scheduled during the academic year, and the first 100 people to sign up get a free lunch.

Jerry Perkins emerged from a challenging childhood to become a foremost authority on radiation exposure as it relates to X-ray machines, medical lasers, etc. His students benefit greatly from that knowledge, but equally impressive is his hard work in battling a major community issue. And besides all that, he also is a triathlete.