Alumni News

Tom Lehman

Recent Accelerated BSN graduate, Tom Lehman traveled to Chile to work with Operations Sunrise, a medical team helping children with cleft palates. Tom accompanied Dr. James Lehman, his father and noted plastic surgeon, on surgical trips to Chile in 1999, 2000 and 2001, but this is the first time he provided important assistance as a nurse.

Translating between the American doctors and the Chilean doctors and nurses and between the American doctors and the Chilean patients and their families was one major role Mr. Lehman fulfilled. He was also able to do a variety of things with his nursing training. He started IV's in the OR, scrubbed in on a few operations and served as a scrub nurse, handing instruments to the surgeons.

He also spent a good portion of his time as a circulation OR nurse, getting supplies for the surgeons and the scrub nurses. He also placed bandages and dressings on the surgical sites, assisted the Chilean nurses and doctors in completing the charting on each case and transported the patients to the OR before the operations and then to the recovery room after the operations.

At The University of Akron School of Nursing, Tom has also established a nursing scholarship in memory of his mother, Jacqueline Campbell Lehman.

Linda Pierce

Alumna Linda Pierce Ph.D, RN, CNS, CRRN, FHA, was recently selected as a 2010 Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing. She will be inducted at the Academy’s Annual Meeting and Conference, November 13, 2010 in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Pierce, a 1982 (BSN) and a 1986 (MSN) graduate of The University of Akron, joins a select group in the field of nursing. “Selection for membership in the Academy is one of the most prestigious honors in the field of nursing, “ said Academy President, Catherin L. Gilliss, DNSc, RN, FAAN. “Academy Fellows are truly experts. The Academy Fellowship represents the nation’s top nurse researchers, scholars, executives and practitioners.

Currently a Professor at the University of Toledo School of Nursing, Dr. Pierce is an internationally recognized expert in rehabilitation. She is a persuasive spokesperson for the field of rehabilitation and has received grants from NIH and other sources to conduct groundbreaking research that advances practice in rehabilitation and caregiver education. She also pioneered Caring-Web©, an Internet education support for caregivers of stroke survivors.

“I learned so much at The University of Akron College of Nursing, and really believe that the faculty, my peers and the curriculum helped to shape what I do today, which is to focus on families and rehabilitation nursing,” explains Dr. Pierce.