For the last two years, Shawana S. Moore, DNP, APRN, WHNP-BC, PNAP, FAAN, who works as the Interim MSN and DNP Program Director at Emory University’s Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, has served as the first African American President of the National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health (NPWH).
Minority Nurse asked Moore to reflect upon what she’s accomplished, what she’s proud of, and what still needs to be done. What follows is our interview, edited for length and clarity.
What was it like for you to be the first Black/AA President NPWH? Do you think you gave more of a voice to minorities?
I am honored to share my experience as the first African-American President of the National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health. Serving in this role has been a tremendous privilege and a humbling experience.
When I first took office, I recognized the significance of being a trailblazer and the responsibility that came with it. Being a representative for my community and advocating for the needs and concerns of women’s health nurse practitioners across the nation has been challenging and rewarding.
Throughout my tenure, I have worked tirelessly to advance our organization’s goals and mission, ensuring that women and gender-related health remain at the forefront of healthcare discussions. I have championed initiatives that focus on equitable access to healthcare, particularly for underserved populations.
As the first Black President, I have prioritized diversity, inclusion, and equity within our organization. I believe that embracing our differences can foster a stronger and more inclusive community of nurse practitioners in women’s health. I have actively encouraged mentorship and professional development opportunities for underrepresented individuals, enabling them to thrive and excel in their careers.
In addition to these efforts, I have collaborated with other professional organizations to advocate for legislation that supports women’s health. Guided by evidence-based practice and the expertise of our members, we have successfully influenced key decisions that ultimately improve the quality of care for women across the country.
I am grateful for the support and encouragement from my colleagues, mentors, and the broader healthcare community. Together, we have made significant strides in advancing women’s health and breaking down barriers that hinder access to care.
During my tenure as the President of the National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health, I prioritized amplifying the voices of minorities within our organization. Recognizing the importance of representation and inclusivity, I implemented several initiatives to ensure that the unique perspectives and needs of minority healthcare professionals were heard and addressed.
First, I was the Co-Chair of the inaugural committee focused on enhancing inclusivity, diversity, and equity within our association. This committee comprised representatives from various minority groups, creating a platform for open dialogue and collaboration. Through this committee, we developed strategies and initiatives to foster a more inclusive and equitable environment for all members.
Additionally, I actively sought out opportunities to engage with minority nurse practitioners and healthcare professionals by attending conferences, workshops, and events specifically tailored to their needs and interests. By actively participating in these forums, I showcased the importance of diversity within our field and provided a platform for minority voices to be uplifted and celebrated.
Moreover, I facilitated educational workshops and seminars that addressed the unique healthcare challenges faced by minority populations. By focusing on cultural competence, implicit bias, and health disparities, I equipped our members with the knowledge and tools to deliver equitable care to all women, regardless of their background or ethnicity.
Finally, I prioritized recruiting and retaining diverse nurse practitioners by meeting with WHNP students nationwide and reinvigorating our mentorship and scholarship programs. These initiatives aimed to provide support and resources to aspiring minority healthcare professionals, ensuring their success and advancement within the field of Women’s Health.
Through these efforts, I am proud to say that I made a difference in amplifying the voices of minorities within the National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health. By fostering an inclusive and diverse environment, we not only enriched the experiences of our members but also enhanced the quality and equity of care provided to women nationwide.
How long was your term? Once it ended on December 31, 2023, how will continue to be involved in the organization?
While my time as the first Black/AA President ended, my commitment to advocating for women’s and gender-related health and promoting inclusivity, diversity, and equity in healthcare will continue. I hope my tenure has paved the way for future leaders who will further advance the field and ensure equitable and comprehensive care for all women.
The organization has developed the President’s Circle to maintain the active involvement of Past Presidents. I will actively participate in the forum. Additionally, I will support the organization in developing a maternal health series, an environmental health series, and other projects.
It has been an honor to serve as the first Black/AA President of the National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health, and I look forward to witnessing our organization’s continued growth and progress in the years to come.
Please tell us what you believe are the most important goals you accomplished while in your role as President. How did these actions help improve the lives of nurse practitioners?
As President of the National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health, I am proud to have accomplished several important goals that have impacted our organization.
One of the most significant achievements was ensuring equity was woven throughout our organization. Recognizing the importance of equity, I spearheaded the revisions and updates of our bylaws with a lens of equity. This initiative proved invaluable in fostering inclusivity, diversity, career advancement, skill development, and networking opportunities for our members, staff, and Board of Directors.
