20 Years of Nursing: Dr. Rebecca Meyer reflects on growth, service and the future
As California Baptist University commemorates the College of Nursing’s 20th anniversary,
we are connecting with faculty, staff, students and alumni to reflect on their experiences,
the College’s growth and the impact of CBU nursing.
Dr. Rebecca Meyer, professor of nursing and director of the graduate nurse educator program, worked as a registered nurse for 24 years before becoming a full-time faculty member at CBU in 2010. Her nursing career has included caring for post-surgical adult patients and working in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.
“Once a nurse, always a nurse, so even after I started teaching full-time at CBU, I continued working per diem in the hospital setting and then switched my focus to community and public health nursing (trying to keep patients out of the hospital). I have been a nurse for 40 years, and Lord willing, I hope to continue to serve in that capacity for some time.”
Q: When you think back to the early years of the College of Nursing, what stands out most about how the program has grown and evolved?
A: When I started, we had only 5,000 students at CBU, and the nursing program was still fairly small. I wrote the original curriculum for the Family Nurse Practitioner Program (FNP), expanding our graduate enrollment. It was a big success, and enrollment in both grad and undergrad programs in the College of Nursing grew. Since then, I have co-authored the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Program, which was the first doctoral program approved on the CBU campus, as well as two other NP courses. The College of Nursing has helped other allied health programs navigate clinical placement issues and lab needs since we were often the first to face these issues.
Q: What inspired you to become a nurse educator, and what keeps you passionate about teaching today?
A: I was told long ago that I should be a teacher. I went into nursing instead, partly because I wanted to be able to get a job anywhere and serve anywhere. I served as a preceptor and mentor along the way, and nurses are constantly teaching their patients, so even before I was a nurse educator, I was required to teach. I would say that the Lord put the desire in my heart to teach those coming up behind me in the profession, and then opened doors I didn’t even know about. I have found that I love teaching and mentoring students in the classroom, online and in the community. I am blessed to teach across all College of Nursing programs, from undergrad through doctorate. It is fun to see the ways students learn and grow in each of our programs.
Q: How does the College of Nursing's Christian mission influence the way students are prepared to care for patients?
A: In the College of Nursing, we share with our students the belief that each person is worthy of dignity and respect, no matter their background. We emphasize caring, compassion and service so that students understand the importance of seeing the suffering and hurting patients as more than “the kidney patient in room 5.” We also focus on holistic care, not just the physical aspects of caring for people, but the spiritual, emotional and psychosocial aspects as well. We share our dedication to treating each person as a fellow image bearer of the Lord. I am blessed to train and lead teams of students every year to serve overseas through both ISP and academic service-learning opportunities that directly align with our department's mission statement. Students learn more about themselves during our program, how to serve others and how their professional knowledge allows them to be the hands and feet of Jesus.
Q: What qualities make CBU nursing students stand out?
A: Before I started at CBU, I was the hiring manager for my unit at Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC). CBU’s first group of nursing students arrived [at CHOC] for their rotation, and one of them decided to apply to work at CHOC after graduation. I was impressed by her heart to serve others, her willingness to come alongside hurting children and families, and her understanding of a biblical worldview and her commitment to living it out. She was professional in her demeanor, smart and willing to learn.
I think about her now as I continue to teach across programs — why would I want to hire these nurses? How can I help them be successful as they move toward their next level of education here at CBU? I find myself thinking, “these are the nurses who will be caring for me, so I want them to be the best possible nurses out there.”
Q: What opportunities excite you most for the future of nursing education?
A: I hope nursing education can flex with the advent of AI and other technological changes. Personally, I want nurses to remember to keep the human aspect of nursing at the forefront of their care. I think younger generations are better at finding the work-life balance, so we are seeing more mental health support and greater emphasis on personal well-being in nursing education. Nursing is hard, and burnout is real. The reason that I was able to work in the PICU for over 20 years was that the Lord provided everything I needed along the way, so I am glad that here at CBU, we are biblically rooted and focus on serving others. I hope that nursing education continues to find ways to keep students engaged and to uphold an innovative, evidence-based curriculum while maintaining a culture of integrity, professionalism and excellence.