2018 Gold Medalist – Nursing Education: Faculty
Mary Ellen Trail Ross, DPH, MSN, RN, GCNS-BC, Associate Professor of Clinical Nursing, Cizik School of Nursing at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
This September marks Dr. Mary Ellen Trail Ross’ 30th year of teaching at the Cizik School of Nursing at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. “I’m very fortunate to have had exceptionally supportive parents who sent my brothers and me to parochial schools and also taught us the importance of working hard and obtaining a good education,” Dr. Ross says. “My husband Michael and I have instilled the same values in our children.”
Dr. Ross became interested in nursing in the fifth grade. “My mother had a couple of minor operations and while visiting her at the hospital I got to know some of the nurses and observe their roles,” she says. “I liked what I saw.” She became interested in gerontology because of her close relationship with her maternal grandmother, who lived to be 94.
She earned her BSN at McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Six years later, she and her husband, then newlyweds, relocated to Houston so that she could pursue her master’s degree in nursing education and administration. After graduation, she was offered a teaching position at The University of Texas Health Science Center and found her niche. She went on to get her certification as a Gerontological clinical nurse specialist, and in 2001 she received her DPH at UTHealth. She has taught 17 different courses, with major contributions in gerontology and community health nursing.
“I found it very interesting to work with older adults,” she says. “They have a lot of share with the younger generation and good legacies to leave. And they really like interacting with the younger generation.”
Dr. Ross says she loves teaching. “Most students who come into a gerontology class are not too interested in learning about older adults, so part of my role and that of the other excellent gerontology clinical faculty I work with is to engage the students and get them excited about older adults. This is a very vulnerable population increasing by leaps and bounds, and it’s important that nurses be interested in caring for them. We have four different labs where they learn to assess the functional status of older adults. They learn about vision loss and other sensory impairments, and we simulate hearing and taste. We also have an end-of-life care lab, where students learn what it’s like to care for a patient at the end of life, and a new lab centered around adult abuse and self-neglect.”
Dr. Ross also enjoys teaching community health nursing. Her students make home visits to homebound elders. “The highlight of the semester is a ride-along with the Houston Fire Department’s Emergency Medical Services,” she says. “They also visit the county jail and a state-supported living center in Richmond. After Hurricane Harvey, we assisted at the George R. Brown Convention Center, which was rewarding for the students.”
What motivates her about teaching is the eagerness of her students. “They come to us having made up their mind to be nurses and are very committed,” she says. “They want to learn and know all they can to provide care for patients.”
In her nomination of Dr. Ross, Michelle Beck, MPH, MSN, RN, AGPCNP-BC, instructor at the Cizik School of Nursing, wrote: “When I first met Dr. Ross over 10 years ago, she fostered my growth as a community health clinical instructor and because of her guidance, I continue to teach. Her passion is contagious and inspiring. Her students are taught to practice nursing with passion, excellence, heart, connection and personalization of care. She is passionate about equipping nursing students with the knowledge and skills they need to provide holistic care and improve quality of life.”
Dr. Ross has received very positive student evaluations consistently throughout her teaching career, as well as honors, awards, and recognition related to education and research. Her book chapters on senior health have been published in four editions of the textbook, Community/Public Health Nursing: Promoting the Health of Populations, which is widely used to educate bachelor’s and master’s degree students. She has also written journal articles and received grant awards related to stress and coping in custodial grandparents and other kinship caregivers who are raising children.
Dr. Ross was a John P. McGovern Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award nominee in 1990, 1991, 2007, 2010 and 2017. She is a member of Sigma Phi Omega National Academic Honor and Professional Society in Gerontology, and the 2007 winner of the Research of the Year Award from the National Black Nurses Association. She received the first PARTNERS Research Scholar Endowment Award, sponsored by the UTHealth School of Nursing PARTNERS organization. She received a certificate of Special Congressional Recognition from U.S. Representative Al Green in 2016. Dr. Ross’ contributions as a nurse educator have been recognized by external peer group awards including as honoree for the Nursing Celebration 2010 Outstanding Nurse Award by the Texas Nurses Association, District 9. She was a 2016 honoree in the Houston Chronicle’s Salute to Nurses.
“We never stop learning,” she says. “Most of the students in my undergraduate courses are Millennials so they’re very tech savvy and they can teach us a thing or two about technology, especially faculty of the Baby Boomer generation like myself.”
“I’m very honored and grateful to receive this award for doing something I love to do,” she adds. “This means a lot to me because it really recognizes all nurses and the nursing profession, the best profession there is.”
