H. E. Stuckenhoff Department of Nursing

I was born at Memorial Hospital of Natrona County (WMC) and started working there at 17 y/o. I had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up, but I knew I did NOT want to be a nurse. But I was intrigued and enjoyed my job in dietary because it allowed me to interact with patients and their families. After high school, I started taking classes at Casper College and transferred to the operating room as a transport aide. Next thing I knew, I was applying to nursing school, got accepted, and loved every minute of it. After graduation from the best nursing school around, I started my nursing career on the medical/surgical unit at WMC where I was working as a CNA. It was very rewarding; albeit stressful, sad, and challenging, sometimes all at the same time. I later returned to the operating room as an RN which came with all the same adventures I had experienced and more. My love for nursing and patient care grew. I wanted to experience all the possibilities within nursing. I learned as much as possible while working in the operating room. I scrubbed for some of the most challenging physicians in the game. But I recognized that they were being difficult because they were in the business of saving lives, and they took it seriously. So I took seriously:

• I retracted a heart during a cardiac bypass. They call that person the “hooker”

• I watched the neuro team remove a bone flap from a man's head to operate on his brain…his brain!

• I pumped blood into a dying patient's vein whose aorta had ruptured... and he survived

• I assisted with cleaning out a ruptured bowel and found pieces of a hamburger... and a lot of pickle

• I fed Gatorade and peanut butter to surgeons to preserve their energy during lengthy cases where they couldn't step away (liposuction isn’t for the faint of heart)

• And so much more…

All the while, I was distracted by those moms and babies coming down the hall for C-sections. Some were scheduled cases – peaceful and beautiful. Others came in hot in pursuit of saving mom or baby, and sometimes both. Either way, I wanted to be right in the middle of it.

When the opportunity presented itself to transfer from the operating room to the obstetrical unit, of course I took it! And then... we got a new unit with our very own operating suite just for moms and babies. I was beyond excited. They wanted ME to do the education and training. Of course, I said YES! I had the opportunity to unite my two favorite nursing roles and bring my newfound passion for teaching into the mix. It was simply unbelievable.

Again, I had no interest in furthering my education because I was doing what I loved and the next thing I knew, I was applying for my BSN. I gravitated towards mentoring, precepting, and teaching my fellow nurses everything I loved about nursing. I was the clinical educator, and I wanted to do better in that role by being the best that I could be. I was content with no desire or plan to further my education.... and then, I found myself applying to grad school, because again, I wanted to be the best darn educator that I could be for all the patients and all the staff. I was disappointed in my program because I didn't want to teach in academia. I didn’t realize that was the focus of most MSN programs. I learned big words like pedagogy and institutional learning outcomes. However, I planned to teach from the bedside for my whole life. Clinical education is much different than academia. I loved what I was doing and the only reason I decided to get my MSN-Ed was to better my current performance, because, you know, I was going to be there forever. Turns out, forever is not very long when organizations make decisions that impact us on an individual level. My clinical education role was being removed. Remember when I said I never wanted to teach in academia? Well, without any input from my brain, my hands were online, applying for a nursing faculty position at the very college that began my amazing nursing career. How lucky was I? An opportunity to teach and share my passion for all things nursing to college students who wanted to be nurses? And then I was offered the job! Once again, I had clarity that this is what I was supposed to be doing. Five semesters in and I love every minute of it.

A Little About Me...

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