Marie Everhart, Assistant Professor of Nursing

Assistant Professor of Nursing Marie Everhart recognizes that her profession has changed a great deal over the past several decades. She knows that the field will continue to evolve with advances in technology and as rising patient acuity demands a more complex set of skills for each member of a medical team. From her first certification (an Associate degree from Luzerne County Community College) to her Masters certification (from College of Misericordia), Everhart herself was a 15-year student who recognizes that the learning process does not have a beginning and an end; nursing students and professionals need to be lifelong learners.

"Nursing drives the care of the patient. It's not like it was years ago when a nurse just did what a doctor instructed," Everhart points out. "The demands on the student and nurse are greater than ever before. We teach our students to be advocates for the patient, researchers, and experts in technology. It's so complex."

Everhart -- who works as a Per Diem Nursing Supervisor at Lehigh Valley Hospital and has an extensive background in critical care in a hospital setting -- used her desire to teach as a motivator for finishing her education while she was also working and raising a family. The support that she found from her professors had a strong influence on her, and that type of support is what she hopes to bring to her own students.

"The mission of community college is more fluent with my beliefs in education," says Everhart, who began teaching at NCC in 2006. "The program provides students with an excellent foundation to keep themselves and their patients safe. It's my job to teach them that the accountability is on the nurse to perform and make a difference in patient outcomes."

For seniors in the nursing program, there comes a time when they're taking part in clinical rotations at multiple area hospitals. It's at this point where students begin to put their knowledge into action, and this is Everhart's favorite part of her career in education.

"At that point, I know that they know more than they think they do," Everhart says of final-semester students. "When they get asked a question by a patient and come running to me to tell me that they can answer and provide for that patient...when they discover that in themselves...that's really cool."

And what piece of advice would Everhart offer for nursing students who are ready to take on a real-world position?

"The most important thing is to know when you're in trouble, know when your patient is in trouble, and know when your unit is in trouble," Everhart sums up. "Know your resources. You're going to be scared, and that's ok. You don't want to be overconfident. You want to know your resources and keep patient safety first."