Carrie Jeffries, MPH, MS, RN, NEA-BC, ANP-BC, AACRN, AAHIVS, a 1994 graduate of Jewish Hospital College of Nursing, was the keynote speaker at Goldfarb's 2017 Summer graduation. This summer’s graduation ceremony, held on August 19, 2017, conferred degrees to 181 Goldfarb School of Nursing graduates. Carrie Jeffries, MPH, MS, RN, NEA-BC, ANP-BC, AACRN, AAHIVS, a 1994 graduate of Jewish Hospital College of Nursing, was the keynote speaker and welcomed the new cohort of nurses to her profession with some words about courage, respect and hard work, and the value of taking calculated risks.
At her own graduation from nursing school, when Jeffries received the first of many of her degrees, she recalled feeling confident that her “main focus was going to be solely on the patient.” As an O’Fallon, Missouri, resident, she couldn’t quite imagine that her career would take her to Africa and Asia; couldn’t know that she would work in the West Bank’s Gaza Strip or provide treatment for HIV-AIDS patients around the world. She couldn’t imagine that her career would embrace patient care and expand to include health education and public-health initiatives.
Jeffries encouraged our graduates to dream and imagine, to have courage and take risks. Quoting Confucius, Jeffries said, “Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising every time we fail.” She asked graduates to remember where they came from, to feel confident in the value of their Goldfarb degrees and to keep in mind that now, thanks to their education, they “have the skills to succeed.”
Jeffries also admonished graduates to think big. “The world is your playground and you never know where [a] calculated risk will take you,” she said. “I volunteered as an unpaid intern at the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland … [and] it paid off. I was accepted into public health school and had a successful international health career.” Jeffries also spoke about other risks that helped guide her career, leading her to work as an NP with wounded soldiers at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Taking risks, she added, allowed her to work her way “through the ranks at the Health Resources and Services Administration,” where she served in its HIV-AIDS bureau, overseeing a budget of $500 million.
Jeffries also made it clear that a successful and far-reaching nursing career depends on hard work and a commitment to treating others with respect and dignity. It’s based on the notion that actions do indeed speak louder than words. “If you use the critical thinking skills you have learned [at Goldfarb],” Jeffries said, “you can make any calculated risk work for you and, more importantly, our patients, who you have agreed to serve.”
Jeffries received a 2016 Distinguished Alumni Award from Goldfarb School of Nursing. We are proud of her accomplishments and honored that she was our keynote speaker. We wish her and our graduates great success in their nursing careers, whatever the challenges and wherever they serve.
