Kent State University College of Nursing

In the spring of 1970, two-time alumna Pat Gless, MSN ’93, BSN ’71, RN, was a junior in Kent State University’s inaugural nursing program. While in class on Monday, May 4, a professor rushed into her classroom and warned students who could leave campus to do so. “Campus felt very somber, like someone was invading our space. We weren’t sure what was going to happen; we were living in a time of unknown,” remembers Pat. “It was frightening to see the National Guard soldiers on campus.

Please join us in congratulating the following individuals on their recent recognitions, publications, presentations, and awards.

During her years as an ICU nurse, Amy Petrinec, Ph.D., RN, Assistant Professor at the College of Nursing, noticed that chronically, critically ill patients, as well as their family
members, commonly experience negative psychological symptoms. Her bedside experiences lead her to study this phenomenon as a doctoral student, and later to broaden her research as a post-doctoral fellow.

A reunion more than twenty years in the making took place earlier this year for three Kent State University nursing and Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) alums. In February, senior nurses across the Army Nurse Corps met for an annual leadership training in San Antonio, TX. It was there that Colonel Amanda Forristal, BSN '93, Deputy Commander for Nursing at Blanchfield Army Community Hospital, Fort Campbell, KY; Colonel Michael W.

Alumna Shannon Gardiner, BSN ’09, RN, CCRN, always knew she wanted to help people, but also longed for a career that would provide flexibility along the way. After a few years working in Akron Children’s Hospital’s pediatric ICU, followed by some time as a travel nurse, a Google search for volunteer opportunities led her to Mercy Ships, who own and operate the largest non-governmental hospital ship in the world.

Within The Olga A. Mural Simulation Lab at Kent State University College of Nursing, a hospice scenario unfolds. A relatively new simulation experience within the college, junior nursing students tend to a dying mother and answer questions and concerns from her two adult children and tensions build.  Who is this family in distress?

Kara Simon, of Oregon, OH, graduated from Kent State University College of Nursing in May 2019 with her Bachelor of Science in Nursing and was among 87 Kent State students inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest academic honor society in the United States, this past spring. Founded in 1776, “Phi Beta Kappa has championed education in the arts and sciences, fostered freedom of thought, and recognized academic excellence[1].”

Ronda McCaskey and Caitlyn Horvath are best friends who went through the nursing program together and graduated one year apart with Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degrees from Kent State University’s Geauga Campus. Now they are both intensive care nurses. But they also happen to be mother and daughter.

For mom Ronda, nursing was a life calling that got deferred by early marriage and raising a family; for daughter Caitlyn, nursing was an unexpected discovery made along the way.

Joel Hukill is a flight nurse for Guardian Flight Alaska and living out a dream he didn’t realize he’d had. Now, he has no doubts that he’s found his calling.

“Choosing this profession is the best decision that I have ever made,” said the 2014 graduate of the nursing program at Kent State University at Stark.