Murphy Award winner: Cynthia Bozich Keith

April 15, 2014  


Cynthia Bozich Keith

Cynthia Bozich Keith, clinical associate professor of nursing. (Purdue University photo/Mark Simons)
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Five exceptional teachers have been selected as recipients of the 2014 Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Awards in Memory of Charles B. Murphy. This week, Purdue Today will feature a profile on each of the recipients. This profile focuses on Cynthia Bozich Keith, clinical associate professor of nursing.

Shaping her students' interest in psychiatric health into sharp clinical skills and professional, compassionate and respectful attitudes toward patients is Cynthia Bozich Keith's passion.

It follows, then, that she considers teaching in a clinical setting as well as in the classroom the best of both worlds. In the former, Bozich Keith encourages students to put themselves in patients' shoes and empathize with their struggles. In the latter, she employs weekly journals, group sharing, role-playing exercises and more to help students translate caring into top-notch nursing care.

"I really want my students to think and not just do," Bozich Keith says. "In a variety of ways, I guide students to develop adaptive thinking and behavior.

"I encourage them to identify patients' strengths as well as their mental health struggles. As students develop and refine their ability to translate their skills into action, they learn to see the commonalities we all have as people -- and that sort of universal thinking is essential to nursing care."

To ensure that her students learn as much as possible from their clinical experiences, Bozich Keith challenges them to accept clinical assignments that will challenge them and therefore help them grow.

She also promotes hands-on learning activities, such as an overnight volunteer experience at a homeless shelter. There, Bozich Keith's students learn more about the factors that contribute to homelessness and persistent mental illness, as well as the biases and stigmas associated with such at-risk populations.

Additionally, at the end of each clinical period, Bozich Keith holds conferences with her class in which students reflect upon their accomplishments, their challenges and how they might approach difficult situations differently in the future.

In the classroom, in addition to other nontraditional teaching methods, Bozich Keith incorporates film, music, art and history to provide examples of teachable life experiences. After all, she says, media sources shape how mental illness is viewed, and students will frequently encounter those views once they enter the realm of professional nursing.

"My students are asked to consider the stereotypes, stigmas, and legal and ethical dilemmas portrayed in assigned movies, and they must consider how their increased knowledge has affected their response to the film," Bozich Keith says.

"Through this blending of liberal arts with scientific evidence, students experience nursing education through a holistic framework. It helps prepare them to be excellent nursing professionals, and that's always my goal."

Writer: Amanda Hamon Kunz, 49-61325, ahamon@purdue.edu

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