Jeff Eavey remained on his job as a nurse-manager at the University of Virginia while completing his MSN in by taking the quickest possible path of 24 months. “I chose EMU because of its faith-based approach,” he said, noting that the institution where he works offers a number of routes for nurses to earn master’s degrees.

“I like EMU’s servant-leadership perspective, the way it applies Micah 6:8 [to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God].”

EMU’s MSN program offers two concentrations: (1) leadership and management and (2) leadership and school nursing. Launched in 2010, this program combines personal relationships among the students and professors, with an underlying philosophy that nursing should be based on a “sacred covenant.”

“Our covenant encompasses agape love, grace, justice, presence, reconciliation, empowerment, partnership, service and advocacy,” said Arlene Wiens, the now-retired chair of EMU’s nursing department, who nurtured this MSN from concept to launch.

Servant Leadership with Love

“I had worked in nursing leadership for a number of years before coming to EMU in 1996,” she added. “And I gradually came to realize that EMU’s mission to develop ‘servant leadership,’ imbued with grace and agape love, is quite different from most nursing programs and is really needed.”

Wiens and her departmental colleagues found ways for this Internet-facilitated form of graduate study to be intimate, mutually supportive, and relevant to each person’s work situation, said several members of the first MSN class.

MSN graduate Lois Olney, who spent nine years as director of nursing in two long-term care facilities in southeastern Pennsylvania before embarking on full-time graduate studies, checked into several widely advertised online master’s degree programs for nurses, backed by nationally recognized names, before settling upon EMU’s. “I liked EMU’s global perspective, and I thought it was respected [in her home region]. It was also more cost-effective than the others.”

Olney’s sister chose one of the big-name online institutions for her graduate degree, and they got to compare their experiences. “My sister missed the human-touch component that I got at EMU. She did not feel her professors cared about her. EMU started us off with an ethics course; hers came at the end. This speaks volumes to me.

Wholistic Perspective

“I have a more wholistic perspective. I grew as a person as well as a professional. Arlene, , , , , , [referring by first name to some of her professors] – all were inspiring to me. They had a high level of maturity, of emotional intelligence. They cared, seeing me through some rough times.

“Every single class I took helped me. It made me wonder, ‘How did I do it [lead others] before?’ The readings and books were so good, I haven’t let go of any of them yet.” Unique aspects of EMU’s approach, said Olney, was a focus on “who you are and self-awareness,” along with lessons in how to transform workplace conflict and to foster the growth of each team member.

“To bring the dignity of each of our patients back and to deliver better care, we need to first take care of each other as humans, nurses and healthcare workers,” said Olney, who began the program at age 46. “EMU gave me the tools and inspiration I needed to be that kind of leader.”

Before settling on EMU, Roxanne Harris also weighed other master’s degree programs, focusing on several that were state-supported, namely UVa’s, Old Dominion University’s and James Madison University’s. As a Virginia resident, the state-supported programs would have cost her about 25 percent less, but she felt “EMU’s values were very, very important to me.”

Nursing as Ministry

“As soon as I met [EMU nursing professor] , I felt peace. If this is where God wanted his money to go, that’s where it would go. Nursing is my ministry. I could speak and write openly of this at EMU.” Harris is the maternal child health program educator at , serving a semi-rural area between Harrisonburg and Charlottesville.

The graduate who studied from the farthest distance was Cheeri Barnhart of Rickreall, Ore., who earned her bachelor’s degree from EMU in 1977 and whose two daughters, Eliza and Ellie, graduated from EMU in 2009 and 2011, respectively. When professor Gloria Rhodes invited the class to have a get-together on campus in the spring of 2011, Barnhart flew in to join the people she had come to regard as friends from months of online discussions.

Though the program is set up as a two-year track, EMU gives students the option of pursuing the degree as a part-time student for 48 months, depending on individual needs. Prospective students, who are encouraged to submit their applications online at , must have a minimum of one year of full time work as an RN, a license to practice, a bachelor’s degree in nursing or another major from an accredited university, and a GPA of 3.0.

