EDWARDSVILLE - During National Nurses Week, May 6-12, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville especially applauds the exemplary work of nurses everywhere for their commitment to providing quality medical service and care.
Nurses are called to the field for a variety of reasons. For SIUE student Juliana Enoakpa Manyoh, a native of Cameroon, Africa, her pursuit of a nursing degree transpired after her husband’s near-death experience.
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At the time of her husband’s accident, Manyoh, held a bachelor’s in management and a master’s in finance. But her goals in life were altered after watching nurses provide life-saving care to her husband during a three-week hospital stay.
Since that epiphany, she completed SIUE’s accelerated bachelor’s in nursing program and is currently enrolled in the doctor of nursing practice program’s family nurse practitioner specialization (FNP DNP).
“Being on the other end of the spectrum is a completely different feeling,” Manyoh said. “I know the kind of quality care my husband’s nurses provided and what it meant to me, and I’m ready to give back.”
“Taking care of people is not an easy business,” she added. “Nursing is about critical thinking to make sure you catch situations before they happen. You have to be two steps ahead. As a nurse, people are depending on you to make decisions about their lives, which are a matter of life or death.”
Manyoh travels four hours each way, nearly every week, from her home in the Quad Cities to attend SIUE’s hybrid FNP DNP program.
“It’s all about quality,” she explained. “I drive here, because I had a wonderful experience pursuing my bachelor’s in nursing at SIUE. Looking at the curriculum and comparing SIUE to other universities, this is perfect. The faculty has been phenomenal and the School is flexible. The University is welcoming and diverse, and the program curriculum is rich.”
Manyoh calls nursing a dream come true. She aspires to utilize her education and experience to advocate and care for those in underserved populations.
“My classmates and I want to provide our patients, and their families, with the highest quality care, and make sure we’re emphasizing disease prevention and health promotion strategies,” Manyoh said. “At the same time, we want to be leaders. This is what the DNP is all about. It gives us the skills to be able to influence policy that has a significant impact on the lives of our patients and communities.”
The SIUE School of Nursing’s fully accredited programs are committed to creating excellence in nursing leadership through innovative teaching, evidence-based practice, quality research, patient advocacy and community service. Enrolling nearly 1,400 students in its baccalaureate, master’s and doctoral programs, the School develops leaders in pursuit of shaping the nursing profession and impacting the health care environment. SIUE’s undergraduate nursing programs on the Edwardsville campus and the regional campus in Carbondale help to solve the region’s shortage of baccalaureate-prepared nurses and enhance the quality of nursing practice within all patient service venues. The School’s graduate programs prepare nurses for advanced roles in clinical practice, administration and education.
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