2017 Gold Medalist – Clinical Education

Lynn O’Dowd Bell, MSN, RN, CNOR, The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston

Twice in her 40-year nursing career Lynn Bell has been asked to follow a path that she didn’t plan on. As a young ICU nurse, a heart surgeon asked her to work in the operating room. So she did. Several years later at The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB), her director asked her to assume the role of interim educator.

“I thought why not?” she says. “And both of these opportunities worked out pretty well for me. As for now, I’m here at UTMB, so what I’m going to do is wait and see what I’m asked to do next and then move forward, because whatever it is, I know it will be a good thing.”

Born in London to a British mother and an American father, Lynn grew up in New Orleans, her father’s hometown. She was a member of the National Honor Society at Chapelle High School in Metairie, where she also was a cheerleader, a member of the National Forensic League, and involved in student government. She went on to earn her BSN with honors from Louisiana State University, and went back to school later in her career. In 2015, she received her master’s degree in nursing executive leadership at UTMB.

“No one in my family was in medicine,” she says. “I was a tomboy growing up. I climbed trees and played with caterpillars and lizards, and I was always trying to take care of animals, so I started out thinking I’d be a veterinarian. From there I was going to be a doctor and a biochemist. Eventually my path led me to nursing.”

For the past 11 years, Lynn has been program manager of UTMB’s Perioperative Services, in charge of new employee education, staff development, orientation, policy development, and program direction for five departments. During that time she developed and presented more than 50 educational in-services each year and educated, oriented and advocated for more than 250 staff members, from nurses to residents to students.

“These are the people who motivate me,” she says. “If I can make learning fun for them and if I can give them the skills to be absolutely the best they can be, that’s my reward and inspiration.”

Lynn is actively involved with 13 hospital-wide committees, including the Shared Leadership Education Committee, the Shared Leadership Practice Council, Crew Resource Management Committee, Retention/Nurses’ Week Council, Practice Council, and Leadership Committee, among others. Her accomplishments include practice revisions that have significantly improved performance and quality of care.

“Lynn is a past recipient of the OR Employee of the Month Award, the UTMB Leader Award and the UTMB Innovation Award,” wrote her nominator, Timothy Naumann. “She was validated as NCV– the highest level in nursing – in the first year of her tenure at UTMB. She was chosen to be UTMB’s Champion for a yearlong program in mentoring evidence-based practice, and is a resource person for vascular and transplant services as well as an occasional charge nurse substitute. She earned the “You Can Make a Difference Honor” in 2006, was elected Employee of the Month on two occasions, and was nominated for AORN RN of the year by her peers. She has a stack of cards and letters from nursing students and others who want to show their appreciation.”

“I’m an OR nurse and an educator by heart,” Lynn says. “I really love both things because they bring out my best traits. I’ve been told that I’m very organized, which makes a good operating room nurse. As far as being a teacher, I love creativity and fun and inspiring other people. My students inspire me when they tell me they think they want to go into the operating room because of the experience they had with me. It’s very rewarding.”

Lynn says her inspiration comes from her father. “My father was a very intelligent man and always expected me to excel in school,” she says. “What I remember most about him as I was growing up and learning was that he explained the whys behind all the learning. That’s what I try to do for all of my students and my staff. I don’t tell them you have to do this because it’s the rule. I give them the reasons behind it. I give them the research so they can buy into it, and that’s what my dad did for me. He was the kindest, gentlest man.”

Lynn’s research has been published by the Association of periOperative Nurses and in the Journal for Nurses in Professional Development. She made invited presentations at the Annual Conference on Professional Nursing Education and Development in Baltimore, Maryland, in 2012, and the University HealthSystem Consortium Conference in 2013 in Orlando, Florida.

“I’m so glad that I’m in a position to teach, but I think I would rather say that I’m a collaborator, because it’s who you work with and how you engage them that brings growth, not only for them but for me,” she says. “I’ve learned a lot from my patients, my peers, and my students. The main thing I’ve learned is that we’re all vulnerable and need someone to care about us. I care about my students, my patients and my staff, and I want them really feel that every day when they come to me with questions or concerns. I want to make a difference in the life of every individual who crosses my path, whether it’s answering a question or teaching them a concept that will make them better nurses.”