Contributing to Home Institutions

The MSN semester begins with a one-day orientation on campus, during which MSN students meet their professors and fellow students, become familiar with the online system, and begin their first class. From there, the MSN students can complete their work entirely via the Internet with some synchronous web-based class meetings. Some courses include practicum work hours. Most students complete the practicum as projects in their work settings, thus contributing to their home institutions. Nurses in the school track, for example, would focus on high school, elementary school, or children with special needs.

During a graduation celebration held Oct. 7, 2012, the graduates spoke briefly on their individual capstone projects. MSN co-directors Hershberger and gave the welcome and opening prayer, followed by a hymn and reflection by Wiens. Department chair , along with faculty members and , presented the students’ diplomas.

Graduation concluded with a commissioning by graduate dean and a benediction from . “Graduation was wonderful,” said Cynthia Hudson, clinical manager of cardiac rehab at in Pennsylvania. “My family was so impressed with the dean and president being there to acknowledge us. It was also great to see my peers in the cohort.”

Student numbers in MSN have risen sharply over the program’s two-year existence, with 33 students now enrolled, including one studying from Guatemala.

Nearly 800 congregations, schools, and groups in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., have declared that they are holding an . Sixty-five of these communions will be in Virginia. The Virginia list includes Baptist, Episcopal, Methodist, and Mennonite churches, including these in the Harrisonburg area: Community Mennonite, Lindale Mennonite, Park View Mennonite, Weavers Mennonite, and Zion Mennonite.

Election day chapel and communion on campus

At EMU there will be an election-day chapel on Nov. 6 at 11 a.m. in Martin Chapel of the seminary building, with an election-day communion in the evening at 6:30 p.m. in the same location. Brian Gumm, distance learning tech analyst at EMU, has posted to his Restorative Theory blog.

Mark Schloneger, Kevin Gasser and Ben Irwin, EDC’s organizers, set a target of having 100 participating groups represented from all 50 states. Among the participants are ��ݮ���� (EMU) and its .

Building unity out of diversity

Schloneger is a 2005 MDiv alumnus of Eastern Mennonite Seminary and pastor at in Goshen, Ind. Four years ago, Schloneger led a communion service on Election Day at in Waynesboro, Va. The church’s youth group created signs such as “Change You Can Believe In” and “Put the Kingdom First.”

“The purpose of Election Day Communion is to build our unity in and allegiance to Christ in the midst of theological, political, and denominational differences,” says Schloneger. “Some people misunderstand this campaign by thinking it is a statement that we need to keep politics out of the church so that we can focus instead on what’s really important, but that’s not how I think about it.

“Politics belongs in the Church because we are to place all things – all things –under the Lordship of Jesus. Of course, when we do that, our political passions and practices will look very different.”

Schloneger’s alternative vision is for “spaces all over the country” where people can come and declare their faith and allegiance to Christ over that of their diverse political beliefs. The leaders stress, however, that the movement is not meant to encourage abstinence from voting or to discourage political involvement.

‘We as the church, the body of Christ, are called to work together’

“The idea for Election Day Communion came from a sense that American politics have become too divisive, particularly within the church,” states Kevin Gasser, a 2008 Eastern Mennonite Seminary grad and pastor of the . The third movement leader, Ben Irwin, is an Episcopalian writer in Grand Rapids, Mich.

“The Bible is full of teachings and examples of how we as the church, the body of Christ, are called to work together, in spite of our differences, for the Kingdom that Jesus came proclaiming and inviting others to participate in,” says Gasser. In this way, EDC is reaching for ways to bridge the human-made chasms created by politics.

“I think it’s very scary to mix the church with politics, because depending on which side you’re on, it alienates other people in the church,” said , professor of at EMU. She is a long-time voter and chair of a legislative group representing nurses. She has canvassed for political candidates, including for her husband (a member of the Harrisonburg City Council).

Wiens hopes that Election Day Communion will not replace responsible voting, even though she was raised in a “plain” Mennonite community where everyone was expected to steer clear of politics up to and including not voting. She believes both religious and civic duties are important; however, Wiens has some discomfort when the two are combined in a communion. Furthermore, she believes that the election process is by nature competitive and secular, while communion is a sacred commemoration of the life of Christ.

