A nationally renowned leader in the nursing field, Dean Marion Broome became dean of the School of Nursing this past August. Her research expertise is in treatment of pain in children, but she has had a variety of administrative appointments as well at Indiana University and elsewhere. She recently spoke with Duke Nursing magazine about her career and her hopes for the school.
When did you first realize you wanted to become a nurse?
I was only 7 years old when I read a series of novels about a nurse called Sue Barton. She started as a student nurse and actually did every kind of nursing you could possibly imagine, and I never changed my mind after that. I can remember my father really encouraging me to go to medical school, but I just knew that the care aspect, the time with the patients, was something that I was incredibly interested in. I did the typical candy striping during high school, and that just reinforced it. I worked with some amazing nurses at the VA, who really encouraged me and were wonderful role models. Honestly, I have never wished that I had chosen another profession.
What are your early impressions of the School of Nursing?
What has struck me the most since I decided to be dean here is that when I told people I was going to be dean at Duke University School of Nursing, the uniform response was, ‘that is such a wonderful school!’ Even my nieces and nephews were like, ‘that is awesome.’ That says so much about what’s here, which frankly, I still have to fully discover. It’s not until you’re here and you’re talking with students about their experience that you really get a sense of how the faculty go over and above. There is a level of energy in this building that you can’t deny. That means that people are engaged, and when people are engaged in an organization magic happens.
Do you have plans for what you would change at the school?
I think this is the time, with a new chancellor coming, with a new dean here, with new faculty continuing to come, with the staff expanding, and the questions about whether the student body should expand, I think it’s a good time to just pause, continue the conversations, and continue the self-reflection. What is it that this school does that is unique or that only a handful of schools do? What are the strengths that we currently have and should we build on those, or are there areas we can expand? Or are there areas that we already have that we want to strengthen, and are there new areas we want to take on? If there are, why is that important?
When you have those conversations, you engage a lot of people, and frankly, anything you take on has to have the engagement of people. I’ve learned that collective wisdom is amazingly powerful. I think we know that when [new chancellor Dr. A. Eugene Washington] arrives and with the health care system dramatically changing over the next several years, there are going to be a lot of opportunities to lend the School of Nursing’s weight in terms of solving some of the challenges.
What would people be surprised to learn about you?
Two things. One is I am a rabid county music fan. I love the stories; the music has always resonated with me. For some reason that really surprises people. And then the other thing is my military career. People also don’t think of that first when they think of me. It was an amazing experience that really shaped my leadership and helped my confidence. I owe that to the military.