Concorde Staff
While we gather throughout National Nurses Month to recognize and celebrate the profession, I'm deeply aware that excellent healthcare has never been the domain of any single discipline. It's a symphony of skilled professionals working in concert—each essential and irreplaceable.
Nursing holds a special place in this symphony. According to Gallup’s annual Most Honest and Ethical Professions Poll, Nursing has been named the most trusted profession in America for the 23rd year in a row—a testament not to superiority, but to a particular kind of connection forged at the bedside, often during life's most vulnerable moments.
That trust isn't built on technical skill alone. It emerges from the unique intersection where clinical expertise meets human compassion—something every healthcare discipline strives to embody.
Florence Nightingale once said that nursing is an art. If true, then all healthcare education is a masterclass in this art—teaching procedures and protocols while profoundly honoring the responsibility of holding another's well-being in your hands.
This month, we acknowledge nursing's contributions and our indispensable role as educators at Concorde in preparing professionals who will carry forward our shared commitment to exceptional care.
Nurses in Action: What Nurses Do
Nursing is more than a profession—it’s a commitment to healing, advocacy, education, and empowerment. While the public often sees nurses at the bedside, our work extends far beyond. Nurses are the calm voice in crisis, the educator shaping futures, the advocate standing in the gap, and the servant leader meeting people at their point of need.
Across our Concorde campuses, our faculty don’t just teach these values—they live them. Here are just a few examples that show what nursing truly looks like:
Nurses serve veterans and underserved populations, like Vincent Meno in Portland. In addition to teaching Term 1 Practical Nursing students, Vincent provides medical exams for veterans in his community, extending care beyond the classroom and into the lives of those who served our country.
Nurses are community advocates, like Shanequa Averette in Dallas. Shanequa leads her church’s Medical Ministry, organizes wellness events, supports Susan G. Komen initiatives, mentors future nurses, and partners with local colleges to promote access to care—all while helping her students with compassion and purpose.
Nurses deliver direct outreach to the homeless, like Jean Napier-Siu in Kansas City. Jean crafts and sells purses to fund meals for those without housing and distributes “blessing bags” filled with toiletries, using her nursing values to restore dignity and provide essential care to her city’s most vulnerable.
Nurses guide students into real-world advocacy, like Kellee Moore-Wright in Jacksonville. Kellee integrates civic engagement into the curriculum, encouraging students to participate in heart walks and local community meetings, demonstrating that advocacy is a vital nursing skill.
Nurses mentor and elevate others, like Desha Long in Grand Prairie. Desha is a leader, mentor, and preceptor who recently led students in a March of Dimes event, helping them build connections with healthcare employers. She also ensures that every Term 5 graduate is interview-ready and prepared to enter the workforce with confidence.
Nurses provide whole-person support, like Gwendolyn Chambliss in Memphis. Gwen counsels individuals in crisis and provides meals, clothing, and spiritual care. Her nursing practice focuses on meeting the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of those around her.
Nurses offer trauma-informed care, like Tina Jefferson, our assistant director of nursing in Memphis, who, as a SANE-certified Nurse Practitioner, works with the Shelby County Crime Victims and Rape Crisis Center to care for men, women, and children who have experienced sexual or domestic assault—combining expert clinical care with compassion and justice.
Nurses raise public awareness, like Major Kimberly Anthony in San Bernardino. A seasoned mental health nurse, Kimberly co-hosts "Essence Talk," a community television show highlighting local leaders, educators, authors, and advocates. Her work helps amplify voices and foster dialogue about health, healing, and community engagement.
These stories show that nursing is not confined to a hospital, clinic, or classroom. Nurses are everywhere serving, educating, advocating, and transforming lives. Our Concorde faculty are living proof that the most trusted profession in America earns that trust by showing up, speaking up, and lifting up those in their communities daily.
An interconnected community of educators
While we celebrate National Nurses Month, I want to recognize the interconnected community that makes Concorde's healthcare education exceptional.
Every professional represented on our campuses—whether they teach dental procedures, guide surgical techniques, explain respiratory care, interpret sonographic images, demonstrate nursing skills, or lead our administrative initiatives—they each represent a vital thread in healthcare's tapestry.
What unites us transcends our disciplines. We are responsible for transforming students into healthcare professionals who will make life-changing differences in countless moments of human vulnerability.
When a Concorde graduate calms a frightened patient, detects a critical symptom others missed, or brings comfort during recovery, their influence is there. Our educators’ standards, wisdom, and example shape every professional interaction our students will have throughout their careers.
This ripple effect of excellence is this legacy, not measured in days or terms but in generations of improved patient care.
I’m so grateful for being part of the foundation upon which healthcare excellence is built here at Concorde. Our collective commitment doesn't just educate; it heals communities through the professionals each one of us helps create.
Marlo Robinson, DNP, JD, RN, is the National Dean of Nursing for Concorde Career Colleges. where she oversees 13 nursing programs nationwide. Dr. Robinson serves as the National League for Nursing consultant to the National Student Nurses’ Association. She is the founder and owner of Mother's Care Doula Services, which serves as a full-service birth, postpartum and childbirth education provider in South Florida. She is a licensed attorney and active member of the Florida Bar. Dr. Robinson holds a Doctor of Nursing Practice from Purdue University Global, a Master of Science in Nursing from Kaplan University, and a Juris Doctorate from Nova Southeastern University.
