by Beth Dedman, B.A. ’20, member
We’re celebrating the nurses who have launched their careers after going through the Eleanor Mann School of Nursing here at the University of Arkansas. Here are just a few of the amazing health care workers who are making a difference in the Northwest Arkansas community and the world:
Chimdera Nzelu, B.S.N. ‘19
Chimdera Nzelu graduated from the Eleanor Mann School of Nursing in December 2019 and was hired at Arkansas Children’s Hospital Northwest in February 2020. Her skills were put to the test just a month later when COVID-19 surfaced, then became a full-blown pandemic.
She works as the night shift nurse on the Pediatric Medical-Surgical floor and cares for babies and children admitted with a wide range of health issues, including cancer, blood disorders, asthma, gastroenteritis, neurological disorders and those newly diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.
“My favorite thing is seeing their progression of care and watching them get better and get to go home,” Nzelu said. “It feels good to know the care I’m providing really makes a difference.”
Nzelu is also a mentor to University of Arkansas Nursing interns. During her own time in college, she was a part of the U of A Inspirational Chorale — and was crowned homecoming queen in 2019 after being nominated by the organization. She’s now a vocalist in the Maverick City Choir.
Learn more about Chimdera Nzelu here.
Erica Tempesta, B.S.N. ‘21
Erica Tempesta was earning a master’s degree in English from Johns Hopkins University when she became fascinated by why and how women make certain decisions during pregnancy and labor. She started researching the topic and decided to transition to work as a doula, someone who provides guidance and support to a woman during pregnancy, labor and the postpartum period.
“I was on the ground with people who were experiencing racial and economic inequality at a very important moment of their lives, and I felt much more useful and effective in that setting,” Tempesta said.
When she and her partner moved to Fayetteville, Tempesta expanded her own doula practice, Rooted Growth, to provide support to pregnant people and their families through pregnancy, as well as through loss or termination.
Tempesta was accepted into the University of Arkansas’ Eleanor Mann School of Nursing in 2019. She was then selected for the Arkansas Center for Nursing’s “BSN Young Leaders” program and was also awarded a grant from the U of A Humanities Center to investigate how ethics education among nursing students — as taught at the U of A and in schools around the United States — can be used to fight racial disparities when providing health care.
Learn more about Erica Tempesta here.
Dr. Heather Coats, Ph.D., APRN-BC, B.S.N. ‘96
As an oncology and palliative care nurse for 25 years, Dr. Heather Coats often saw patients’ beliefs, preferences and values ignored as they moved through the healthcare system.
Dr. Coats, an assistant professor at the University of Colorado College of Nursing and director of research for the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association, has received multiple grants from the National Institutes of Health to research a more person-centered approach. Dr. Coats said that clinicians who hear patients’ unique stories make better treatment decisions when those decisions are aligned with patients’ beliefs, preferences and values.
It’s important for both parties to remember that patients are not just the sum of their symptoms.
This approach provides opportunities for care partners and their patients to be heard and understood, allowing for more culturally sensitive care. The nurses and patients who participated in Dr. Coats’ research said this approach led to a deeper connection.
“For people and their families who live every day with serious illness, loss is inevitable,” Dr. Coats said, “but allowing a person to be heard and understood — even in the busy healthcare clinical environment — can improve a person’s psychological, social and existential well-being, even in the face of worsening physical health.”
Learn more about Dr. Heather Coats here.
