Nurse Devon Berry on Smoothies, Exercise, and Lifestyle

Oregon Health and Sciences University’s former Executive Associate Dean of Nursing, Devon Berry, RN, PhD is an individual that holds to the belief that a nursing leader should lead by example in the area of health promotion by leading a healthy lifestyle. In his 10 plus years of leadership in nursing at various academic centers of higher education, Dr. Berry has committed to leading a healthy lifestyle. As part of a healthy lifestyle, Dr. Berry commits to exercising at least 3 times a week and eating a mainly plant-based diet, although exceptions are made for an occasional cut of grass-fed beef or a perfectly grilled pork-chop. 

At least once a year, nursing leader Dr. Devon Berry, at the coercion of his wife, engages in a week of plant-based green smoothies for breakfast and lunch. There is no limit of what kind of fruits and veggies can go into a green smoothie states nurse Devon Berry. Kale, chard and spinach of course make up the green part, but vegetables such as beets and frozen cauliflower pearls also debut in these drinkable “meals.”

While not suggesting that every nurse drink a kale and cauliflower smoothie, Dr. Devon Berry does believe that nurses play key roles in the ability to guide and influence general health. As academic deans, associate deans and faculty, Dr. Berry believes that the example of caring for one’s own health provides salient modeling in the training of future nurses and nursing leaders. Nurses caring for the health of their own bodies, will be better able to handle the challenges to stamina, critical thinking, and ever-changing environments of caring for others in the public arena.