PATRICIA HIGGINS
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Professor Patricia Higgins has been involved in the field of nursing since 1970. She was inspired to go into this field by those who cared for her father during a serious illness when she was a teenager. She attended the Henry Ford Hospital School of Nursing in Detroit, Michigan, to obtain her nursing diploma. She then practiced nursing in critical care, intensive care, and the emergency room. When asked about why she went into emergency treatment, Higgins conceded that she enjoyed the rush of adrenaline involved with quick care.
Higgins stopped practicing nursing in order to obtain her MSN and Ph.D. in nursing from the Francis Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University . When asked if she favored research, practicing, or teaching, Higgins reluctantly paused to ponder the question. She could not select one aspect of her career to define her. Even though she is not involved in emergency treatment anymore, she still considers nursing to be “pragmatic.” The unpredictability in research and development appeals to Higgins just as much as it surprises her. |
Right now, Higgins only teaches on the graduate level. She is proud to work with students who are settled into nursing as their goal. As a nurse scientist, she focuses on human behavior. To Higgins, a science has six major parts—curiosity, skepticism, ethics, rigor, planning, and interaction with the public domain.
The future of nursing is only improving, Higgins hopes. Nursing shortages across the United States have been widely reported, but enrollment In the School of Nursing is increasing. Within the next ten years, she predicts that the expected enrollment will be achieved quickly. Beyond Case, she thinks that nursing will experience more autonomy. She also hopes to see a nurse on a space shuttle.
Patricia Higgins's website can be found at this link.
Interview and article by Casey Hicks
