Taylor Nursing Institute for Family and Society

08/24/2026

🌟 Spotlight on Helen Bunt: Champion of Nursing Education, Palliative Care, and HIV Support 🌟

It is a privilege to recognize Helen Bunt, a dedicated nursing educator, mentor, and healthcare leader whose career has made a lasting impact on nursing education, palliative care, and HIV support.

As a Nursing Fundamentals Lecturer and Coordinator of the First-Year Nursing Programme at the University of Fort Hare (UFH) since 2013, Helen has helped shape the next generation of nurses through innovative teaching and mentorship. She also led the Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Management of HIV/AIDS from 2018 to 2022, supporting healthcare professionals and advancing HIV-related research.

Before academia, Helen founded and managed Sophumelela's Hospice (Dignity House) in East London, providing compassionate care and leadership for patients and families facing life-limiting illness. Her career also includes extensive international service with the Healthcare Christian Fellowship in Latin America, where she contributed to healthcare training and development across the region.

A passionate advocate for vulnerable populations, Helen's research focuses on: ✅ Palliative Care
✅ HIV/AIDS Care and Management
✅ Mobile Health (mHealth) Innovation

Currently pursuing a PhD at North-West University, she is exploring how smartphone applications can enhance palliative support for first-time pregnant women recently diagnosed with HIV.

Since 2018, Helen has also connected students to global perspectives through an international online exchange programme that promotes cross-cultural learning and collaboration.

Guided by the values of truth, equality, and compassion, Helen continues to inspire students, colleagues, and healthcare professionals alike.

Thank you, Helen, for your extraordinary commitment to healthcare, education, research, and improving lives through compassion and innovation.

08/19/2026

It was wonderful to meet with Kathy Sheran and personally thank her for her generous donation to the School of Nursing, which helped support students attending the AACN Student Policy Summit in Washington, D.C.

During our conversation, Kathy shared a powerful reminder: nurses are not only advocates for patients alongside physicians, but also voices for change within their workplaces, communities, and beyond.

Thank you, Kathy, for your continued leadership, generosity, and commitment to living out your purpose. Your impact is inspiring the next generation of nurse leaders.

07/15/2026

Dr. Kelly Lewer, serves as Senior Lecturer at Australian Catholic University, North Sydney Campus. Dr. Lewer is an experienced nursing academic and MCR as well as a registered nurse and educator. She has led and contributed to projects related to understanding equity, safety, student experience and fairness within the higher education setting. She is also an experienced researcher with a focus on the impacts of domestic and family violence, women's health and housing precarity.

Welcome to the affiliate faculty community, Dr. Lewer!

06/24/2026

Dr. Natalie McAndrew is a Nurse Scientist and Senior Associate Consultant at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, and an Associate Professor of Nursing in the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science. Drawing on her extensive experience as an ICU nurse and Clinical Nurse Specialist, Dr. McAndrew leads research focused on advancing patient and family engagement in palliative care. Her work centers on designing and implementing palliative-informed interventions to ensure family support across the illness trajectory.

Join us in welcoming Dr. McAndrew to the affiliate faculty community.

06/02/2026

The Rural Behavioral Health Clinic outreach is an innovative initiative supporting rural communities in meeting their mental health needs.

05/29/2026

Join us in welcoming our latest affiliate faculty member: Eric Meittunen.

Meittunen is a healthcare leader and public servant with extensive experience in health systems leadership, policy and community engagement. He currently serves as Deputy Commissioner for Veterans Healthcare at the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs, where he oversees statewide healthcare operations and initiatives supporting Veterans and their families, including long-term care, mental health, su***de prevention and caregiver support.

His work focuses on family-centered care, health equity and the role of public systems and policy in shaping individual and community well-being. He regularly engages with students and academic partners to bridge practice and education, emphasizing trauma-informed care, social determinants of health and interdisciplinary approaches to improving outcomes for families and society.

05/19/2026

This week we have another international addition to our affiliate faculty rosters: Dr. Melanie Breznik, Senior Lecturer at the Carinthia University of Applied Sciences in Austria.

Dr. Breznik is a palliative care nurse and nursing scientist with a strong academic and professional focus on nursing education and preceptorship. With a doctoral degree in Nursing Science and as a lecturer in Health and Nursing Management, she is dedicated to advancing quality in education and practice across healthcare professions. Her commitment centers on empowering future nurses and healthcare leaders to foster family and societal well-being through reflective, person-centered, and ethically grounded care.

05/09/2026

Congratulations! Looking forward to hear more about the project!

Today we celebrate the graduation of our first MCBC student nurse intern, Mekdi! We are so proud of you and grateful for the time you have spent with MCBC! A project she has been working on for months will be unveiled soon! You are destined for greatness Mekdi!

04/27/2026

The Glen Taylor Institute is a truly global effort. Today, we're featuring a recent addition to our affiliate faculty team who hails from Vrije Universiteit Brussels, Dr. Dennis Demedts.

Dr. Demedts is a psychiatric nurse, lecturer and postdoctoral researcher whose work focuses on mental health, end‑of‑life care and the professional development of nurses. He combines teaching and research at Erasmushogeschool Brussel and the VUB, with a strong emphasis on evidence‑based nursing, simulation education and ethically complex end‑of‑life decision‑making.

He is actively engaged in national and international professional networks that promote family and societal health and nursing. He is a member of the Flemish nursing association’s workgroup on palliative care and of the European Association for Palliative Care workgroup on nursing education, where he contributes to strengthening person‑ and family‑centred palliative care and nurse education across Europe. He is also an honorary member of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing, reflecting his commitment to nursing scholarship, leadership and the advancement of nurses’ roles in supporting patients, families and communities across the life span.

Welcome, Dr. Demedts!

04/15/2026

As our team of affiliate faculty grow, so do the number of disciplines represented by these accomplished professionals. Today, we welcome David Clisbee to the Institute.

Professor Clisbee is an Assistant Professor at Minnesota State Mankato and teaches in the Computer Information Science department. He has collaborated on digital storytelling research initiatives with faculty members from the MSU School of Nursing the Glen Taylor Nursing Institute for Family and Society since 2014.

Clisbee loves interdisciplinary collaboration and has found a good home for this in family nursing research. He focuses on digital storytelling’s capacity to encourage reflection and develop empathy for families and nurse peers. He draws on his experience in applied linguistics, digital storytelling, information systems, poetry and video production while working alongside nursing faculty on campus and in hospitals throughout the United States.

We are honored to be a place for interdisciplinary research and learning. Welcome, professor Clisbee!