Director of nursing program combines teaching, healthcare experience
The University’s nursing program is gearing up to graduate its first class of registered nurses in May 2014, and Karen Manning, the new department director and chair has an enthusiasm that’s just contagious – pardon the pun.
Manning comes to Westfield State with a treasure trove of nursing, administrative and educator experience, and the combination offers a perfect fit.
Nursing offers a tremendous selection of disciplines, and, in her studies, Manning pursued a specialty in acute rehabilitation nursing.
This branch of nursing focuses on providing care to patients who have been incapacitated by injury or illness. The goal is to develop a treatment program that will allow the patient to regain as much normal function as possible, thereby improving their quality of life.
Manning has worked at Spaulding, Shaughnessy and the New England rehabilitation hospitals. It was at New England Rehabilitation that she discovered she has a penchant for teaching.
“After becoming the evening supervisor, then nurse manager at New England Rehab, I transitioned from administration to educating staff nurses,” says Manning. “I started teaching orientation classes to new nurses and discovered I absolutely loved teaching. It was a surprise; something I never had thought to pursue.”
Manning enjoyed the enthusiasm and curiosity of the new nurses. “They were like sponges, absorbing every word,” she says.
It was their dedication that Manning feels reinforced her as a teacher and motivated her to stick with nursing education.
During this time, she was asked to lecture on rehabilitation nursing for a couple of classes at Salem State. She lectured on spinal cord injuries, neuromuscular disorders and many other disabling conditions and always reminded students to include the patient’s family in the process.
“I have always seen a patient as a part of a whole: family, friends and community,” she says, “and I continue to emphasize this approach.”
Manning’s teaching ability did not go unrecognized at Salem State. She transitioned from guest lecturer to tenured full-time faculty for 11 years.
“It is not unusual for a nursing instructor to have a part-time nursing job to stay current, up-to-date,” she says.
Her choice for a part-time job was Hospice nursing, which eventually won her over into a full-time position.
“Essentially,” she says, “ I swapped my full- and part-time jobs, working full time as the hospice director and teaching only part time at Salem State.”
But it wasn’t long before Manning realized she missed the classroom. She really missed it.
“With all the new technology available and the strides that are being made in medicine, I longed to jump back in and teach students,” she says.
Then fate stepped in. Manning saw an ad for the position of director of Westfield State’s new nursing program.
“I was fascinated. It was everything I wished for in a program,” she says. “It was new. It was using innovative technology and teaching strategies. The distance was nothing. The job sounded so rewarding.”
Manning is currently commuting to Westfield from Tewksbury as her children are still in high school.
She is not disappointed with the sacrifice.
According to Manning, her premonitions about Westfield State were right on target.
“The students are the strongest-knit group I have ever seen,” she says. “I think because they are going through uncharted territory, they stay close.”
The program is extremely innovative, offering teaching through simulations with mannequin-like patients at Noble Hospital in Westfield. These “patients” can be resuscitated, receive IVs and develop a rapid heart rate.
“With our mannequin patients, our students get to interact with diagnoses they might never experience as a student,” she says.
“For instance, at Noble Hospital, our four-patient lab allows us to have the mannequins present with a variety of illnesses and disorders,” she adds. “We can even manipulate them to speak, moan and groan.”
In order for the program to be most successful, Manning believes that open communication is imperative.
“In the fall, we had an open forum about the plans for the department so that everyone, including the students, feel part of the total endeavor,” says Manning.
Partnered on clinical rounds with staff at Noble, Wing and Mercy hospitals and Baystate Medical Center, the nursing students at Westfield State are sure to graduate with many and varied nursing experiences and challenges.
Manning, for her part, is not only well-qualified, but thrilled to lead the way.
