LuAnn Tandy's job is to take the University of Missouri Health Care system's nursing division to the next level of excellence. Yes, a large undertaking but one she embraces so whole heartedly that she took on the added responsibility of completing a BSN-to-PhD nursing program.

“Now that the health-care system is looking at achieving magnet status, my job requires additional skills,” Tandy says. “I need to have research skills and the ability to evaluate research and use it in the evidence-based practice we are trying to establish.”

She is also instrumental in implementing a shared governance structure at University Hospital and Clinics, Columbia Regional Hospital and eventually Missouri Rehabilitation Center . This professional practice model empowers RNs at the bedside to determine their own clinical practice while caring for their patients. However, allowing professional nurses to do what they do best has always been apart of Tandy's management style for more than 20 years.

Graduating from her BSN in 1978, she has always had a take-charge attitude. Although she received a few academic scholarships upon entering college, Tandy spent most her summers working as a singer/dancer in the Silver Dollar City Saloon Show to pay for the majority of her educational expenses. This can-do attitude is making it possible for her to work full-time, attend classes and support two daughters in college as well.

“Out of our family of four, three of us are in college,” she says. “Our oldest and myself are enrolled at Mizzou and our youngest is at Columbia College . So receiving the Fund the Drive for Nurses scholarship twice has helped our family defray some of the costs related to higher education.”

With both daughters old enough to take care of themselves, Tandy has found balancing work, family and school much easier to do. Although she and her husband, Russ, watch their 3-year-old grandson two nights a week while their daughter attends class, Tandy says she tries to study three to four hours a day instead of cramming it all in on the weekends.

“I try to get a couple of hours of studying done during the early morning hours,” she says, “and I stay current with my assignments by reading while watching our grandson or listening to music.”

Although Tandy has toyed with the idea of taking her career into an academic setting, she says she loves her current job as the coordinator of professional development. She is looking forward to the challenges that achieving a magnet status is presenting for her personally and professionally.

“I want to stay in my current position and expand my role by using the new skills I'm learning in my graduate courses,” LuAnn says. “My PhD emphasis is in health systems. Specifically I'm interested in the failure-to-rescue and patient-safety issues. Are nurses being empowered to survey and watch their patients to ensure their safety? This type of research I find very compelling.”

Despite the sometimes hectic pace of her life, Tandy enjoys getting outdoors at their 5-acre home just outside the Columbia city limits by walking, hiking, tending to her flower garden, reading mysteries or listening to music. To achieve excellence within her career, school or life, Tandy understands she must be passionate about her interests but preserve the delicate balance achieved thus far.

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