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Jane Kaufman Retires from SON

Jane Kaufman, a clinical associate professor at the School of Nursing, is retiring. She began teaching at SON in 1984 and later assumed the role of course coordinator of N364, the first adult health course taken by undergraduates.

She then completed the post-master’s ANP program at Duke, and began teaching in SON’s Nurse Practitioner program. Since 2001, Kaufman has practiced one day a week as a nurse practitioner in the Pulmonary Division at UNC Hospitals. Among other awards she received the 2010 Faculty of the Year Award from the SON, recognizing her teaching excellence and contributions to the School.

Kaufman says that one of the joys of her adult life has been watching the new undergraduate clinical students transform from being afraid to talk to patients to navigating the care of complex patients with a growing sense of confidence – all in one short semester. She also enjoys observing the similar journey that her nurse practitioner students take as they learn how to be the providers of tomorrow.

She personalizes large classes by using “getting to know you” folders that students fill with pictures and fun facts about themselves. “As I visit clinical sites in the various hospitals I encounter many former UNC grads who are now very successful unit nurses and clinicians, some of whom own their practices,” she says. “Students still remember me as ‘hard, but fair!,’ and  I challenge each class to be the best they can be for themselves and the nursing profession.”

Excellence in teaching requires creativity, enthusiasm, and ability to engage students in learning regardless of the size of the class. “These are characteristics that define Jane Kaufman’s teaching,” says Professor Marilyn Oermann, chair of the adult/geriatric health division. “She is a mentor and role model for faculty and is always available for the faculty members who teach in her courses. It is hard to imagine the School of Nursing without Jane Kaufman: She will be missed by all.”

Kaufman is moving to Philadelphia and will begin a teaching position at the University of Pennsylvania in the fall.