Dr. Stephanie Turrise '95 is an accomplished nursing professional who has made significant contributions to the field of healthcare. She earned her BSN from Bloomsburg's Nursing Program and subsequently pursued a Ph.D., which has led her to her current role as Associate Director for Administration and Associate Professor at the University of North Carolina Wilmington's College of Health & Human Services.

Stephanie's journey to becoming an educator and researcher was not initially planned, but rather a natural progression of her skills and leadership qualities that were recognized by those around her. Her time as a first-generation undergrad at Bloomsburg's Nursing Program played a crucial role in preparing her to pursue further education and a career in teaching.

"I didn't always have aspirations to get into teaching and no desire to go back to school," Stephanie says. "It just worked out that way. And I think that goes back to my time as an undergrad at Bloomsburg. The Program exposed me to so much and set me up for a life-long learning journey, sparking my curiosity in ways I didn't even realize then."

During her time at Bloomsburg, Stephanie discovered an interest in research and learning about the specific types of patients she wanted to work with and illnesses she wanted to help treat. She credits some of those discoveries to working in a simulation-like setting.

She recently reconnected with the Nursing department at Bloomsburg and was inspired by their dedication to improving nursing education and healthcare through their fundraising efforts to build a new state-of-the-art Nursing Simulation Center on campus.

"We had some similar tools available to us back then, but nothing compared to what’s available today” Stephanie adds, “Seeing that Bloomsburg is investing in a new Simulation space tells me a lot about their dedication to nursing education and improving the future of nursing and healthcare, so I felt I needed to support that."

Click here to join Stephanie and make a gift to the College of Health Professions during our Huskies All-In Giving Challenge.