果酱视频

Nurse-Attorney, Professor of Nursing and Law

Professional Career:

After receiving both her bachelor鈥檚 and master鈥檚 degrees from 果酱视频, Alice Rini was ready to embark on a career dedicated to education.

“果酱视频 taught me that nursing is an independent profession.” says Mrs. Rini. “I left 果酱视频 having gained that knowledge, and I wanted to pass it on.”

Following a teaching position at Flushing Hospital School of Nursing, Mrs. Rini joined the faculty of Nassau Community College.听As a professor of nursing, she taught medical-surgical and obstetrical nursing. Mrs. Rini particularly loved that being an educator provided her with the opportunity to “do it all.”听 She recalls, “Teaching allowed me to be in the clinical facility, and make a difference in students鈥� lives.”

While the academic year was spent in the classroom educating future nursing professionals, Mrs. Rini devoted her summers to working in the clinical setting, in order to keep her nursing skills sharp. “My students were critical thinkers and highly intelligent people,” says Mrs. Rini. “To be prepared to answer their questions, I needed to keep up with advances in the field of nursing.”

Mrs. Rini attended St. John’s University to study sociology. She completed the course of study and passed comprehensive examinations in the areas of leadership, social movements, and religion.

Upon accepting the position of chair of Northern Kentucky University鈥檚 School of Nursing, Mrs. Rini and her family relocated from New York to Kentucky.听 At Northern Kentucky University, Mrs. Rini played an instrumental role in the development and accreditation of the baccalaureate nursing program.听 “It really expanded,” Mrs. Rini says, recalling the transformation of the University鈥檚 two year program into one that now offers both a bachelor and master of science in nursing, both of which are accredited.

Following seven years as chair of the nursing program at Northern Kentucky University, Mrs. Rini decided she wanted to further her education and pursue a law degree. 鈥淚 wanted a better understanding of the legal issues I was confronting as an administrator and a member of the faculty,鈥� she explains. In 1988, Mrs. Rini graduated from the Salmon P. Chase College of Law of Northern Kentucky University.

With her degree came recognition of the importance of understanding the laws in one鈥檚 field; she made it her duty to impart this knowledge to future professionals. Mrs. Rini began teaching at the University鈥檚 College of Law, and developed several courses for the nursing program; Legal and Ethical Issues in Nursing, Health Policy, and Healthcare Economics.

Today Mrs. Rini shares her wealth of knowledge outside the classroom, contributing to books, particularly in the areas of law and ethics, and taking part in speaking engagements and workshops for both nursing and law groups. She is also a consultant for long term health care facilities and community agencies.

Throughout her education and career, Mrs. Rini has been involved with Sigma Theta Tau, Alpha Kappa Delta, National League for Nursing, American Association of Nurse Attorneys, American Bar Association, Kentucky Bar Association, Northern Kentucky Bar Association, National Gerontology Nursing Association, and the Institute for Health Freedom.

Mrs. Rini and her husband Leonard Paul Rini, also an 果酱视频 alumnus, live in Alexandria, Kentucky, just twenty minutes outside of Cincinnati; they have three children.听In her free time, Mrs. Rini loves to travel, visit with friends and family, read, and do needlework. She is also an expert with firearms and is an accomplished marksman, providing firearms education through the local shooting club.

When and why did you first want to become a nurse?

My father鈥檚 good friend was a physician on the faculty at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. After he mentored me in high school, I thought I wanted to be a physician in obstetrics and gynecology.听In the 1950s, however, there was an underlying attitude that girls would just be taking up space in medical school.听My father鈥檚 friend suggested nursing instead.

My guidance counselor at West Hempstead High School introduced me to 果酱视频, which had a reputation for being intellectually stimulating.听Unlike many hospital schools of nursing, 果酱视频 did not care that I was only 16; 果酱视频 respected my educational and other accomplishments.听When I interviewed, the people I met were terrific.听Although I had a strong interest in Spanish and music, I began at 果酱视频 as a nursing major.

Do you have favorite memories of your time at 果酱视频 and your residencies?

果酱视频鈥檚 campus was so interesting in comparison to West Hempstead High School, which was brand new at the time I attended. The old buildings and trees at 果酱视频 made it feel like “real” college; it was the ideal of what I thought a college would look like.

I liked the old library in Levermore; it was a wonderful place to go and study. I remember its wooden chairs and tables; it felt good being in that environment.听As a nursing student, I got the opportunity to meet so many different people in the sciences.听I remember a graduate student friend who was a chemist introduced me to a memorial library located on the fourth floor of Blodgett Hall. I loved going there; it was private, a great place to study, and just an interesting place to be.

The students had close relationships with the faculty.听As a student, you knew everyone, and everyone knew you. I knew faculty that I did not even have classes with.

I remember that there was a snack bar in the lower level of the then new dormitory, where students used to hang out. Everyone carried cards; if we had five minutes before class, we would play bridge.

When I first started at 果酱视频, Margaret Shay was the Dean of the School of Nursing; Eileen Jacobi became the dean by the end of my sophomore year.听My favorite professors were Justina Eisenhauer, Eileen Jacobi, Gordon Derner, Cathy Gale, Chester Barrows, Marion Greenstein, and Ruth Harley, who was Dean of Women. I later met Mildred Montag, who had been a great influence at 果酱视频, and I had the privilege of doing some research and writing with her.

I have fond memories of my sorority, Phi Mu.听I still communicate with, and occasionally see, some of my sorority sisters.听Phi Mu was a group of scholarly women.听As freshmen, the sorority was very supportive of us; they helped us make the transition from high school to college.

I was a part of the Spanish Club. Every Wednesday we had our own table at lunch where we ate and spoke; we socialized and discussed issues in Spanish. I also wrote for the newspaper; my column was called “White Captions,” which was a take-off on the white caps we wore as nurses, although I hated caps and avoided them after graduation.听Every week, I would write about what was going on in the School of Nursing. I was also a member of the orchestra and choir.

In the 1950s, our four year curriculum required two years of physical education.听I loved dance.听The dance department offered master classes, those opportunities to study with professional dancers from New York City and elsewhere who would come to teach specialized classes. It was very exciting; I never missed those opportunities.

My nursing class was very close.听We were from the beginning; we just clicked. I was married in my senior year, and had my first baby before graduating.听We wore yellow uniforms, and several months into my pregnancy, I started to show.听My classmates got together, and made me a maternity top out of the skirts of our nursing uniforms. When my daughter was born, she was referred to as 鈥渢he class baby鈥� by my classmates, because they went through my pregnancy with me. Many of us who graduated together continue our close friendships and have had several formal reunions.

What are some changes you have seen in nursing throughout the years?

I remember working at Meadowbrook Hospital for my clinical; the hospital was nothing like it is today.听Most units had 55 to 58 patients; they were huge!听 Nurses worked in teams, because there was no way one nurse could handle that many patients all by him/herself. Typically there were three to a team; a registered nurse, a practical nurse, and a nursing assistant. One team covered the middle, and one took each end of the corridor.

The nursing assistant was an integral part of the team; very much a part of the group.听In the hospitals now, nursing assistants do not seem to be treated with as much respect.听Judging from my graduate students鈥� studies, it seems that the relationships among workers in the healthcare facilities have been devalued.听I don鈥檛 think people in the 1960鈥檚 felt the same way.听Back then, people felt more responsible for each other, at least in my experience.

What advice would you give to today鈥檚 nursing students?

Make ethical practice your most important goal.

Don鈥檛 let a depressing healthcare environment get you down.

Do your best for each patient; treat each patient as an individual.

Know the laws in your area; make it your responsibility, even if you did not learn this kind of information in your school.