Student Profile | Terry Baker

Caring for husband inspired graduate to pursue nursing career

While caring for her ailing husband, Terry Baker learned that she had a natural talent for nursing. After her daughter became a registered nurse many years later, Baker knew it was time to pursue a career she would love.

Thirty-five years after graduating from high school, Baker received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree on Sunday, May 23, at the Collins Center on Baker University’s Baldwin City campus. For two years, the dedicated nursing student made the three-hour round-trip commute from her lifelong home in Council Grove to Stormont-Vail HealthCare to attend classes at Baker’s School of Nursing.

“I really wanted to achieve this goal,” Baker said. “I was fascinated with what my daughter learned when she went to nursing school and became a registered nurse, and what I learned about the health-care profession when my husband was ill.”

In 1997, Terri’s husband, Jeffry, died after a five-year battle with malignant melanoma, leaving her at home to care for a 13-year-old daughter, Brooke, and 7-year-old son, Morgan.

“In his time of need, I wanted to help my husband as much as I could with his health care,” Terri said. “I enrolled in a certified nurse assistant class to investigate if nursing was something I was interested in. I enjoyed the class and discovered I wanted to work in the medical field.”

Baker remained a stay-at-home mother until her son graduated from high school before beginning her nursing school experience.

“It takes stamina,” Baker said of raising two children as a single parent. “If you can go through that, you can go through anything. I could not have done it without the support I had from family and friends. I do have a lot of family support. My brothers gave a male influence to my son and I had a neighbor whose husband passed away. We were in similar situations and understood each other.”

All of her family, including her in-laws, joined her for the pinning ceremony on May 21 in Topeka and commencement on May 23 in Baldwin City.

“I am very fortunate to have immense support from my entire family,” Baker said. “They have helped in so many ways, from cooking and helping care for my children.”

Baker was attracted to the School of Nursing because of its connection to Stormont-Vail HealthCare and its reputation in pediatrics and neonatals. After graduating, she hopes to work in the pediatric department of a hospital or clinic.

Baker received support from her classmates during her two years of studies. Concerned at first about being a nontraditional nursing student, she quickly became familiar with her colleagues.

“I felt very well accepted,” said Baker, who completed her nursing prerequisites at area community colleges. “I served on lots of committees and have excellent interaction with other students. That helps with the bonding. You realize we’re all on the same boat.”

Baker thrived academically, recently inducted into Sigma Theta Tau International, the honor society for nursing. Undergraduate students must have a 3.0 grade-point average and rank in the top 35 percent of their class to qualify for membership.

Her instructors said Baker was conscientious and focused in completing her coursework and clinicals.

“She has a quiet leadership," said Bobbe Mansfield, an advanced registered practitioner and assistant professor who teaches community health at the nursing school.

For a nursing research project, Baker focused on melanoma, centering on the body’s exposure to tanning beds.

“I am interested in the caring part, the mechanics of the human body and what happens when a decline starts,” she said. “I want to know what can be done medically. I think my husband would be thrilled by this accomplishment.”

Student Profile | Katie Weyhrauch Yunghans

Graduate applies SON experience to Peace Corps assignment

Planning to serve two years on their Peace Corps assignment in Mauritania, Baker University alumni Katie Weyhrauch Yunghans and her husband, Mike Yunghans, were forced to evacuate as terror groups targeted Westerners in northwest Africa.

Katie, CAS ’03 and SON ’05, and Mike, CAS ’02, left the country in northwest Africa in August 2009, traveled abroad a month before returning home to Kansas, a year earlier than expected.

“We were very sad to leave, especially because the decision was made very suddenly and we didn’t have much opportunity to pack or say good-bye to our friends,” Katie said. “We never felt threatened at our site and in many ways we felt safer there than we do in the United States. However, we feel that it was the right decision to pull the volunteers out. Since our departure, several European aid workers have been kidnapped while traveling between cities in Mauritania.”

During her time as a Peace Corps volunteer, Katie performed community health assessments and coordinated health education projects. She often referred to the lessons she learned at the Baker School of Nursing, particularly in community nursing.

“A Peace Corps volunteer’s job is essentially a big “change project” – assess the community, find out the health needs, see where you might be able to make an impact, plan and implement the project,” she said.

Challenged during their time in the Sahara Desert, Katie had to learn local dialects to communicate. Conditions called for her to work on patients when gloves weren’t available for protection, adapt to situations when there was no reliable trash disposal or biohazard removal, and memorize names of medications using European pharmaceutical companies instead of American.

“It was very eye-opening to see that in terms of international health,” she said. “I realized I still have a lot to learn.”

Katie enjoyed regularly visiting a prenatal clinic and providing education to the health care professionals and the women who came to the clinic.

“In many cases, I ended up learning as much, if not more, than I taught,” she said. “ I worked with a local non-governmental organization that educated the community about smoking cessation and the harmful effects of tobacco on the body.”

Promoting friendship and world peace through cultural exchange is part of the Peace Corps’ mission. Katie enjoyed sharing her American stories with the new friends she encountered.

“I visited many people in their homes regularly and formed close friendships in my community,” she said. “I shared many of my experiences from the United States and learned a lot about Mauritanian views in return. Because most of the information Mauritanians get about America comes from our pop culture, such as TV shows and music videos, there were often misperceptions about what life is like in the U.S.”

After returning to the Kansas City area, Katie began working as a labor and delivery nurse in Kansas City. She plans to start graduate work this fall in a nurse-midwife program.

Katie always will remember the confidence she gained from the challenges she faced in the Peace Corps.

“I learned about my own culture and realized some of the beliefs and biases I didn’t even know I had,” Katie said. “I learned more about how I learn and process new ideas. I learned more about how to cope in difficult situations. I learned what it’s like to be a member of a minority, both racial and religious. The experience also helped me realize that I want to do more in international public health for the future of my career.”