Cure the nation with a national nurse

Teri Mills isn’t a name politician, and she doesn’t peddle any influence except among students in her classroom. She’s a nurse and a teacher. But she loves what she does and, she says, “I’m kind of authentic.”

Maybe that’s why, when she suggested that the nation hire a national nurse, people listened. Her op-ed article in the New York Times was the third most e-mailed story from the newspaper’s Web site the day it was published. Her e-mailbox was flooded with enthusiastic support, and when she traveled from Oregon to Capitol Hill two months later, members of Congress listened with interest to this grass-roots initiative from someone who has seen firsthand how the American healthcare system is failing.

In a country where the nursing shortage is expected to reach 400,000 by 2020, where obesity threatens the health of children and increasing numbers of families go without health insurance, Mills says a national nurse program could turn the tide and boost the nation’s health. Mills, who teaches nursing at Portland Community College and is a member of the Portland Community College Faculty Federation/AFT, suggests that a national nurse could focus on prevention with 15-minute weekly broadcasts on things like raising teens, maintaining a healthy heart and avoiding obesity.

What’s more, a National Nurse Corps could organize community activities at grocery stores and schools, and would be more effective than the surgeon general, who, Mills says, is all but invisible. “Informational programs would decrease dependence on a healthcare system that is not only expensive but at times inaccessible, especially for those who lack insurance or live in rural areas,” wrote Mills in her editorial, which appeared May 20. In her work at a family clinic and with HIV patients, she is confronted with uninsured patients every day.

Mills feels that nurses are the best vehicles for educating across a broad spectrum of needy people. Americans trust their nurses, who traditionally provide a personal link in the medical care system. They are known as honest and ethical and are relied upon for personal information like how to breastfeed a newborn or how to care for a sick family member.

“I see [this] as a presidential appointment,” says Mills. “Nurses are valued by Americans, but it would really put the spotlight on nursing and help attract individuals to the profession at a time when we’re 400,000 nurses short.”

Encouraged by the half dozen members of Congress with whom she met, along with the 88-plus-member House Nursing Caucus and three congresswomen who are nurses, Mills is on a crusade. Many of the legislators with whom she spoke were interested in sponsoring a bill to establish a national nurse, and she spoke with three health policy experts from senators’ offices as well. Mills doesn’t think of herself as the “national nurse,” but she would take on the mantle just to get things started, if needed. “I see us all as being the country’s nurses,” she says.

“All of us went into nursing to make a difference, to help people, and this is the way that we do it.”

The gift of life
Teacher donates kidney to save a student's father

By all accounts, Wendi Campbell is a giver. So, it wasn’t out of character when the fifth-grade teacher volunteered to donate a kidney to the father of one of her students. “It’s still amazing to me that it actually happened,” says Campbell, 35, who is a member of the Detroit Federation of Teachers.

In March 2004, Campbell was a fifth-grade teacher at Coleman Young Elementary School in Detroit, and Daryl Studstill Jr. was one of her brightest students. Daryl rarely was absent from school, so when he missed three days in a row, his concerned teacher decided to pay her student a visit.

“I took some homework over to his house to check up on him,” Campbell recalls.

That’s when she learned that his father was in the hospital. Campbell already knew the Studstills because they were actively involved in school activities and in their son’s education. She visited the elder Studstill in the hospital to offer encouragement and prayers. The next week, Campbell got a telephone call from young Daryl’s grandmother who told her that Daryl Sr., 32, needed a kidney transplant and asked the teacher for help in learning more about organ donations.

During the conversation, Campbell volunteered to be tested. Days later, doctors told her that she was a match. Despite some initial reservations, Campbell decided to proceed with the surgery. She confirmed her decision after listening to a Sunday morning sermon that called on parishioners to be a “living sacrifice.”

“The Lord gave his life for us. The least I can do is donate a kidney,” Campbell remembers telling a family member. “People are here for different reasons; it’s a blessing to find your purpose in life and use it,” says Campbell. “I never imagined part of my purpose would be to save someone’s life.” 

Sept. 29 marks a full year since the surgery. Both Campbell and Studstill are doing well. The teacher and the Studstill family talk weekly and spend holidays together.

Studstill returned to work within days of his surgery. Campbell is now teaching at a new school, John R. King Elementary, in Detroit. She is working toward a master’s degree in elementary education at Marygrove College.

Today, Campbell works with the National Kidney Foundation to help educate people about the importance of being an organ donor.

“Organ and tissue donation can help plenty of people,”Campbell says. “I would like to get that message out. If I had another kidney to give, I would.”