A native of El Segundo, California, senior Emily Roberts has two passions: nursing and traveling. Crossing the country to attend the University of New Hampshire was only the first step for this dual nursing and international affairs major. Since beginning her collegiate career, Emily has constantly searched for new ways to satisfy her interests. Over the winter of 2006, Emily traveled to Guatemala with the Department of Nursing, and in the summer of 2006, she participated in a student volunteer group that worked in the Dominican Republic. Through a fellow volunteer’s professor, Emily made contact with a family from Uganda, and a new adventure was set into motion. After receiving a grant from the International Research Opportunities Program (IROP), Emily left UNH for Uganda in May 2007 to research the role of the nurse. She had no idea that during her ten–week stay she would spend her days not just researching Ugandan nurses but actually becoming one.
After graduating in May 2008 with a B.S. in nursing, Emily plans to continue her world travels. She has already made arrangements to return to Uganda this fall to visit the host family she stayed with in 2007 and to work in the health center where she conducted her research. Eventually, Emily hopes to get a PhD in the nursing field, but until then she is enjoying her travels and the new perspectives they give her on what it means to be a nurse.
Gene Harkless, DNSC, ARNP, is an associate professor in the Department of Nursing. She is a family nurse practitioner who has taught at the University of New Hampshire since 1985, focusing her research on evidence–based practice and clinical decision making. Mentoring IROP students is one of her scholarly passions and helps enrich her own international work in Norway and Ghana.
Dr. Harkless is keen to spread the word about the power of the undergraduate international research experience. “For past IROPers, it has been life–changing. They create a whole new lens through which to see the world. In fact, it may be more like a kaleidoscope—their world views take on texture and complexity that begets new questions,” Harkless says. “Students such as Emily are treasures. Emily came to UNH after a year’s immersion in France and knew from day one that she was going to complete a dual major in international affairs and nursing, even though no one had ever done this. Going to Uganda gave Emily the opportunity to challenge herself both academically and personally. Not only did she conduct her study of nurses’ triage work in rural Uganda, she lived in a small village in which the local language is not familiar and where women hold a different status from our Western expectations. Now that is an adventure. Amazing. As for me, I get to work with brave and smart students like Emily and watch the alchemy create a budding scholar."
To read articles written by other students Dr. Harkless has mentored, visit the following:
- Well Child Health Care in Wales: A Change of Setting, a Shift of Power
- “My Mind Is Like a Dark Storm Cloud”: Observations and Experiences in Norwegian Dementia Care
Read Emily Roberts’ research article Nursing in Uganda: My Summer of Unexpected Discoveries >>
