2017-2018 Integrative Nursing Fellowship Alumna Reflects on the Healing Wisdom She Gained

When Marlene Call, PhD, assistant professor, Augusta University College of Nursing, was about to commence the 2017-2018 Integrative Nursing Fellowship, we asked her what she hoped to get out of the program. She told us, “I want to learn more about caring science and how to bring it into the curriculum. I believe bringing ‘caring’ and ‘compassion’ into a curriculum with a strong evidence-based foundation can produce strong, competent, compassionate nurses.”

While the INF is a well-established and nationally recognized fellowship, it is also constantly evolving and taking into account the needs of participants.  We caught up with Dr. Call recently to see how she felt now that her Fellowship has concluded.

“One of the most amazing things I learned during my time in the fellowship was the importance of self-care. For one thing, the experience helped me become a more peaceful and grounded human being, which has extended to my interactions with my students, coworkers, friends and family. I did not expect that from the fellowship! This has allowed me to begin helping those around me find inner peace so that they can focus more fully on the pursuit of their career during their nursing program, or for faculty and staff find peace in the often-hectic world of academia.

“The experience helped me become a more peaceful and grounded human being, which has extended to my interactions with my students, coworkers, friends and family." ~ Marlene Call, PhD, assistant professor, Augusta College of Nursing, 2017-18 INF Cohort 

Being able to see the evidence pooled around caring science and integrative nursing principles has given me the strength and foundation that I needed to make positive and impactful change in all of the courses in which I teach. I have integrated the principles into my courses, not just with content and activities for learning, but also in pulling in self-care activities in each class period. This allows students to see that I care about them not just as students but also as whole-persons, and that we are in this journey of learning together.

Learning about the two ‘alternative’ modalities has opened my eyes to so many wonderful things. The integrative therapies that I focused on are mindfulness meditation and healing touch. I have used both of these nearly every day since completing my training in them during the INF program. I am able to incorporate concepts from the modality into nearly every interaction I have with students, faculty and staff in my role as both a nursing professor as well as an assistant program director.

Additionally, I was recently asked to become the Wellness Committee co-chair because of the work I do here in Athens with students, faculty and staff. We offer weekly 10-minute mindfulness/meditation at lunch and we just began offering one Monday and one Thursday a month Yoga for students, faculty and staff.”

Are you or someone you know a nurse educator interested in learning more about our one-of-a-kind fellowship? The deadline to apply for the 2019-2020 INF is March 15, 2019. Find out more information here.