Table of Contents
First Lady Helps Celebrate Nursing
School’s
Dedication to Excellence
UT Health Science Center at Houston President James T. Willerson, M.D., greets Texas First Lady Anita Perry at the Community Open House for the School of Nursing and Student Community Center. Photos by Ground Zero Photojournalism
As she toured the new School of Nursing and Student Community Center, Texas First Lady Anita Perry said she and Governor Rick Perry are thrilled by the national recognition The University of Texas School of Nursing at Houston has received.
In a prelude to the building's Oct. 29-30 open house, Anita Perry, who was trained as a nurse, spoke briefly to nursing faculty, students and staff.
"What is heart-warming," she said, "is how this school has progressed and, more importantly, led in meeting the needs of our ever-changing medical field. Today we're not just celebrating these new walls and this floor and the new coats of paint in this incredible building, but also we're celebrating a symbol of passion and dedication to excellence."
Recalling helping her father, a rural health physician, while she grew up in central Texas, Perry said, "I remember listening to the nurses' conversations and watching them interact with patients and patients' families. I learned the greatest lesson at an early age - that nurses not only dispense information and medication to their patients, but also comfort on both the physical and emotional levels.
Texas First Lady Anita Perry listens to the chest of a "virtual patient," a lifelike, computer-driven patient simulator. Erica Yu, left, is the simulation lab coordinator at the UT School of Nursing at Houston.
"Many times it is indeed the nursing staff that defines a patient's experience," she said. "When you have nurses who are proud of and motivated about their work, you have patients who are satisfied with their experience, no matter what the situation was that brought them there."
Students, faculty and staff from throughout the UT Health Science Center at Houston, alumni of the School of Nursing, donors, friends from throughout the Texas Medical Center, and nursing administrators from hospitals in southeast Texas attended the community open house.
Continuous live entertainment and refreshments added to the festivity. Docents pointed out interesting features that make the award-winning building environmentally responsible and a "green" or sustainable building.
By Ina Fried, Public Affairs