Margot Nelson
May 2021
Margot
Nelson
,
PhD, RN
Augustana University
Sioux Falls
,
SD
United States
Margot is credited with bringing a focus on technology into the classroom. When students worked with simulated models, professors would bring in cameras to film the students.
Margot served Augustana and its nursing department from 1969 and retired in 2012, and then came out of retirement to teach during the 2018-19 school year. “I flunked retirement,” Margot laughed. Despite dedicating decades of their lives to Augustana, Margot said she was stunned when her name was called to receive the DAISY Lifetime Achievement Award at Augustana’s Nurse Pinning Ceremony on May 21. Along with surprise was gratitude to be recognized by a department into which she poured her heart and soul. “It was humbling,” Margot said. “It’s a wonderful affirmation, surely, of colleagues’ and students’ respect for what I’ve done.”
Margot is an alumnus of Augustana, graduating in 1967. After college, Margot worked as a nurse at Pioneer Memorial Hospital in Viborg, South Dakota, and McKennan Hospital, now Avera Health, before being recruited to join Augustana’s faculty. “Augustana needed someone part-time as a clinical instructor,” Margot said. “And, so I started doing that; I had my feet in both worlds for a long time. I was working mostly at McKennan Hospital and teaching part-time at Augustana, and then the ratio sort of shifted. So, I was mostly at Augustana and just working in the hospital on vacations and weekends.”
For Margot, though, becoming a professor didn’t mean giving up nursing. She felt like she practiced nursing her entire career while guiding students. “As a practicing nurse, I mentored a lot of new hires and students, and I found that very fulfilling,” Margot said. “And, I thought, ‘OK, I can be a really fine practitioner, and I can spread that a little bit in my practice setting. But, if I did take the bait and go into education, I could spread it further. You know, that would create more branches.’ So, I guess that was really the inspiration.”
Margot taught adult health, health assessment, and research courses at Augustana. Margot is credited with bringing a focus on technology into the classroom. When students worked with simulated models, professors would bring in cameras to film the students. “They would play them back, and the students would see themselves,” a colleague said. “And, they would identify where they did something well and where they missed something or broke sterile technique, for example,” Margot added.
“Augustana has provided my roots. It feels like home because I've spent so much of my adult life very connected to Augustana, and it’s a big part of who I am,” Margot said. “I'm so proud of what Augustana has accomplished. And, of course, particularly the nursing department. And I am especially proud of some of the innovative things that the faculty have done.”
As for Margot, even though it’s been several years since she was a practicing nurse, she said she’s never lost that feeling. “I think a lot of us would say once a nurse, always a nurse,” Margot said. “Whether it's for your family or your neighbor or just in the way you look at the world.”
Margot is an alumnus of Augustana, graduating in 1967. After college, Margot worked as a nurse at Pioneer Memorial Hospital in Viborg, South Dakota, and McKennan Hospital, now Avera Health, before being recruited to join Augustana’s faculty. “Augustana needed someone part-time as a clinical instructor,” Margot said. “And, so I started doing that; I had my feet in both worlds for a long time. I was working mostly at McKennan Hospital and teaching part-time at Augustana, and then the ratio sort of shifted. So, I was mostly at Augustana and just working in the hospital on vacations and weekends.”
For Margot, though, becoming a professor didn’t mean giving up nursing. She felt like she practiced nursing her entire career while guiding students. “As a practicing nurse, I mentored a lot of new hires and students, and I found that very fulfilling,” Margot said. “And, I thought, ‘OK, I can be a really fine practitioner, and I can spread that a little bit in my practice setting. But, if I did take the bait and go into education, I could spread it further. You know, that would create more branches.’ So, I guess that was really the inspiration.”
Margot taught adult health, health assessment, and research courses at Augustana. Margot is credited with bringing a focus on technology into the classroom. When students worked with simulated models, professors would bring in cameras to film the students. “They would play them back, and the students would see themselves,” a colleague said. “And, they would identify where they did something well and where they missed something or broke sterile technique, for example,” Margot added.
“Augustana has provided my roots. It feels like home because I've spent so much of my adult life very connected to Augustana, and it’s a big part of who I am,” Margot said. “I'm so proud of what Augustana has accomplished. And, of course, particularly the nursing department. And I am especially proud of some of the innovative things that the faculty have done.”
As for Margot, even though it’s been several years since she was a practicing nurse, she said she’s never lost that feeling. “I think a lot of us would say once a nurse, always a nurse,” Margot said. “Whether it's for your family or your neighbor or just in the way you look at the world.”