80 | HealthLinksSC.com THE PULSE ON CHARLESTON NURSES TACOREY CAMPBELL, DNP, CPNP-AC, CPEN, CPN, TCRN, CCRN As a nurse practitioner who specializes in pediatric critical care, TaCorey Campbell draws inspiration from the children he takes care of every day. “I am meeting them at their lowest point in life, and they never cease to amaze me with their tenacity and perseverance,” Campbell said. One of Campbell’s favorite memories is linked to a reunion with the mother of a child he had taken care of in the pediatric emergency room years before. Campbell had been persistent about some follow-up testing that ultimately revealed that the child had a kidney disorder. “When I saw the mother years later, she told me how grateful she was and that I had saved her baby’s life,” Campbell explained. “I was proud and also humbled by her gratitude.” Campbell noted that his journey to becoming a nurse began as a goal he set in high school after watching and listening to his aunt, a nurse who loved her work and approached it with professionalism. His journey had its challenges. “I encountered many obstacles,” he said. “But I continued and now I am excited to say that I am walking in my purpose in life as a healer.” As his roles at the Medical University of South Carolina have evolved, Campbell said that being a nurse practitioner has been his most rewarding job. He humbly noted that he is “very good” with IV placements so he often goes throughout the entire hospital offering to start IVs when needed. He also relishes seeing children return for a visit after a stay in the ICU. His advice to future nurses: “Persistence is key. Never let the answer ‘no’ deter you from doing what is right.” KATHLEEN OARE LINDELL, PH.D., RN, ATSF, FAAN Dr. Kathleen Lindell knew she wanted to be a nurse when she was 16 years old. She was getting her wisdom teeth out, and, even in the haze of the procedure, she found the nurses’ care remarkable. They made her feel safe and offered assurances that she was just fine. “It was very simple; I knew I wanted to do the same for other people,” said Dr. Lindell, associate professor of nursing at the Medical University of South Carolina, with a joint appointment in the College of Medicine and the Mary Swain Endowed Chair in Palliative Care Health. “Back then, during 'the stone age,' wisdom teeth extractions involved a three-day hospital stay. I had time to appreciate and see what the nurses did.” Dr. Lindell is now in her 45th year as a nurse and currently serves as a nurse scientist at MUSC. Prior to her arrival in Charleston, she was a critical care nurse and nurse manager at St. Francis General Hospital in Pittsburgh and a pulmonary clinical nurse specialist at the Penn Lung Center in Philadelphia. She also worked at the Simmons Center for Interstitial Lung Disease at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Her path of research is directed toward improving the quality of life for patients with advanced lung disease – specifically idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis – and their family caregivers. “Seeing gracious patients enduring this terrible disease led me to palliative care,” Dr. Lindell explained. As a result of her work with patients and their caregivers, she developed a nurse-led palliative care intervention titled A Program of SUPPORT. Ultimately, her career work resulted in 66 peer-reviewed publications, several book chapters and serving as a co-editor of a book titled “Palliative Care in Lung Disease” in 2021. Dr. Lindell is actively involved in the American Thoracic Society and the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation, having served both as a member of the board of directors. At present, she is a member of the PFF Medical and Scientific Advisory Committee and the Wolfson Palliative Care Research Centre Scientific Advisory Committee at the University of Hull in the United Kingdom. Mentoring and matchmaking bright students, junior and career faculty to promising careers thrills Dr. Lindell. She is the kind of mentor who eases mentees toward more seasoned scholars during social gatherings so they can talk and then follows up the next day to tell the colleague that the mentee would be a great addition to the research team. Her consistent advice to her students is “Remember your purpose and care for yourself first before you care for others.” To her colleagues, Dr. Lindell notes, “We must remember our purpose – to educate. We need to bring these nurses along so that they are ready to care for others and for us.” “Caring for others and for us sounds like so many years from now,” Dr. Lindell said. “But those years fly by, so it is important to mentor them well now.” Dr. Lindell is a graduate of the St. Francis General Hospital Professional School of Nursing and the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing. HealthLinks CHARLESTON has partnered with the MUSC College of Nursing to highlight some of the Lowcountry's top nurses. Expand your career: nursing.musc.edu
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