Another crucial goal I accomplished was expanding educational resources and professional development opportunities. Establishing partnerships with renowned institutions and experts in women’s health resulted in a wide variety of high-quality educational materials, webinars, and conferences. These resources enhanced our members’ knowledge and skills and served as a platform for sharing cutting-edge research and advancing best practices in the field.
Furthermore, I prioritized advocacy efforts to ensure policies that promote equitable maternal and reproductive healthcare for women and gender-related populations. I collaborated with local, state, and national stakeholders to advocate for changes that positively impacted our profession and the patients we serve. Through strategic initiatives, we raised awareness about women’s health issues and influenced policies that address disparities and improve healthcare outcomes.
Lastly, I focused on strengthening the sense of community and engagement among our members. Implementing time to meet with the president of the academic WHNP program across the country, I facilitated in-person and virtual listening sessions. These initiatives fostered collaboration, shared experiences, and supportive connections among our diverse membership.
My tenure as president of the National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health was marked by significant equity, education, advocacy, and community-building achievements. I am incredibly proud of the strides we have made in advancing women’s health and ensuring the well-being of patients nationwide.
What kind of feedback did you receive while in this position?
My feedback from members and stakeholders has been overwhelmingly positive and encouraging. Many expressed gratitude for my leadership, emphasizing the significance of representation and inclusivity in our organization. The feedback highlighted the impact of my efforts in promoting diversity, equity, and inclusivity within the association and the broader healthcare community.
This feedback has served as both validation and motivation, reinforcing the importance of our work and inspiring future initiatives aimed at promoting diversity and advancing healthcare for all women.
What are you most proud to have accomplished?
One of my proudest accomplishments was spearheading the update of our organization’s bylaws with a lens of equity at the center. It was vital to me that all members, regardless of their background or identity, felt equally represented and supported within our association.
What more work do you think needs to be done? Why?
Significant work remains. While progress has been made, issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion within the organization and the broader healthcare landscape must continue to be addressed.
Specifically, efforts must be made to increase further representation of underrepresented minority groups in leadership positions and decision-making processes. This can be achieved by implementing inclusive recruitment and retention strategies, mentoring programs, and creating opportunities for professional development to foster a diverse and inclusive membership.
Ongoing advocacy is needed to address healthcare disparities, particularly those disproportionately impacting marginalized communities. This may involve collaborating with other organizations and stakeholders to promote policies and initiatives that promote equitable access and quality care for all women.
While progress has been made during my tenure as the first Black President, there is still more work to be done to ensure true equity and inclusivity within the National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health and the healthcare field.
What were your biggest challenges?
Throughout my tenure, I faced several challenges. However, my biggest challenge was breaking through existing barriers and overcoming deep-rooted biases within the healthcare industry.
Structural inequalities and unconscious biases presented obstacles that required persistent efforts to raise awareness, educate, and enact meaningful change.
Despite these challenges, I remained resolute in advocating for inclusivity, equity, and fairness in the field, ensuring that the voices and experiences of all nurse practitioners, especially those from underrepresented backgrounds, were heard and valued.
What were your most significant rewards?
Serving as the first Black President of the National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health has been an incredibly rewarding experience, both personally and professionally. This milestone’s significance cannot be understated, as it represents a step forward in promoting diversity, inclusion, and equity within our field.
Being in this role has allowed me to uplift and amplify the voices and contributions of Black nurse practitioners, as well as other underrepresented minority groups. By actively advocating for their needs and concerns, we have fostered a more inclusive and supportive environment for all members.
Furthermore, the opportunity to connect with and learn from fellow nurse practitioners across the country has been invaluable. Together, we have collaborated on initiatives to improve healthcare outcomes for women, particularly those facing racial disparities and inequities.
Witnessing the positive impact of our collective efforts and the growth and success of our members has been the greatest reward of all. This experience has reinforced my commitment to breaking barriers, inspiring future leaders, and promoting inclusivity, diversity, and equity in healthcare for the betterment of all women.
If you want to earn an advanced practice degree—such as a Nurse Practitioner (NP) or a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), among others—you will need to get a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree. But there are many other reasons to have one as well.
Last year, Laura Browne, MSN, RN, CNL, a second-career nurse, graduated from Georgetown University with her MSN-CNL. This means she went through a master’s-entry to nursing program with a specialty in becoming a clinical nurse leader.
