March 5, 2010
When Julie Kuras was 5 years old she drew a picture of herself as a nurse.
That drawing now hangs on the wall of her office at Allan Hancock College where
Kuras is the coordinator of Nursing Assistant Programs and the health sciences
department chair.
Nursing Assistant Programs include Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA),
Certified Home Health Aide, Restorative Aide and EKG/Monitor Observer.
“I always felt like I was meant to be a nurse. There was never a time when I
wanted to be anything else,” Kuras said.
In recognition of her more than 30 years of service as a nurse and her
commitment to her students, Kuras is the 2010 recipient of the California
Community College Association for Occupational Education Excellence in Teaching
award.
She is the second Hancock instructor in as many years to receive the
prestigious award, a first,
according to the association. In 2009, welding instructor Rayvell Snowden
received the Excellence in Teaching award in recognition of his efforts in the
industrial technology department. While Kuras and Snowden teach in widely
different disciplines, what they have in common is their ability to inspire
their students.
“It would be hard to describe how wonderful a teacher Julie is,” said Ramona
Capen, a current licensed vocational nursing student and graduate of the CNA
program at Hancock. “She has so much experience and she cares so much for her
students. I really respect her.”
Kuras began her career when she was just 15 years old, as a nurse’s assistant
at a retirement home. She learned a tremendous amount about how to care for
patients, but without proper schooling, Kuras said, she also picked up some bad
habits. When she entered nursing school, she said she realized how much she
still had to learn.
“That experience instilled in me an appreciation for good training and
education that I try to pass on to my students,” she said.
Kuras started teaching at Allan Hancock College in 1978 while still working
full time as an emergency room and critical care nurse and a hospital supervisor
at Marian Medical Center. She enjoyed teaching so much that in 1990, Kuras
became a full-time instructor at Hancock and took over the leadership of the
small CNA program.
Through Kuras’ dedication and hard work, the program thrived and eventually
became one of the largest in the state, with near-perfect pass rates on the
state clinical exams.
“I genuinely believe that Julie Kuras is the model of excellence in career
technical education,” said Paul Murphy, dean, Academic Affairs.
The nursing ladder training program that Kuras helped to develop now
graduates 30-40 trained licensed vocational nurses and registered nurses each
year. Each of these graduates started out in the CNA program and was encouraged
to carry on with their education by Kuras and the faculty and staff in the
nursing program.
As students continue to graduate at nearly perfect rates from the program
that Kuras helped to create, Kuras isn’t resting on her laurels. The medical
field is always changing and she is determined to change with it. Kuras recently
helped re-write the entire medical assisting curriculum at Hancock to improve
its completion rates even further and address the needs of local physicians.
“It’s an ongoing process, especially in health careers, because medicine
changes so quickly and we have to stay current,” she said.
While change is necessary and the curriculum is always on her mind, Kuras
said that the best part of her job will always be working with students.
“We get students fresh off the street in the CNA program and we really get to
mold them and prepare them for a career in nursing. It’s a joy to see their
confidence grow and to witness the transformation in them from their first day
as a CNA student to their graduation as an RN,” Kuras said.
Capen was one of those students, fresh off the street with her GED in hand
and a desire to make a career for herself when she entered the CNA program.
Kuras saw potential in her, Capen said, when she, Capen, sometimes had doubts.
Now she is planning to go all the way through the nursing program at Hancock and
become a registered nurse.
“Julie helped me realize that I’m in the right place,” Capen said. “I am
meant to be a nurse.”
- AHC -