We had our summer Board meeting on June 30, 1999 at JoAnne Christensen's home in Moroni, and enjoyed a super barbeque pot-luck. We welcomed the new Board members:
President Patty Ravert updated us on many things, especially the upcoming UNA conference in Park City, Nov. 4-6, at the Yarrow Hotel, the ANA Constituent Assembly held on June 17-20 in Washington, DC, as well as the Lobbyist commentary from Becky Richards, the UNA lobbyist, on the 1999 Utah legislative session. Becky reminds us in her handout that the Capitol Pulse, a legislative information resource for UNA members can be accessed at:http://www.xmission.com/~una This resource is updated weekly during the legislative session, informing us of upcoming bills of importance to nursing and health care in general. Also, be sure to call the UNA office to report information on needle stick injuries at 800-236-1617, fax 801-322-3430 or email to una@xmission.com
Some Highlights in the Life of:
Sandra Rogers, DNSc, RN
Associate Academic Vice President for International, Distance, and Continuing Education
(Former Dean of the College of Nursing)
Brigham Young University
Provo, Utah
I grew up in Joseph City Arizona, small farming community in Northern Arizona. I went to BYU for my BS in nursing then left for a Welfare Services Mission for the LDS Church in the Philippines. I returned to work at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center (when it was a hospital) for a few years before attending the University of Arizona in Tucson for my M.S. in Med-Surg. I graduated from U of A and started teaching at BYU as a fundamentals instructor. After four years I went to San Francisco for doctoral work and graduated from the University of California, San Francisco. My dissertation work took me to Nigeria where I lived and worked for almost a year. I came back to BYU in 1988.
Once, I was going to write a book called "It Only Happens on the Night Shift" I remember the night on orthopedics when I decided I would never wear a dress as a uniform again....trying to help someone in traction back into bed in a narrow UVRMC room had my hem up around my ears. I said never again to frocks after that. I loved my time as a welfare missionary. For someone who had hated public health, I suddenly understood how important things like prevention and education were. I learned a lot about interdisciplinary work there too, as a group of pretty inexperienced nurses, dieticians, social workers, and OR technicians worked together.
I also loved teaching fundamentals. I felt like I had students when they were eager to learn and wanted to do well. I loved being able to see them graduate a few semesters after my class. They would start with me being so nervous and frightened about their abilities, and graduate being so competent and composed. I had great satisfaction in seeing their progress. I felt like I was watching a miracle.....the same students who either pinned my hand to a patient's hip giving their first injection, fainted dead away into an infected wound, made her first cup of tea by emptying the tea bag into a cup of hot water, couldn't figure out a care plan to save her skin, contaminated six catheters in a row.....these were the students who were "wowing" people in their senior course. That was a great thing to see.
I missed teaching when I became the Dean--but I enjoyed working with the faculty. I took me four years however to listen when someone said, "the Dean." I always thought they were still talking about June Leifson. I appreciate the good faculty, staff, and students we have in the College of Nursing.
I think my time in Nigeria, Jordan, Romania have all been highlights as well. I learned so much about nursing from those experiences. I saw great, dedicated nurses working with nearly nothing and making a difference for people. I remember a nurse in Nigeria who took a small group under her wing. She took me with her once to visit this group. They were lepers who were "cured" in the sense that they no longer had active disease and were not contagious at all. But, because they bore the scars of leprosy they couldn't get jobs or attend schools. Merchants in the markets were also afraid of them and refused to sell to them. In short, I don't know anyone more "cast out" of society. A group of Catholic brothers had seen the need and developed a farm so that these people could work, live and survive. My friend the nurse took clothing, household items, and best yet--a marvelous feast every month. She explained that when you are missing so many digits or parts of your hands, cooking is nearly impossible. She gave them the kind of food you would get at a banquet--something they would have never been able to fix on their own. We had a great dinner, and then we danced. I will never forget dancing with those people and their hospitality and friendship. They were missing noses, ears, fingers, toes, hands, feet, and used the crudest of prosthetic devices but their hearts were whole and open. I learned a lot from those people.
My favorite relaxation is to read history.....I love history, biography. My favorite indulgence (after chocolate) is a good mystery. I also have lots of heroes---but to name a few......Mary Ellen Edmunds, my grandmothers, Amy Brown Lyman. Historically, I have a lot of respect for Eleanor Roosevelt.
In my new assignment, I have the most interesting title at BYU---Associate Academic Vice President for International, Distance, and Continuing Education. My predecessor explained it by saying she was responsible for everything that didn't happen in Provo. In some ways that is true. Interesting things that come through my office are Kennedy Center Programs, the new Bachelors of General Studies Degrees through continuing education, and the new Service and Learning Center on campus.
District #3 welcomes any comments, suggestions, or requests from district members. For news and events information, please contact Joan H. Baldwin via 'snail mail' at
30 E. School House Dr.
Woodland Hills, UT 84653
phone: (801) 423-2565
Fax: (801) 423-2594
E-mail: Joan Baldwin (jhbaldwin33@prodigy.net)
Remember to take time for yourself!!!!
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