November 7, 2024
Teaching nurses and medics when the stakes are high
Dr. Greg White, APRN, associate professor of Nursing, recently interviewed with Andy Hibel on the HigherEdJobs podcast. Dr. White is the director of the Traditional Undergraduate Nursing program, as well as the faculty lead for the Veteran to Bachelor of Science in Nursing program.
Their conversation detailed Dr. White’s journey into nursing and higher education following an EMT course for firefighter training, igniting a passion for medicine and patient care. “Medicine is something that I liked, and working with patients is something I really enjoyed,” he said. Initially teaching EMTs in the Air National Guard, Dr. White discovered his love for teaching and sought adjunct opportunities at The College of St. Scholastica, ultimately leading to a full-time position.
Dr. White prides himself on supporting and encouraging students throughout their educational journeys, drawing from his own experiences of being dismissed as a student. “I tell nursing students when I work with them now that it’s okay to not know what you want to do,” he explained. “I took every left turn to get where I’m at.” He aims to create an inclusive environment where students feel valued.
In part two of the interview, Dr. White recounts his participation in a significant project to train Ukrainian soldiers as medics, which he considers one of the most important experiences of his life. “I love taking the knowledge that I have and experiences that I have and putting it into education to get that point across and make it more interesting and get students excited about where they are,” Dr. White said.
This experience has further fueled his desire to inspire his students to apply their knowledge in meaningful ways and to emphasize the importance of teachers in the nursing field. “If I can convey some urgency in the fact that we need teachers and convince even one or two of these students to go forward and to look at dedicating their time and efforts to building something better, that’s going to be a win for me,” he concluded.
