Barbara Turner: Reflecting on 30 Years at Duke School of Nursing
In honor of Women's History Month, we're revisiting a Duke Nursing Magazine article where Dr. Barbara S. Turner reflects on her long career in nursing and the changes she has witnessed in nursing science and education over the last three decades.
The longest-serving faculty member at the Duke School of Nursing, Barbara S. Turner, PhD, RN, FAAN, Elizabeth P. Hanes Professor of Nursing, has witnessed a period of profound transformation for the School: From a small school with a single master’s program, nine faculty members, and fewer than 100 students, to one of the leading institutions for nursing education in the country, with multiple degree programs, 86 full-time faculty and more than 1,200 students.
A Nursing Journey that Included 25 Years of Military Service
Turner’s journey in nursing began with earning graduate degrees in hospital administration and perinatal nursing. She later earned her PhD from the University of California San Francisco. Before joining Duke, Turner served in the Army Nurse Corps for 25 years. Turner’s decision to join Duke in 1993 was driven by a unique opportunity. After seeing a job description for an associate dean to start the research enterprise at Duke School of Nursing, she was intrigued. She was inspired by the vision of then-dean Mary Champagne.
“The funny thing is I didn't even know where Duke was. This is before the internet,” said Turner. “The reason I took Duke was they said they needed me. It was as simple as that. It was a small school. Mary had great ambitions for where she wanted to go with the school. She needed someone to start the research enterprise.”
Turner later established the School’s Nursing Research Center and served as the inaugural Associate Dean for Research for 13 years. She has served in multiple other leadership positions at the School and teaches primarily in the DNP program.
When asked about the evolution of the nursing profession itself, Turner recalls her mother. “When my mother was a nurse, nurses had to stand every time a physician walked in the room as a sign of respect,” she said. “I have seen that transition to now where we are colleagues, and that has been a huge change over time.”
Witness to the Evolution of Nursing Education
Reflecting on the significant changes in nursing education, Turner highlighted the growth of online education as an important milestone for Duke. “Duke was one of the earliest nursing schools to explore online education,” said Turner.
At the time, there was a concern that advanced practice nurses were going to schools in urban environments and were not returning to rural and underserved areas. Online education was a solution to this challenge. But there was a perception that online education was subpar, and the School sought to change that with a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
“We showed that it was excellent [education] with our pass rates on the board certifications. I think that that was one of the major turning points in the school of nursing's evolution, and that was due to Mary Champagne and her innovation to pursue that,” she said.
The expansion of nurse practitioner programs and the recognition of the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree were also important additions for the School. “Most medically related disciplines like dentistry, physical therapy and pharmacy had a practice doctorate, and nursing did not have one. Nursing only had a research doctorate,” she said. “Having a practice doctorate really brought us up to the same level as the other disciplines in education.”
Research in nursing education is another area of change, said Turner. She explained, “The original PhD programs were designed to prepare faculty so that faculty could teach. They really weren’t research intensive. Now they are research intensive PhD programs, and the goal is to prepare a researcher, whether they’re in an academic setting or the service sector or industry.”
The transformative impact of simulation has also had an impact on nursing education. “Simulation, especially with high-fidelity mannequins, has really changed the way we teach nurses,” said Turner. “Before we started simulation, it was very rudimentary. We'd practice giving injections into an orange,” she said. “In simulation, we’re able to experience infrequent high-risk scenarios. You might never, in all your clinical practice have a cardiac arrest, but we can simulate it time after time, so you are prepared when you go into practice.”
Looking back at her time at Duke, Turner is proud of Duke’s innovative programming. “To me, innovation is about trying to make education accessible to the students that need it,” she said. “That's why simulation is so important. That's why online education is so important. That's why different kinds of programs that allow students to work and still come to school are important.”
Turner stayed at Duke because of this unique opportunity to be innovative. “Duke provides the environment in which you can be creative, entrepreneurial, and has the resources that allows you to do that.”