March 23, 2020

“I attribute my success to this—I never gave or took any excuse.” Florence Nightingale

The College of Nursing and Health Professions espouses a deep-rooted belief that we all have a purpose that motivates us to do what we do. You will hear nurses and health professionals, especially in the face of great challenges, say things like “I can’t do anything but care for others. It’s in my DNA.”

On Friday, March 20, people, whose purpose is to ensure our students are successful in the pursuit of their own passions, got together to rescue and ship the bags ACE students typically receive in the spring for their clinical work. Senior Associate Dean Kym Montgomery, DNP, got a team together including Owen Montgomery, MD, Anthony Angelow, PhD, chair of Advanced Practice Nursing, Nurse Practitioner and DNP Programs, Jennifer Olszewski, EdD, chair of Accelerated Nursing Program, John Cornele, MSN, director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Clinical Simulation & Practice, James Heinz, director of finance, Deborah Clegg, PhD, associate dean for research, Karen Dinan, program coordinator BSN-Accelerated Nursing, Justin Wentzel, academic advisor, Kate Stephens, Strategic Operations & Academic Svs, and Kate Morse, PhD, assistant dean for Experiential Learning and Innovation, to pull off what she’s calling the “Great ACE Heist.

“We had to move more than 100 bags from NCB and gather the iPads stored in Three Parkway before everything shut down,” Montgomery said. “Students would have received the bags in person on their first day of class.” In whatever manner possible, the bags were assembled and sent to UPS for delivery to the students before the end of the day. “Everyone worked quickly and safely to assure our ACE students will have success when they start spring quarter virtually,” explained Montgomery.

Teamwork, especially while dealing with something that is so uncertain, is a hallmark of CNHP. This group, as with many others we will likely see during this crisis, did not hesitate for a second in getting this task done. They report that doing this—from getting accurate lists, to providing numbers and emails, and bag packing, cart rolling, heavy box loading, unloading, sorting, stuffing, reloading—included lots of laughing, smiling, elbow bumping and playing roles outside the norm like Wentzel's of UPS coordinator.

Written by Roberta S. Perry