Browne works as a preop and recovery nurse in the Austin, Texas, area and provides content for an informational dental care website called Smile Prep.
“In general, MSN programs offer nurses the opportunity to
grow their careers in various ways, whether applicants are new to the nursing field or established nurses looking for a change of pace,” says Browne. “A major benefit of master’s-level nursing education in specialties outside of the NP role, beyond coursework at an advanced level and deep exposure to evidence-based practice (EBP) projects, is the flexibility it affords you in your career. As a nurse with a master’s degree, you meet the education requirement to be a clinical preceptor for nursing students at many universities. This is a great opportunity if you are interested in nursing education.”
Sometimes, nurses know exactly what they want to do when entering nursing school. Such is the case with Nick Angelis, CRNA, MSN, owner of Ascend Health Center and author of How to Succeed in Anesthesia School. “I started nursing school with the goal of becoming a nurse anesthetist, which requires at least an MSN,” he says. The MSN degree is “a springboard to better opportunities. In some cases, it allows nurses to continue in the place where they currently work but receive better compensation. This is most worth it if an employer provides tuition reimbursement. Specializing as an NP or CRNA allows for better compensation and better work/life balance. Most outpatient clinics are open 9–5 and closed on weekends and holidays.”
Kate Rowe, MSN, CNM, DNP, a certified nurse midwife, says, “For those nurses who wish to work more in nursing education, nursing/healthcare research, academia or advanced practice, an MSN is for you. MSNs can specialize in several different fields depending on your field of interest. Women’s health, psychiatric care, adult/gerontology, midwifery, public and community health, and emergency medicine are just some potential avenues for providers to take.”
Angelis says that before earning his MSN, he worked the night shift, doubles, and traveled from hospital to hospital. “Now I take the time I need with each patient and make my schedule. I can immediately see the effects of my anesthesia as I take patient’s pain away and safely guide them through complex surgeries. I can also collaborate with therapists, physicians, and everyone else on the care team,” he says.
As for how long earning an MSN will take, that depends on whether you’re working part-time, full-time, or not. Rowe says that they typically take two years to earn, but there are accelerated programs that can take as little as five quarters.
While working full-time, Angelis says he took his core MSN classes. When he began taking anesthesia clinicals, he would take occasional nursing shifts. “Most MSN specialties allow students to work through school. Anesthesia school is unique in the massive amount of time and effort required for several years, including up to 40 hours a week in hospitals providing anesthesia. Accelerated online programs are available for some MSN specialties and can be completed within 18 months,” he explains.
The amount of work to earn an MSN is worth it, says Rowe. She adds, “The greatest rewards of earning an MSN involve the ability to give back to your community and positively impact the lives of your patients through all the hard work in graduate school and then again when you are in practice.”
Read the October issue of Minority Nurse focusing on the MSN and Magnet Hospitals here.
The World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893, held in Chicago, was known for many things: the World’s Fair that inspired the blockbuster book The Devil in the White City, where the first Ferris wheel premiered, and where the National League for Nursing (NLN) began.
The superintendent at Johns Hopkins Training School in Baltimore, Isabel Hampton, headed the group of superintendents at the fair. Together, they laid the groundwork for the first nursing association in the United States: the American Society of Superintendents of Training Schools of Nursing.
The name changed twice. First to the National League of Nursing Education in 1912 and finally to the National League for Nursing in 1952.
The Mission
“The mission is to promote excellence in nursing education to build a strong and diverse nursing workforce to advance the health of the nation and the global community,” says Beverly Malone, PhD, RN, FAAN, President and CEO of NLN.
According to Malone, the NLN was founded because, at the time, there were no boundaries, criteria, or standards regarding how nursing should be taught. “In the United States, it was going on your own. Everybody determined what would be taught, and the public deserved to know the criteria,” she says.
“It’s the same issues we have now,” Malone continues. “The public deserves transparency regarding the quality of nurses’ preparations. We were stretching beyond being the doctors’ handmaid. So, how does one stretch to become a professional? You start determining your standards. Not only would we determine them, we would live by them and operationalize them. That’s what the National League for Nursing started with, and that’s what we continue to do.”
The NLN Today
The NLN offers services for over 45,000 individuals and more than 1,000 institutional members.
In addition to its mission, Malone says that the NLN is also guided by its four core values: caring, integrity, diversity and inclusion, and excellence.