Weins says she came to understand the importance of government – and thus the importance of choosing who guides the government – when she did some time with in Harlan County, Kentucky, where husband David Wiens, also a Mennonite, worked with those who had substandard housing. It was there the couple saw and experienced overwhelming poverty and the needs of a community.

Previously, David was employed in Reading, Pa., in child protective services. “Most of the aid for children was either county, state, or federal aid… that’s who takes care of those people,” she says. “I am in health care, and I don’t know what we’d do without Medicare and Medicaid.” No non-profit or church alone can meet the overwhelming needs of impoverished peoples, she adds.

Phil Kniss ’92, MDiv ’95, fully supports the EDC’s campaign as pastor of in Harrisonburg, Va., for the last 16 years. “What I really appreciate about the Election Day Communion is that the emphasis is on the communion, on the Eucharist, on that very tangible symbol of Christ’s broken body and blood. That really in a very symbolic way represents the central reality that we gather around as a church. I can’t think of anything better to do.”

Kniss believes that the church represents the political spectrum of the United States; however, despite having people arrayed from one end of the spectrum to the other, the church is still a community of people with ideals shaped by faith and the example that Christ gave of how to relate to one another and how power is used.

With that in mind, Kniss wants to discourage the division caused by political tension, and keep in mind the idea of allegiance and holding up loyalty to the kingdom.

“While these other issues that affect the country are important, what’s most important is that we’ve positioned ourselves properly towards Christ the King.” Celebrating communion is how Kniss believes Christians can redirect their loyalties to Christ as the purest example of a political entity, whose sacrificial love and reconciliation blankets the agendas and transcends political platforms.

“Politics are not an excuse for us to stop following Jesus and loving others,” Gasser says. “Instead, I hope we can use this opportunity to be a witness to others of a better way, a better kingdom, and a better King.”

More information

Eastern Mennonite Seminary will host an election day chapel on . The election day communion will take place at , hosted by .

The parish nursing course is sponsored by EMU’s Adult Degree Completion Program (ADCP).  The course is offered to any registered nurse or upper-level nursing student in an RN nursing education program.

“Parish nurses address the physical, mental and spiritual aspects of people – not seeking to separate the parts from the whole,” said Tammy Kiser, MSN, EMU assistant professor of nursing. “The role of each parish nurse is different as the needs of the faith community determine the areas of the nurses’ focus.”

‘Educator, Counselor and Advocate’

Arlene G. Wiens, PhD, chair of EMU’s nursing department, said parish nursing “sees the roles of the community health nurse as health educator, counselor, advocate and referral agent in a faith-based setting.”

Wiens said that the course “is based on the accepted philosophy and practice of parish nursing and examines the roots of health and healing found in many religious traditions.” Wiens noted that “critical thinking strategies, such as Socratic questioning, will be used to analyze the spiritual dimension of health and healing for the practitioner as well as clients being served.

For more information contact Tammy Kiser at 540-432-4166; tamela.kiser@emu.edu.

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"I think sometimes I’m living in a dream," says Maitland, 43, who often returns to visit old friends at ��ݮ����’s . "I did things backwards, but I have no regrets."

Soon after 1983 graduation from Harrisonburg High School, then-Debbie Albright became the single mother of a son and daughter. At first she had to stay home frequently with her son, born with hemophilia and frequently hospitalized. (Now, at 24, he’s doing well).

Debbie Maitland: ‘She has turned heads with her outstanding service to patients and co-workers.’
Photo by Jim Bishop

She followed her mother, Betty Albright, into custodial work for physical plant – starting in 1995, leaving to marry Jim Maitland, then returning in 1997 to work full-time for six years. Plant director C. Eldon Kurtz describes her as "very pleasant, gregarious and hard-working."

First to Attend College

Discovering that EMU allows full-time staff one tuition-free course per semester, she jumped at the opportunity, becoming first in her family to attend college.

"When a class took 50 minutes, I would stay after for that much time" working, she says, calling supervisors "very supportive."

Kurtz likes to see staff gain education "even if it means we lose them."

Ever since her son’s early medical crises, Maitland says "I knew I wanted nursing" as a career. By spring 2003, she’d completed general degree requirements plus some coursework. She and Jim agreed it was time for her big plunge: quitting her job (except for work-study) to enroll full time.

