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University of Colorado College of Nursing

College of Nursing
 

The CU Advantage

Students' stories

Like you, our students are compassionate human beings who are committed to spending their careers helping others. Whether coming to the College of Nursing to start their careers or to advance their skills, our students want to make a difference in the lives of others.

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​Bachelor students

Ben Hilliard 

Ben Hilliard

A stroke, while living in Malaysia when he was 31, caused this top-notch athlete to reevaluate his life.  The conclusion -- nursing school at the University of Colorado.

Brittany Poyer​ 

Brittany Poyer​

For Brittany Poyer, working closely with top-ranked hospitals augments her learning in a clinical setting and reinforces her decision to become a nurse.

Erin Smith 

Erin Smith

Integrated Nursing Pathway to Baccalaureate program is a perfect fit for Erin Smith, Army reservist and a qualified flight medic with an EMT certificate.

Gretchen Schlueter​ 

Actively involved in the College of Nursing in a variety of ways, this student's philathropic nature has led her to lead CUSNA since February 2012.  

Jesse Francomano 

Jesse Francomano 

The only undergraduate from the College of Nursing to present a poster at this past WIN Conference, Jesse Francomano details the dissemination of healthcare information via social networking sites.

Julie Tollefson 

Julie Tollefson is working on her second bachelor's degree through the RN to BS program and advancing towards her goal of working in anesthesia.

Lenka Hellerova 

 
Lenka Hellerova

​A 7.0 magnitude earthquake not only changed the lives of thousands of Haitians, but also changed the career path for one College of Nursing student.  Her experience in Haiti fostered a desire to do more than development work.  Instead, she wanted to help people on a personal level.

 

​Graduate students

​Dana El-Hajj 

Dana El-Hajj

Dana El Hajj is a PhD student and RN in the ICU at at Rose Medical center. She also works at the College of Nursing, Center for Nursing Research as a Research Assistant. Her goal is to help enlighten doctors and nurses of various aspects of acculturation that affect patient care.

 
Danielle and Patrick Burchett 

Danielle and Patrick Burchett​

Most students don’t choose nursing school expecting to find a spouse, but for two doctorate of nursing practice students, that’s exactly what happened.

 

Harmony Acker 

Harmony Acker

Harmony Acker, A 12-year navy veteran, won the university’s Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Scholarship two semesters in a row, all while transitioning from military to civilian life.
Kim Morris 

Kim Morris

After becoming a family nurse practitioner and practicing in a general family practice unit, Morris stumbled onto geriatric home care in 2005 and hasn't looked back since.
 
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Maria Roche-Dean 

Maria Roche-Dean

This second-year PhD student draws upon family experience to research communication challenges of the multilingual.

 

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Maria Vejar​ 

Maria Vejar​

This DNP student's passion to care for older adults inspired her doctoral quality improvement project, which investigates medication reconciliation in the Seniors Clinic on campus.

Michelle Kahn-John 

Michelle Kahn-John

Espousing Hozho philosophy, this doctoral student helps Native American teens maintain balance and improve their physical, mental, and emotional health.​

Stacey Wall 

Stacey Wall

​Stacey Wall has a vision for the future: nurse practitioners as hospitalists. A 2013 recipient of the University of Colorado Alumni Scholarship, Wall  is not only a doctoral student in the College of Nursing, but also the director of the Advanced Practice Hospitalist Program at Children’s Hospital Colorado.​

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