Malone explains what the first and last core values mean to the organization. “Caring promotes health, healing, and hope in response to the human condition. I think hope is something that we don’t appreciate enough,” she says. “The ‘excellence’ piece is cocreating and implementing transformative strategies with daring ingenuity. We don’t do anything by ourselves. We are into cocreating and co-implementing, and then transformation.”
The NLN offers members professional development, networking, assessment services, nursing research grants, and public policy advocacy. Regarding professional development, the NLN accomplishes this through a variety of centers.
The Center for the Advancement of the Science of Nursing Education, Malone says, deals with the scientific background for nursing education. While patients are expected to receive evidence-based care, that starts with nursing students receiving evidence-based education.
“With technology moving as fast as it is, we must understand the scientific basis for nursing education,” says Malone. “This distinguishes the National League for Nursing’s belief in the evidence-based.”
In addition, the NLN has a division for credentialing nurse educators. To date, about 15,000 nurse educators have received credentials. They have a certification for clinical educators and credentialing for newly-developed nurse educators.
“I believe that this is so critical to the nursing profession of holding us not just accountable, but also providing an opportunity for recognition,” says Malone.
The NLN’s Center for Transformational Leadership provides nurses with education regarding leadership, and its Center for the Innovation in Education Excellence gives education about simulation and technology and how it will be incorporated into the teaching and education of nurses.
Malone says these exceptional programs for nurse educators make the NLN crucial. “We believe wholeheartedly that unless you address the issues for nurse educators, including salary, the nursing shortage continues,” she says.
The National League for Nursing offers so much more for nursing educators. For additional information, check out their website.
Tara Rynders, RN, MFA, BSN, BA, admits she hasn’t had the easiest life. From when she was a child, though, she would heal from it through dance. In fact, she wanted to be a professional dancer before she thought about being a nurse.
“My earliest memory is of holding a neighborhood performance in my backyard—and it’s a lifeline that I’ve held on to through all of life’s highs and lows,” Rynders explains.
So Rynders graduated high school and headed to Hollywood. But she soon realized that the business was more focused on outward appearance rather than the inward healing dance provided.
“After my time in Hollywood, I realized that I wanted to be able to offer both emotional and physical healing. Nursing allowed me the entry point into that space. It’s a profession that offers flexibility to keep connected to my lifeline—dancing,” she says.
Trauma Hits Home
Rynders came to embrace dance and bring it into the world of nursing after her tough times. She cared for her mother until she passed. Rynders says that losing her mother made her entire world fall apart. At the time, she was working as a nurse but decided to reach out again to what had always helped—dance. So, she cut down her nursing hours
to earn a master’s degree in dance.
Her sister became ill during that time and went into a coma for months. Rynders took off a semester and went to live with her in rehab until she was transferred from California to Colorado, where Rynders was living.
“In my sister’s hospital room, my dance and nursing worlds began to collide,” recalls Rynders. “Every night, I would dance to Miley Cyrus’s ‘Party in the USA.’ And I discovered that although my sister couldn’t speak, she could laugh. That became my goal—to make her laugh.”
When Rynders returned to school, she created an immersive theater performance called You & Me that was connected to her experience as her sister’s caretaker and her work as a charge nurse in the ER.
The show You & Me traveled nationally and internationally to more than five countries.
“What I realized when I cared for my sister was the gift that comes from having one-on-one intimate moments with another human being—to bathe her, feed her, and help be her voice,” says Rynders. “During the day, I would hold the suffering and loss with my sister, and at night we would hold the joy as I danced. It felt like I had both my joy and my grief coupled together in all that I did.”
One more scary experience brought Rynders to where she is today. When her twins were six months old, she learned she was pregnant again. But this time, it was an ectopic pregnancy.
“When I arrived at the hospital, things moved quickly. I remember the ER tech rolling me on the bed with too much force to start my IV; the ER physician and his caring face took extra time to see and listen to me. I remember feeling his compassion for my situation. I remember being transferred to a room when my fallopian tube burst and my abdomen began to distend with blood,” says Rynders.
“They called a code yellow—the code they call before a code blue when your heart stops. My room was full of people,” she says. “I passed out, but I could still hear everything being said. I felt my nurse grab my hand. She leaned into my ear and said, ‘I am here, and you will be okay.’ I remember thanking her for remembering me because I was so scared and couldn’t speak.”