A Challenging Decision

She faced mixed challenges: "being a student, being a mom, being a wife. Nursing requires a lot. Other lives are in your hands." Her initial discomfort among younger classmates dissolved as she discovered "They admired me for what I was doing."

She adds, "The faculty is just awesome. They want you to succeed." Violet Horst, Ann Hershberger and Arlene Wiens sent the clear message, "If you need help, my door is open."

In a class essay for Hershberger, Maitland thanked God "for loving me and understanding me when I myself sometimes find it difficult to do either." She also credits support from Jim (a Harrisonburg bus driver) and her parents and children.

At times, "I said, I can’t do this," but her children said "Yes you can." Following her EMU graduation (coinciding with a sister’s graduation from community college), "They threw one heck of a party."

After successfully completing nursing board exams in 2006, Maitland expected to seek a nursing home job until a friend advised, "don’t sell yourself short." That friend suggested Rockingham Memorial Hospital, where Maitland received an offer the day after applying. She remembers the date – June 12, 2006 – when she started on 3 East, a renal dialysis ward that also accommodates medical-surgical and telemetry (heart monitoring) patients.

Honored by Peers

At a staff party this May, Maitland was astonished to hear her name called – one of seven chosen to receive a trophy. Hers bears a star, her name and the inscription, "RMH Teamwork All Star 2007." She had been nominated by the director of nursing and her supervisor, who cited her willingness to come in whenever called on days off.

"I cried," Maitland says. The employee newsletter notes that in her first year, "She has turned heads with her outstanding service to patients and co-workers."

Maitland averages 100 hours per two weeks on her night shift – yet makes time to enjoy her two infant granddaughters, both living in Grottoes, Va.

On her ward, she insists, "The five or six patients I’m assigned to are not my only patients." She spends extra time with those who lack visitors, and helps any who have needs — always assuming "When they say they have pain, they have pain."

Caring for many terminal patients, Maitland must accept that "You get to know them and then they go to another life." Yet when a patient recovers promisingly and goes home, "That’s my reward. Not the paycheck."

Chris Edwards is a free-lance writer living in Harrisonburg.

Mary Deputy Brubaker, 92, who helped start the nursing program at ��ݮ����, died Oct. 5, 2006, at Rockingham Memorial Hospital. She was a resident of the Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community (VMRC).

Brubaker taught 10 years at the Rockingham Memorial Hospital School of Nursing before coming to EMU in 1962 to teach nursing to students who attended hospital nursing diploma programs but also wanted a university degree.

Brubaker “was instrumental in shaping the basic nursing collegiate program which admitted its first class the fall of 1966, serving as interim educational director until 1968 when a doctorally-prepared nurse took over the program,” noted Arlene G. Wiens, current chair of EMU’s . “It was Mary Deputy’s vision and hard work that made the collegiate program possible,” she said.

Brubaker was a member of the class of 1932 at the former Eastern Mennonite School. She later earned an RN and master’s degrees from the University of Pennsylvania.

She served 20 years as archivist of the “Old Grads,” those persons who graduated from EMU 50 or more years ago. The group is now called the “Jubilee Grads.”

She was a charter member of the Mennonite Nurses Association and its secretary for seven years. She was named Mennonite Nurses Association “nurse of the year” in 1977 and was a board member of the Virginia Lung Association for 30 years. She worked as a volunteer for the VMRC Auxiliary for 22 years.

On June 12, 1966, she married Jacob Brubaker. He preceded her in death Apr. 22, 1973. She was a member of and deaconess at Pike Mennonite Church, Harrisonburg.

Surviving are a brother, four stepdaughters and a stepson.

A memorial service was held Oct. 7 at VMRC with a private burial following.

“We of the EMU loved Mary

Cascadia Publishing House, Telford, Pa., has released a new book growing out of a major held Nov. 13-15, 2003, at ��ݮ����.

The 310-page paperback, “Viewing New Creations With Anabaptist Eyes,” investigates the promise and perils of current genetic biotechnology. The authors describe the factual bases of biotechnology in a popular format, bring up the ethical problems that emerge and provide ethical reasoning to meet those challenges.

