The “Cowley Effect” at the UK College of Nursing
Hannah Steinforth, Jennifer Cowley, MSN, RN, Victoria Cherolis and Brooke Babcock.
By Sally Evans
A phenomenon known as the “Cowley Effect” has recently made waves at the UK College of Nursing. The term—coined by the College’s Dean Janie Heath—embodies Jennifer Cowley’s, MSN, RN, ambition to develop the very best nurse leaders and form deep relationships with her fellow colleagues and nursing community.
Cowley, who teaches the adult med-surgical course, the career management course and co-coordinates SNAP (Student Nurse Academic Practicum) in the College, initially chose a career in nursing because her two closest friends had as well. “Nursing felt like a good fit. No one really knows what they want to do when they’re 18, but boy, it was the best decision ever.”
Her career took a quick turn when she was 20 years old and a junior in nursing school, due to an extensive back surgery that kept her in the hospital for 27 days and out of school for a full academic year.
“During my hospitalization, I witnessed nursing care from the patient perspective,” said Cowley. “I was surprised at how much the nurse-patient relationship impacted the quality of my day, and I realized that it’s the little things that can make a difference in a patient’s experience.”
Now, Cowley is making strides in the community every day, especially in her adult medical-surgical course, NUR 301. The course includes 100 students and 13 clinical instructors.
Undergraduate senior Victoria Cherolis looked forward to going to Cowley’s class every week.
“Jennifer Cowley’s course was the first time I really felt like a nurse. She was tough; she expected us to know every condition and disease we learned inside out,” Cherolis said. “She was organized, direct and informative, but she knew when to laugh. Every day you could see how much she really cared for her students and wanted them to succeed.”
It was on the first day of class that Cowley realized she had seen Cherolis’s face before: she had also taught her mother in 1987.
“I was nervous going into that semester because people talked about how difficult she was, but it ended up being my favorite semester so far in nursing school,” Cherolis said. “My mom said it was her favorite semester too!”
Not only has Cowley made a lasting impact on her students, but she has recently led a fundraising effort to support fellow NUR 301 instructor Samantha Eddington, BSN, RN, after her daughter experienced a traumatic accident and needed several surgeries to recover.
Originally, Cowley told her students she would match any donations; however, she spoke too soon—her class returned less than a week later with $650 raised. Cowley turned to her colleagues for assistance, and together they raised $1750.
“From the time my daughter had her accident two years ago, Professor Cowley and the 301 group went above and beyond to help my family and me. This ordeal lasted for two years and 22 surgeries,” said Eddington.
Eddington was overwhelmed with the amount of support from her students and colleagues. “Not only did they organize a bake sale in my hometown, Georgetown, Ky., but they collected donations among the entire College,” said Eddington.
When Cowley was asked what she wants the “Cowley Effect” to stand for, she replied that she wants her students to be personable, appreciative and enthusiastic in the field. She wants her students to call their patients by their name and to teach their patients and families freely and regularly.
“I want them to make their patient laugh at least once a shift. I want them to be skilled practitioners who have clinical reasoning down to a science—knowing the ‘why’ behind everything they do. And I want them to proudly represent the University of Kentucky College of Nursing as the best and the brightest.” But most of all, Cowley points out: “I want them to be someone I would be delighted to work a 12-hour shift with.”
After receiving her BSN from Eastern Kentucky University in 1981, Cowley worked in a variety of acute care settings as a bedside staff nurse caring for a wide variety of ill adults. She then earned her MSN from the University of Kentucky in 1987. Cowley was awarded the 2010 Provost's Outstanding Teaching Award and the College of Nursing's Louise J. Zegeer Award in the spring of 2010. She continues to declare that her favorite day of the week is when she is working directly with the students.
“The ‘Cowley Effect’ is essentially a litmus test for our nursing students,” said Dean Heath. “Once our nurses experience it, they will enter the field of nursing prepared, encouraged and ready to face each day with a smile and with top knowledge of patient care.”