This experience caused Rynders to have an epiphany.“I realized that nurses are everything to their patients–their voices, their advocates, their support, their healing hands. I experienced this firsthand as a patient and realized how many opportunities I was missing as a nurse to connect and see my patients authentically. I became passionate about this in my practice as a nurse and began researching authentic connection in nursing,” she says. “Everything pointed to one thing: our nurses are tired, overworked, and our healthcare systems are not set up for them to thrive and successfully care for patients.”
Rynders decided she was going to change that.
Bringing Dance to the Nurses
Pre-COVID, Rynders says that nursing leadership was downplaying nurses burnout. And in 2017, nurses weren’t ready to talk about it openly.
But the CNO and CEO where she worked approved her creating a two-hour immersive theater experience at the hospital to raise awareness of compassion fatigue and burnout. She created the performance with artists Jadd Tank and Lia Bonfilio and worked with playwright Edith Weiss.
“The 2-hour performance took place in the hospital and was open to the general public. The nurses, doctors, and other healthcare personnel testimonials were breathtaking. Most along the lines of ‘Thank you for giving us a language to understand the unrelenting grief and trauma we have been carrying with us,’” says Rynders.
After raising awareness about burnout, Rynders co-created, with Dr. Clare Hammoor, a six-week grief and trauma workshop series. The nurses connected with it so much that they began having monthly meetings post-workshop, which continued until COVID.
“At the height of COVID, my CEO asked me if I would come off the floor and focus on caring for our nurses as they cared for our COVID patients. This told me he also saw that our staff would need ongoing support,” says Rynders. The position was temporary, though; she would eventually work as a clinical nurse educator at another health care system.
Today, Rynders is also an advanced grief recovery specialist and a RESTORE (Resiliency and Equity Support and Training for Organizational Renewal) peer responder who is on call for health care personnel when they need immediate support.
“I help teach resilience, equity, and anti-racism courses for our entire system. I do this alongside my position as executive director of The Clinic Performance. I see both of these roles mutually honoring each other as I bring my whole self into all my experiences,” she says. “We dance in the hospital at our meetings, and having a pulse on nursing in the hospital setting is vital to creating workshops that tend to our nurses—meeting them where they are emotionally.”
Tara Rynders in her dance workshop
Dance Workshops
Rynders workshops touched many people and were so effective that Kaiser Permanente asked her to bring them to nurses across California. These six eight-hour workshops with up to 600 nurses began in April and will run through September.
“Our workshops are now titled (Re)Brilliancy, a play on the word resiliency. I was tired of hearing everyone tell us to be more resilient during the pandemic. Nurses are some of the most resilient humans I know. We need resilient systems that reflect the brilliant and resilient humans we already are. (Re)Brilliancy workshops help us reflect on and honor the brilliant and resilient humans we already are,” says Rynders.
Until they experience the workshops, nurses often don’t even realize that their stories or experiences have continued to both of them.
Rynders knows that her workshops are keeping nurses from leaving the profession. “I have seen firsthand nurses ready to leave—completely burned out and done with the profession. [They’ve] attended our workshops on an ongoing basis and have a rekindled joy and fervor for caring for themselves and their patients,” she says.
But more needs to be done.
“Nurses go into this field to make a difference in the lives of others. At some point, we begin sacrificing ourselves to do this. We don’t have to sacrifice our mental well-being. These workshops help us disentangle our worth and identity as caregivers from being directly related to how much we can sacrifice our well-being. Our workshops help remind us what we love, what we are passionate about, and what we need to feel seen, heard, and cared for,” says Rynders. “If healthcare systems want to retain their nurses, they need to start thinking creatively and bringing in non-traditional and innovative ways to care for their teams. Wellness must be embedded as a cornerstone that everything else builds upon.”
Angela Purcell, a nurse making a difference, has helped save patients’ sight and taught others how as part of the Flying Eye Hospital.
Purcell didn’t start her career expecting to help save people’s eyesight around the globe. In fact, she didn’t even start working as a nurse until an amazing experience changed her life permanently.
Purcell, now an RN with an Ophthalmic Nurse diploma and the Associate Director of Nursing for Orbis International’sFlying Eye Hospital, began her career as a legal secretary.
“When I was unexpectedly hospitalized, my life and career path changed forever. During that brief experience as a patient, I was inspired by the nurses around me. Good nursing depends on discipline, keen observation, and sound clinical skills. Those attributes attracted me to the profession,” recalls Purcell. “It was then I decided to start my training to become a nurse. I knew it was the right decision as I thought about the lives I could change by helping to improve the well-being of others.”
