Armchair NSG Leadership Interview Series with Dr. Ann Cary, Dean of the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Nursing and Health Studies
Dr. Heath: How did you know you first wanted to be a nurse?
Dr. Cary: When I was three-years-old and I was dressed in my mother’s nursing uniform and cap and I was taking care of my father who was laying on the floor and he was pretending to be a patient. And so I had a thermometer in my hand, a glass one. And so I still have to laugh every time I see that picture because that was imprinted on my brain. So, my mother was a fabulous woman – a nurse – and I think that she really helped me see that nursing was a career that I could resonate with.
Dr. Heath: When did you first know that you wanted to be an academic leader, as a nurse?
Dr. Cary: I would say it first started with wanting to be a faculty member. I remember sitting in the classroom, and observing how the faculty talked and what resonated with me as a learner. And thinking, “Gee I’d like to do that someday.” Being able to influence the lives of young students through being a faculty member was very stimulating for me. So I decided very early on, as soon as I graduated, to apply for a master’s program. I didn’t get accepted the fir- well, I was accepted but I wasn’t funded by the nurse training-ship the first year and I really needed to work. So I worked for a year and then I was funded. I was able to go right in to my masters of public health the second year I was out of school. And it was there that I took nursing education courses and was really… didn’t really appreciate how difficult it was to be a faculty member, in terms of all the prep work etc. And then when I became a faculty member, I began observing administration. How programs will run, how policies supported, or became structural barriers to getting the work done and then I thought, “OK, this is something I think I want to do too,” you know, because you can influence people in a larger sphere. When I decided to go back for my doctorate, that was 8 years later, I decided I wanted to go back and really learn that skill set that would help me be an administrator.
Dr. Heath: What academic nursing career advice would you give to aspiring leaders?
Dr. Cary: I think my greatest learning has come from really processing any barriers or failures that I’ve had, and watching how others handle theirs. Because I believe that in order to succeed, you have to actually fail. So you do it, you fail, you do it, you fail and that people watch out for you and guide you through that process. That was something that was very important to me – having people that can give me feedback, show me a way in which I can be effective and then really nurturing that when they saw it. So I guess that would be some mentorship. You know, seeking a good mentor. And then I would say, process what you think is not effective as a leader, and what/how would you do things differently. So learning from how others are failing, and trying to avoid some of those missteps as you move through would be another characteristic. At least it was for me. And then also, not be afraid to take risks. I actually stepped out of academia for three years and worked for a research institute and I learned a whole new skill set there. And then I found out what I liked about that and what I didn’t like and then ended up back in academia. But I took that whole skill set with me, and so again, widen your perspective, do things differently, don’t be a straight line – be a squiggle, because it’s going off the beaten path that really increases you repertoire and skill set.
Dr. Heath: What keeps you awake at night? In particular as a dean, what do you worry about?
Dr. Cary: That’s a very good question because I’m awake most nights. So the kinds of things that wake me up are concerns that whether or not I’m gathering all the resources I need so that the faculty can do what they need to do. As you know, we’re in a period of budget compression in most of our schools across the country. So this is not to where I work, in fact, everywhere I’ve worked there has been some cycle of budget compression. So gathering the resources are really important, that’s my job. Make sure that my faculty and our students have what they need to have a positive experience of excellence. So that’s one thing. Um, another area is the ways in which we are inclusive for our students. Because the world has changed as you know, there is such a diversity that is accessing higher education now. So, how are we able to be accommodating, how can we learn from the diversity of our students and our faculty, and how can we change the way that we teach and develop the leaders of the future. So that’s something that I’m constantly thinking about and luckily I have a really good support services at the university. So that I think is important, know what your resources are. And then finally I would say that it’s a concern about the voice of nursing. We are all… leaders in nursing are very good about coming to the table and sharing your voice. And I want to make sure that we’re developing the leaders behind us, who will have that same commitment to risk taking in their voice to making sure that the American people get the best in health care. I think nursing is part of that solution.
Dr. Heath: That’s inspiring! We need more of that – we really do. If those types of things keep you awake at night, what fills your heart, Ann? What do you get the most excited about, as being a dean of nursing?
