An Interview with Susan Bassett: Narrative Pedagogy

Abstract

I have been a nurse for 48 years now, graduating with a BSN in 1976, earning an MSN in 1985, and most recently receiving my PhD in psychology from Capella University in 2017. I have worked in just about every area of hospital nursing, also holding a variety of supervisory positions since 1983. I spent 14 years working to support veterans within the VA Healthcare system and then decided I really wanted to support my country more directly with an Active-Duty commission. I spent 23 years in the US Air Force Nurse Corps with assignments throughout the US. The highlight of my career was a 12-month deployment to Afghanistan, where I was assigned to the southern region of Khandahar during 2008-2009 (the time and area for the major warfighting). I was assigned as a Chief Nurse mentor in an Afghan Army Hospital, helping the Afghan nurses move forward from 1940’s style of nursing (29 of 30 men were illiterate and were taught only the very basic procedures such as IVs, EKGs, wound care—oh the vast number of wounds we saw). This is where I really keyed in on the importance of the stories these men told -- what they had experienced, how they lived, what was most important to them and their lifestyles. After retiring from the military, we settled on a ranch in the southern New Mexico mountains and I began teaching nursing (mostly in the graduate nurse educator program) at Eastern New Mexico University where I have been for the past 9 years. I am married to a very patient man, have three grown children, nine grand- and great-grandchildren.