Growing up, Stephanie knew she wanted to spend her professional life helping others. She first trained to be a special educator and helped children with disabilities maximize their personal potential. Her work led her to seek a second master’s degree in mental health counseling so she could deepen her commitment to serving vulnerable populations: people with mental health and substance use issues, the homeless with lives in crisis. Stephanie worked in settings where she felt she could affect change: shelters, schools for children with behavioral and emotional challenges, psychiatric crisis, personal and family counseling, detox and intensive outpatient program, behavioral health hospital, and the emergency department. Concurrently, she taught psychology and human services at Holyoke Community College where she founded the Addiction Studies program to help develop a new generation of recovery counselors. She also taught at Bay Path College in the social sciences division, helping women achieve distinction in pursuit of advanced college degrees.
The move to nursing was a logical choice. Stephanie’s grandmother was a parish nurse in rural Pennsylvania, and her mother returned to nursing school, a single mom matching her children in pursuit of a college education. For this driven and accomplished woman, MCHP was the right choice for her. As she says, “I chose Maine College of Health Professions because I knew that a hospital-affiliated program would present me with excellent clinical learning opportunities.” After graduating from MCHP, Stephanie completed an accelerated RN to MSN program, with a concentration in nursing education. She is currently enrolled in an FNP to DNP program, so can fulfill her academic goals. And she also now serves as a full-time faculty member at MCHP.
“My goal as an educator is to participate in the development of knowledgeable, confident nurses. My classes are designed to include activities to invite learners to interact with course material in a way that is relevant, educational, and fun. Although psychiatric nursing is considered a specialty, my belief is that all nurses use therapeutic skills as part of a holistic standard of practice.”
Stephanie’s research interests include clinical work with women and families in recovery, health promotion for people with disabilities, and access to health care for underserved populations in Maine.
Date of Release: October 3, 2017