The book was edited by , Daniel B. Suter professor of at EMU; , EMU ; and James C. Peterson, the R. A. Hope professor of theology and ethics at McMaster University Divinity College and a member of the University’s Research Ethics Board.

Authors include (in order of appearance): John D. Gearhart, James C. Peterson, Leslie G. Biesecker, Carole L. Cramer, Roman J. Miller, Conrad G. Brunk, LeRoy Walters, Beryl H. Brubaker, Ruth Swartz Cowan, Kabiru Kinyanjui, Carl D. Bowman, , Laura E. Powers, , Mike E. Baker, Lawrence E. Ressler, Randall L. Longenecker, Emerson D. Nafziger, Timothy S. Jost, Graydon F. Snyder, Joseph J. Kotva Jr. and Stanley M. Hauerwas.

“This work on bioethics comes with a passion for integrity,” notes Myron S. Augsburger, EMU president emeritus. “It does not claim to have all of the answers but does call us to a faith that seeks to think with God through ‘the truth as it is in Jesus.'”

The book is co-published with Herald Press, Scottdale, Pa., in association with EMU.

More information on the book is available at .

, chair of EMU’s , said the funds will provide a state-of-the-art computerized human simulator and other nursing-laboratory equipment which will enable nursing students at both schools to improve their patient care. Equipment to facilitate transporting the human simulator is part of the grant.

“Anthem will set up an intensive care area at EMU focused on the human simulator,” Dr. Wiens said. “EMU and BRCC officials will determine the best use of the additional health care technology that will be donated with the simulator.”

Nursing faculty at BRCC wrote a letter of support when EMU applied for the grant. Blue Ridge also hopes to use the simulator on their campus.

“We’re very excited about this simulator and expanding our partnership with EMU,” said BRCC nursing instructor Linda Edwards. “The simulator can be programmed to demonstrate real-life scenarios, which will better prepare our students to offer quality nursing care to their patients,” she added.

At EMU, the Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield grant supplements the Lisa Haverstick Fund and Endowment created by Lisa’s family. Ms. Haverstick, a 1991 nursing graduate, died in May of 2003. The Lisa Haverstick Memorial Nursing Laboratory is being established in EMU’s nursing department in her memory.

“EMU nursing majors, faculty, and alumni have generously contributed to the fund along with Lisa’s friends and coworkers,” Dr. Wiens said. “Both funds will provide equipment and computer software to help students acquire basic skills and refine their decision-making and critical thinking in simulated clinical situations,” she added.

“EMU faculty and students are excited about the possibilities this grant offers for us to better prepare nursing graduates for the technological world of health care,” Wiens said. “We are grateful to Anthem and appreciate their recognition of the importance of nurses in providing safe and effective care in hospital settings.”

The nursing program at EMU underwent a major physical exam and received a clean bill of health from a major accrediting body.

The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), Washington, D.C., granted the baccalaureate degree program full accreditation for a term of ten years, ending June 30, 2014.

The board determined that EMU’s nursing program met all accreditation standards with no compliance concerns, according to department chair Arlene G. Wiens.

The accreditation includes the “RN to BS” (registered nurse to bachelor of science degree) program offered through EMU’s Adult Degree Completion Program.

“This national recognition is especially encouraging in that it’s for the longest term possible,” Dr. Wiens said. “This agency permits greater freedom in the way we develop our curriculum and establish desired outcomes, but it also holds us to our very own high standards,” she added.

In its report, the visiting team noted that students “consistently spoke of faculty efforts to live out the mission and service philosophy of the Mennonite Church as well as that of the nursing department.” Students also noted that faculty treated them with respect while holding them to a high expectation level.

Health care administrators who were interviewed spoke of EMU students exhibiting “high moral values, strong communication skills, good critical thinking and broader views toward others.” Nursing graduates, they said, demonstrated self-confidence, a strong sense of values and culture.”

EMU’s nursing program is also accredited by the National League of Nursing and by the Virginia State Board of Nursing.

EMU currently has about 100 declared nursing majors or who intend to apply for nursing major status at the junior year level. Wiens noted a growth trend in the RN-BS program, in that nearly half of this spring’s nursing graduates were registered nurses who returned to earn a bachelor of science degree.