Dr. Cary: Well one thing I love to do is address all the incoming students. I do it class by class. I’ll walk in the room and they’re buzzing and they’re all excited, and then I love to tell them that they’ll be the first and the last. So they’ll be the first one for instance to welcome a newborn baby, the first one to create, perhaps, a new app for communication or for a patient and they’ll be the last one to hold the hand of someone who’s died. And the room gets quiet, it’s like they’re really seized with the thought of their impact. I just love it, because it’s you know, really sharing my passion for patient care with the next generation of nurses. So, that’s something I just love to do every year when I meet new students. And I love to meet with the faculty as well. I like to meet the faculty in small groups because they ping off one another and you have a synergy that happens in that dynamic and I learn so much from them, about them, and what they need by using those small groups of faculty. So I enjoy doing that as well. And then finally, I really love to bring information from the national and the global scene back to the faculty and show them what are the opportunities and the aspirations that they can be thinking about and how can I move them in that direction.
Dr. Heath: You’re preparing to take on our leading organization for higher education in nursing in the Association of Colleges of Nursing that does phenomenal work and really provides tremendous support for the colleges of nursing throughout the country. What do you see as the next steps? Where do you see our organization going? What vision do you see that we’re going to be leading in to when you take over just in a few months?
Dr. Cary: First and foremost, I would say that I’m standing on the shoulders of giants. The leadership in the AACN has been phenomenal and just to step in to that space and to make sure that I honor the trajectory of those leaders and the organization is something I’m very committed to. So this is not about me but this is about our members. I just love listening to our members; I learn something new every day when I do that. The way the organization is proceeding at this point, we do have a strategic plan. And one of the pivotal aspects of that strategic plan is looking at our government structure based on the future stat scores. What I would see happening, depending on the will of the members, the vision of the members and what they would like to see the organization develop in to, I would see our government structure changing to be more inclusive than it is, such as different communities of interest to join us in the AACN, looking at the opportunity for interprofessional partners to be influential or at least provide information to us in a way that we haven’t done before. Because, you know, interprofessional professionalism is really the dynamic of the future and the AACN has really taken the lead in that with our other partners through our past presidents decisions. So I think the governance has the likelihood of encouraging more inclusivity than we’ve had in the past. And that’s not to say that that’s been a deficit, but I think as the world changes we need to change too, so that will be one thing. I think our policy voice will strengthen even more so because of that governance we will develop stronger coalitions than we have in the past. We have strong coalitions within the nursing organizations, but again, it’s that broader framework of coalition building that’s going to take us to the next level. And finally, I think the AACN can be dramatically influential in the research agenda. So again, linking that with the policy coalition development work with forging the new sciences both in nursing and in healthcare (I think) are really going to be an impact.
Dr. Heath: I’m ready and eager! Now, can you share with us your all-time favorite leadership book and why?
Dr. Cary: It’s a book by Warren Bennis Geeks and Geezers. It’s based on research, and he interviewed leading entrepreneurs and successful leaders in the corporate industry. Of course, there are the technology industries, you know – the new kids on the block. And then he interviewed the well-established, corporate industries in that arena. And what he found is successful leaders have all had an experience that’s changed their life and it’s been applied to leadership. He calls it the crucible experience and they may have had more than one. Something, you know, I talked earlier about learning from your failures. Individuals have had personal experiences or professional experiences, family experiences that have really helped them get back to their core values and it’s those values that have driven them to success.
Dr. Heath: If you were to wave a magic wand and there were just one thing that you would be able to say, right now, “This is changing, this is what I want to happen for the nursing profession,” what would that be, Ann?
Dr. Cary: It would be that we recognize the knowledge requirements that nursing is a stemmed discipline. And that we are sure that our entry-level nursing workforce is educated to the highest possible degree so that they have the knowledge that they need, the critical thinking skills, and the management skills that they need to navigate the complexity of care currently in our systems today. A nurse is not a nurse that’s not a nurse. And if we’re really going to tackle the issues of health care in this country, we need to make sure we have smart people at the bedside. Well prepared, who know how to acquire knowledge at the tip of their fingers and make adjustments in their practice patterns that are going to have the best possible outcomes for our patients.
Dr. Heath: That is fabulous, let’s go get that magic wand, right?
Dr. Cary: Let’s do it.
