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Eight years ago, on a day of great grief, Janice Gibson '10 BSN, '14 MSN, NPD-BC, CCRN-K, PCCN-K accompanied her mother to a local funeral home to make burial arrangements for her father. The moment was memorable for more than one reason. 

“We arrived at the funeral home and knocked on the door and a woman answered,” Gibson said. “She stood there for a minute in shock and then, she said, ‘Oh My God! You took care of my father many, many years ago when he was dying, and I have never forgotten you’.” 

That full-circle moment for Gibson, a former critical care nurse and now coordinator of the nursing residency program at Jefferson North, is one that truly validated the purpose of her life. In her current role, she oversees a transition to practice program that supports nurses as they move into hospitals and other assignments.

“I have had other encounters like this,” Gibson said. “I know it sounds cliché, but we go into nursing because we want to help people. I tell these new nurses that on your worst day, you have to remember the one thing or two things that you did that was positive, because every day you are making a difference in somebody’s life. It could be the most joyous day, and it can be the worst day. You are doing something that is meaningful with your life, and, at times, it transcends even your personal life. These patients are never going to forget you.”

Having the watched the dedication and drive of their mother to become a nurse (Following the birth of her children, Gibson went to community college at night for five years and completed an accelerated day program at the Episcopal Hospital School of Nursing in 1997. It would be another 10 years before she enrolled into �Թ�tv’s accelerated RN-BSN program and went on to earn her MSN), all three of her children joined the profession. Her oldest son, Mark Gibson, works in the cardiac catheterization lab at Jefferson Abington. His wife, Ngoc Lee Gibson, is a nurse at Lankenau Medical Center. Her daughter, Kristen Venango, works in interventional radiology at Jeanes Hospital. Her husband, Ted Venango, works in the emergency department at Jeanes Hospital.

And her youngest daughter, Meghan Griffin '11 BSN, PNP, who attended �Թ�tv on a basketball scholarship and is married to �Թ�tv assistant men’s basketball coach Turhan Griffin, currently works as RN at Pennsylvania Hospital between labor and delivery, the intensive care nursery and in the motherbaby unit. She also is a per diem certified pediatric nurse practitioner at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

“Being the daughter of a nurse foretold all of the benefits of being in this profession,” Griffin said. “Having a mother and siblings who can relate to some of the things that I am going through is a big help. Particularly, if it was a difficult situation, they can help you move past it, help you recharge yourself to go back in the next day.”

 Griffin has had many gratifying moments, too. 

“I have people say to me, ‘Oh my God! You get to do that every day?’ It is very gratifying to see new life come on a daily basis,” she said. “It is rewarding when families show their appreciation for your help and education. Or maybe they are going through a tough time right after their baby is born, and things didn’t really go the way they wanted, and they are even more grateful for the care you are giving them and their baby. It just feels like a privilege to be even a small part of that moment in people’s lives, because it is so monumental.”

Both mother and daughter look back on their time at �Թ�tv (they attended at the same time but on different campuses) with gratitude.

“I can’t say enough about �Թ�tv. I love �Թ�tv,” said Gibson, who taught clinicals at her alma mater for 10 years and currently serves on the President’s Advisory Council. The family gives back annually to the University through the Gibson Nurse-Athlete Scholarship and the Christine Gibson Memorial Scholarship, which honors Gibson’s late sister-in-law, also a �Թ�tv graduate.

“I had so much support,” she said. “Everyone there was just amazing, including my husband, Mark, who was a huge support to Meghan and I as we journeyed through our education. The professors at �Թ�tv set a foundation for me moving forward with my career. I loved them, and I had a great relationship with them. They definitely helped me to be a better person. It was a really great time, especially when Meg was playing basketball. We were able to go to every game. We traveled all over. We got very close with the team and the parents.”

“�Թ�tv Nursing definitely reinforced my determination to stay focused,” Griffin said. “I learned that to get what you want, you need to work hard, but the payout is even greater when you put your mind to it.”