Carol Etherington, M.S.N., left, here with VUSN Dean Colleen Conway-Welch, Ph.D., has been named Vanderbilt University’s 2007 Distinguished Alumna.
(photo by Anne Rayner)
VUSN’s Etherington named Distinguished Alumna
From left, Harry Jacobson, M.D., Colleen Conway-Welch, Ph.D., Carol Etherington, M.S.N. and Chancellor Gordon Gee.
(photo by Anne Rayner)
Vanderbilt University School of Nursing's Carol Etherington, M.S.N., has been named the University's 2007 Distinguished Alumna, joining an elite group to receive the Alumni Association Board's highest honor.
Chancellor Gordon Gee, Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs Harry Jacobson, M.D., VUSN Dean Colleen Conway-Welch, Ph.D., and VUSN alum Elizabeth Farrar recently surprised Etherington with the news.
“Carol is a wonderful example of how one life can touch thousands of others and ultimately help change things for the better,” said Jacobson. “We are lucky to have her as a professor in our Nursing school, where she inspires and challenges our students.”
Gee also praised Etherington.
"Carol Etherington is a global citizen whose tireless efforts, often at great peril to herself, have made the world a better, safer place. Whether it is leading a medical team in a refugee camp, advocating for changes in policy, or teaching in the classroom, her life is an example for every member of the Vanderbilt community. We are proud to recognize her with this award."
Etherington is an assistant professor of Nursing and a 1975 graduate of the school's Master's program. For decades she has been a tireless advocate of underserved and traumatized populations in local, national and global settings.
“She is a great example of the profound difference that a nurse can make,” said Conway-Welch. “Whether she is working with the formerly homeless population here in Nashville at Mercury Courts or she is half way around the world in Africa and Asia helping a rural clinic get off the ground, Carol's focus is about restoring the whole person and figuring out ways to bring hope to seemingly hopeless situations.”
A mental health expert, most of Etherington's work has focused on creating effective community-based programs for the health and human rights of individuals, families and communities who have survived natural disasters, war, crime or other adverse events.
After graduating from college, Etherington joined Frontier Nursing Service in rural Appalachia, providing health care for a largely indigent population. In 1975, she initiated the Victim Intervention Program in Nashville, one of the first police-based counseling programs in the nation. In 1980, she began her international work and in the 90s became actively involved with Médicins Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders), working in Bosnia, Poland, Honduras, Tajikistan, Kosovo, Sierra Leone and Angola. She was instrumental in strengthening the role of mental health in the comprehensive health care program for Doctors without Borders. Etherington went on to become the first nurse elected to the U.S. Board of Directors for Doctors without Borders, serving two terms as president.
Etherington has also continued her work on several missions in the United States, including the aftermath of Sept. 11, the 1994 Los Angeles earthquake, Hurricane Andrew in 1992, and Hurricane Katrina in 2005. She remains a Red Cross disaster volunteer and, as a community health nurse, participates in local and regional projects related to refugee and immigrant populations.
“This is a very lovely and meaningful honor, but this moment is not about just me,” said Etherington, upon learning about the news. “It is about the thousands of nurses and health care providers around the globe. You may never learn their names, but their tireless commitment to others and their humanity changes the world, one by one.”
A dinner will be held in Etherington's honor this fall. The Vanderbilt Distin-guished Alumnus/Alumna Award is bestowed on a periodic basis to someone whose accomplishments and contributions have had a positive effect on humankind.
Previous recipients include: Muhammad Yunus, Ph.D.; Norman E. Shumway, M.D.; Cal Turner Jr.; Delbert Mann; Antonio Gotto Jr., M.D., D.Phil.; Thomas F. Frist Jr.; M.D., Mildred T. Stahlman, M.D.; and the Rev. James Lawson.