Purcell attended nursing school at Cambridge University Hospital in England, earning her RN degree in 1985. Her first job out of nursing school was working as part of intensive care teams at a cardiovascular heart and lung specialty hospital. “After a few years in this high-intensity specialty, I moved to specialize in eyes and earned my diploma in ophthalmic nursing,” she says.
During her ophthalmic studies, Purcell attended a conference where she heard an Orbis representative talk about their work. “I was captivated. I promised myself that I would join their Voluntary Faculty, a global force of more than 400 medical experts who share their skills with local eye care teams around the world,” says Purcell.
And beginning in 2012, she did just that. She began working as a volunteer faculty scrub nurse, and a few months later, she was offered a permanent position as Orbis’s Head Nurse with the Flying Eye Hospital Team.
Angela Purcell is the Associate Director of Nursing for Orbis International’s Flying Eye Hospital. Photo credit: Geoff Oliver Bugbee/Orbis International
Eyes in the Skies
According to Purcell, the Flying Eye Hospital is a fully accredited ophthalmic teaching hospital on board a plane. It travels to locations that don’t have access to quality eye care, and the staff trains eye care teams–ophthalmologists, nurses, anesthesiologists, and biomedical engineers–on how to deliver the same care in their community.
“Training is at the heart of everything Orbis does and everything I do in my daily role. I provide in-person, hands-on training to local nurse teams in infection control and emergency preparedness during training programs. I work with them on the plane and in the partner hospital,” explains Purcell. “During training programs, we care for children and adults with a wide variety of eye diseases, including cataracts, glaucoma, strabismus, and other conditions that can cause vision loss or blindness.”
Globally, she says, 1.1 billion people live with vision loss–90% of which is avoidable.
“The work I do is fighting to decrease this statistic,” says Purcell.
During the pandemic, when she couldn’t teach people in person, Purcell began teaching on Cybersight, the Orbis telemedicine and e-learning platform. Even when in-person programming returned, Purcell continued to teach online. “I found that virtual training is a great way to reach everyone,” she says. “It’s a fabulous complementary tool to every nurse’s training.”
Another crucial part of Purcell’s job is that she plays an important role in ensuring that the standards to obtain accreditation for the Flying Eye Hospital from the American Association of Accreditation for Ambulatory Surgery, are met and adhered to.
“In my role, I also ensure [that] Orbis employees are benefiting and growing, which, in turn, benefits my occupational development,” says Purcell.
Miracles Happen
One of Purcell’s greatest rewards in her job is hearing some of the patients’ stories. She shared this one:
“One of my favorite stories in my nursing career happened in April 2018 when I went to Trujillo, Peru, with the Flying Eye Hospital for a three-week training program. I worked with a volunteer nurse to care for patients before and after their surgeries. While she was preparing a patient for surgery–a young man of about 25 years old–I spoke to his mother. To my surprise, this was the second time her son had been a patient at the Flying Eye Hospital.
Twenty years ago, her son had surgery on his eye on the plane as a small child. She said she was so grateful and surprised the plane was back in Peru when her son needed urgent surgery. He had just had an accident and injured the same eye that had been operated on as a child. His mother proudly showed me pictures from the day of her son’s first surgery on the plane.
“As I looked at the pictures of the little boy and the nurse caring for him, I realized this was the same nurse preparing him for surgery again, so many years later. The nurse remembered him as a child, and the nurse, the patient, and the mother had a sweet, sentimental reunion. For me, as a witness to this fascinating story, I will always remember how it made me realize that miracles do happen in our ‘hospital with wings.’”
Purcell says she’s realized how well her job fits her skill sets. “I am great at networking and communicating with people from different cultures. Working with a global organization allowed me to collaborate, innovate, meet targets, help others, and challenge myself. Some of the highlights of my current role working at the Flying Eye Hospital have enabled me to meet quite famous individuals, including Cindy Crawford, HRH Duchess of Wessex, many heads of state, and the list goes on,” she says.
But there are many other reasons why she loves the work she does. “I love my Flying Eye Hospital team. We are like a family. We are a small, multi-cultural, close-knit team that supports one another and encourages progression and collaboration. We all share the same vision and are dedicated to fighting avoidable vision loss together,” says Purcell. “I am inspired by the people around me and how rewarding it is to see the results of our work.”
