“I always wanted to teach,” says Dr. April Morgan, Associate Dean of Nursing. “When I was younger, I would line up my stuffed animals with my brothers in between, and I would teach them with my workbook pages.”
But when her father fell ill with cancer, her career path changed.
And that is exactly what she did. Dr. Morgan’s journey to becoming a nurse started at Seton Hall University, where she went to school for nursing and obtained her bachelor’s degree. While in her degree program, she began working at a local hospital, where she was able to gain hands-on learning experience in the field.
Being a nurse came natural to Dr. Morgan, as she had a true passion for helping others, just as she saw others help her dad. But teaching was still in the back of her mind—and she was determined to achieve her ultimate dream.
“Since nursing was going so well for me and I was really enjoying the work, I told myself that teaching would just be my retirement gig,” says Dr. Morgan. “But when I worked in the ICU, I met a nurse who encouraged me to start teaching sooner rather than later. So, I went back to school to get my master’s degree in nursing education.”
Dr. Morgan graduated from Walden University with her master’s degree, eager to hit the ground running. Luckily, a teaching opportunity fell in her lap.
“That same nurse who worked with me in the ICU contacted me and asked if I wanted an adjunct teaching position. So, I took the job and fell in love with it.”
Now, almost 13 years later, Dr. Morgan teaches nursing courses and oversees all nursing programs at the College as associate dean. “In this role, I get to lead, teach, and most importantly, help people. I feel like I’m making an impact, and it’s incredible.”
Before assuming the role as associate dean, Dr. Morgan was a full-time nursing professor, teaching the nursing fundamentals courses to first-semester students in the program.
“I loved leading the fundamentals course because I got to teach students a new language. Everything is new and fresh to them at that point, and it was fun to see their lightbulbs go off in class,” she says.
Though currently, most of her daily tasks are administrative, Dr. Morgan still loves getting in front of the classroom and values the time she had as a full-time professor.
For Dr. Morgan, what makes Germanna a special place to work is the faculty and students, who prove to be resilient in the face of uncertainty. This was evident when COVID-19 struck, drastically changing traditional education as we knew it.
“As a nursing professor, the pandemic drastically affected my classroom,” says Dr. Morgan. “Initially, hospitals limited their availability and nursing homes shut their doors to students, so students were unable to complete their clinicals that semester.”
As a result, Dr. Morgan and the rest of the nursing and health technologies faculty worked to create new and innovative ways to teach their students. “We came up with labs and simulation models that could be delivered online, which was something we’d never done. Our clinical partners collaborated with us, expanding their availability to get students caught up in clinical. It was really amazing what we were able to do for our students and how our students overcame so many obstacles to graduate.”
Dedicated to her profession and to caring for others, Dr. Morgan is proud of the work that she does and wouldn’t trade it for the world.
“In my role at Germanna, I get to support students in reaching their dream of becoming a nurse. As a nurse, myself, I love being a part of patients’ lives at every step. And having the opportunity to introduce that to my students is rewarding.”