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Alumni
spotlight
Junell
Nichols
’02
Junell Nichols ’02 RN-BC, BSN,
CLL retired in February 2011
after more than 45 years of
nursing, 41 of them as an RN.
She found it to be an extremely
rewarding career, and continues
today to be a certified instructor
in three American Heart
Association courses. She intends to continue public speaking as a
Certified Laughter Leader (CLL), promoting the vital importance of
laughter in the life continuum. Nichols’ motto is “Keep teaching and
reaching,” and she has exemplified that throughout her career.
Nichols earnedanassociate’s degree innursing inaddition toadiploma
in nursing. She initially attended TCU in 1973, finishing in 2002 after
her responsibilities as a mother of seven children were satisfied. She
said the BSN she earned at TCU helped her build on the foundation
of critical thinking in nursing, applying advanced knowledge that not
only enhances the nursing care she delivered, but also helped her
break down concepts for coworkers for their continued growth.
She said, “TCU also taught me the importance of valid research,
methods to document these and determining the validity of research
with respected nurses/researchers. I also completed requirements for
and received designation as an American Red Cross Nurse during my
12 months at Harris College.”
Nichols’ nursing background helped her make a difference in the
lives of families everywhere. She bought a new red Ford Focus in
2007 and sat down to review all the information that came with the
car. She appreciated the inclusion of a full-color laminated card that
demonstrated the proper way for seat belts to be used for infants,
toddlers and adults, as well as with booster seats for young school-
aged children.
She said, “I was impressed but felt that they left out a group that was
vital – pregnant women. I teach trauma and pregnancy, and the major
cause of non-obstetrical deaths for those pregnant is motor vehicle
accidents and improper use of restraining devices. I had taught all my
daughters the proper use.”
Nichols sent an email to Ford with the statistics and information and
forgot it until she received a call from Ford two years later. Nichols
learned her suggestion had been thoroughly researched by Ford’s
safety department and after they consulted with numerous health
care experts found the information she provided was accurate.
Nichols’ suggestion was chosen as the Ford story of the year in 2009,
and starting with all Ford models for 2011, the instruction card was
changed to include pregnant women. Nichols said, “My kids were all
hoping I won a new Lincoln, but I did get a trip to Detroit, met a lot
of the chief officers, and received several gifts.” Most important to
Nichols, however, was the knowledge that she may have saved the
lives of several pregnant women.
Nichols’ belief in giving back includes numerous community service
activities, such as volunteering at community health fairs, serving as
an approved merit badge counselor for emergency preparedness, first
aid, handicapped awareness, and donor awareness for the Boy Scouts
of America; chairing the annual Longview American Heart Association
Heart Walk for three years; serving as an active member of the Order
of the Eastern Star; and volunteering for the Grand Chapter First Aid
Committee. The Women’s Council of Longview Regional Medical
Center named Nichols a Star Over Longview. She was nominated in
1994 for Nurse of the Year by her peers and was selected Exemplary
Nurse in 2004.
Nichols relayed a remarkable story of a group of about 99 nurse
prisoners of war on Bataan and Corregidor at the onset of World War
II. The amazing ending to the story was that all 99 nurses survived and
returned home. Elizabeth Norman documented their story in the book
We Band of Angels
.
After Nichols purchased the book, she discovered one of the nurses
lived in a nearby town. She said, “Two weeks later, I was sitting in the
presence of an extraordinary woman, Lt. Col. H.R. Brantley, one of
the Band of Angels. I truly felt I was meeting a nurse who epitomized
nursing. I invited her to be the keynote speaker at our Nurse
Week activities.”
Thus started a friendship like one Nichols had never experienced with
a mentor/peer. In the last few months of her life, Brantley asked her
to carry on the story and not let it die with the last of the Angels. “I
told her that she could be assured that it would go on, and although
far short of what she experienced, I think that she is happy with
my endeavors.”
Meredith Lewis
McFarlin ’00 & Brian
McFarlin ’98 (MS ’00)
Meredith Lewis McFarlin ’00 met her future husband, Brian McFarlin
’98 (MS ’00) when both worked as lab teaching assistants for Dr. Wayne
Barcellona in his Anatomy and Physiology class. Brian was a TCU
athletic trainer for football and track all four years of his undergraduate
degree. Both distinguished themselves as Undergraduates of the
Year in kinesiology, and Brian also won the graduate student award.
Meredith writes, “The experiences we had, both as teaching assistants
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