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| July 24th 2018 PhD in Nursing Dissertation Defense |
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
No one reaches their goals
in life without the help and support of others. I am no exception. As I reach
this milestone in my career, I want to thank God through whom all things are
possible. I want to honor some members of my family who have finished their
work here but whose lives have profoundly influenced mine. The original family
nurse, Helen Bounds Deese and her husband Owen Lafayette Deese, wonderful
grandparents that epitomized unconditional love. My mother Myra Helen Deese Bland
White whose toughness taught me to never quit; and my mother-in-law Martha
Bramlett Hiott, a gentile southern woman whose love, guidance, quiet strength
and faithfulness instilled in me the confidence to succeed. Lastly, I would
like to honor my dad, Dr. Maynard Bland, whose work ethic and devotion to
medicine intrigued me from a young age igniting my passion for nursing.
Thank you, Steve Hiott, my
husband of forty-two years whose love, stability and unwavering support of my
dreams is undeserved but appreciated; you kept me going long after I felt like
giving up. Thank you to my children, Wesley Celeste, Carrie, Jordan, Steven,
Nathan, Ian, and CeJay for supporting a dream that was not yours, a dream that
was demanding of my time and difficult to understand. Your faith in my success
was humbling; it often propelled me forward in my darkest moments of doubt. You
all are and will always be my greatest accomplishments in this lifetime. And
thank you to my grandchildren, Noah, Faith, Wyatt and Emme Kate, watching you
grow, explore and discover this world with unbridled enthusiasm fed my spirit
with hope and joy sustaining me during this arduous journey.
I am grateful to my cohort:
Candace, Carley, Crystal, Donna, JoAnna, Kim, Lana, Monica, Pat, Patty, and
Solange; other MUSC shining stars who inspired me, Julie, May, Fay, Felicia,
Toshua, Michelle, Jennifer, Michael, Lori, Novelette, Marvesh, and Dru. I
admire and appreciate the lessons we learned together; you all have a special
place in my heart. All our starting points were different, all our aspirations
were different but for this moment in time I learned personal and professional
wisdom that I will always value.
I am so appreciative to the
MUSC College of Nursing staff you often do not realize how instrumental a
simple email can be to change a student’s outlook for the day. Thank you,
Yolanda Long, your presence was a comfort and your assistance invaluable. I
want to express my gratitude to the research staff Toni Mauney, Leslie Bell,
Erica Ellington, and Stephanie Oppenheimer who guided me when I did not know
what I did not know. And to the writing center, thank you.
The passion and keen insight
shared by each professor has inspired me. I am still in awe of my original
advisor Dr. Marilyn Laken. Your sense of hard work and fair play emboldened me.
My chair, Shannon Phillips, has modeled a level of professionalism and
scientific thinking that I can only hope to attain. Elaine Amella, I hung on
your every word and email; your steady guidance and patience will always be
remembered. Dr. Martina Mueller and Mary, I so appreciate your encouragement of
my rudimentary statistical analyses. And thank you, Dr. Rushton for feeling
this study had merit.
For each faculty member that
taught me and pushed me to excellence, thank you: Dr. Stuart and Dr. Gilden,
amazing role models, Dr. Pope, Dr. Newman, Dr. Anderson, Dr. Cartmell, Dr.
Gregoski, Dr. Jenkins, Dr. Kellechi, Dr. Magwood, Dr. Nemeth, Dr. Dumas and the
late Dr. Spruill. I am honored to have learned from the best.
