Mrs. Diann Carithers
Associate Professor of Nursing
“Fast food” takes on a whole new meaning in Mrs. Diann Carithers’ class, where a correct answer can earn you a candy bar – if you can catch it! This School of Nursing professor keeps her students on their toes with fun ways to learn and remember the important skills needed to be exceptional health care professionals. Some days, that means fast-paced questions followed by fast-pitched Snickers, Milky Ways and KitKats to students with the right answers.
I try to do a lot of interactive things, and I’m big into using games as a learning tool,” says Mrs. Carithers.
With experience as a nurse in oncology, critical care and medical/surgical areas, Mrs. Carithers knows what her students will be facing in their careers. She works side-by-side with students in hospital settings, teaching them technical skills such as setting up an IV or dressing a wound.
That’s not all she teaches.
“I think anybody can perform a technical skill,” she said. “Our profession is deeply personal. You must care about people in order to be successful in nursing. When we work together in the hospital, I want my students to see caring in me. That’s the strongest legacy I can leave my students.”
Excellent classroom and clinical teaching isn’t all this professor is known for. As owner of Carithers Medical-Legal Consulting, she works behind the scenes helping attorneys understand medical issues in legal cases and has served as an expert witness for hospitals through the southeast.
