Devon Berry, Academic Nursing Leader, on Pets

Devon Berry, RN, PhD, is a leader, a nurse, and a consultant. He most recently served as the Executive Associate Dean for School of Nursing at OHSU in Portland, OR. He is currently enjoying a mid-career gap-year to pursue deferred professional goals and spend time with family. Dr. Berry believes that deciding to adopt a pet is a big decision for any family. He grew up with dogs and has many good memories of the warmth and vitality they brought to his childhood home. Selecting dogs in his home required the intersection of a dog's availability and the appropriateness of the breed’s traits for a small farm. Most of Devon Berry’s dogs as a youth came from neighbors with pups who happened to have larger breeds that were good around animals including collies and German shepherds.

When an individual or a family decides to adopt a dog, selecting the right breed can be an involved process. Fortunately, the internet provides dozens of resources from many trustworthy organizations that can help in the selection process. In fact, some resources offer automated dog breed selectors that walk aspiring dog owners through a series of questions designed to narrow down the choices. For example, one selector asks for preferences around qualities such as amount of barking, intensity of grooming, activity level, trainability, and good with children. After entering your information, the selector produces a list of breeds that best match your preferred profile.

As a nurse, Devon Berry understands that dogs and other animal companions can play a supportive role in the lives of many people. The allowance of pet visits or pet therapy services can often provide a significant emotional uplift to patients who need encouragement. Nurses, says Devon Berry, are often in an excellent position to facilitate this kind of experience for their patients. Dr. Berry believes that pets can be a great gift in the lives of those who desire loyal companionship. Kind and responsible humans can also be great gifts to pets who are in need of a home. Selecting and adopting just the right pet for your home can be an investment that pays generous returns in times of both health and sickness.

Devon Berry, Nurse Leader, On Writing for Speaking

Devon Berry, RN, PhD is the prior Executive Associate Dean at Oregon Health and Science University. Over the past decade, Dr. Berry has served in multiple nursing leadership positions in academic settings. Across all of these positions, nursing leader Dr. Berry has come to appreciate the importance of the relationship between strong writing skills and strong speaking skills. He has noted that many leaders shy away from carefully manuscripting important speaking engagements.

Devon Berry, academic leader and nursing faculty, believes that the level of scrutiny under which leadership often functions demands that the leader practice a careful stewardship of words. He states that this stewardship can play itself out in one of several ways. First, Dr. Berry identifies those speaking opportunities which are more spontaneous leaving little time for preparation. Often, three to four minutes of uninterrupted reflection can result in sufficient notes for an introduction, three main points, and a conclusion. Nursing leader Devon Berry believes that a little preparation is often far better than no preparation especially if the individual is not a naturally gifted speaker. Furthermore, Berry states, leaders often say things they later wish they had not when working without notes.

Serving in executive roles, says Dr. Berry, deans, associate deans, and other nursing leaders will often have the opportunity to accept formal speaking engagements. For such engagements, much can be gained from fully manuscripting a talk before it is given. Devon Berry, nursing leader and prior associate dean, reflects that the point of manuscripting is not so that the speaker can blandly read through pages of content. Rather, he states, manuscripting ensures that the speaker has carefully thought through all of their ideas and formed a coherent and logical progression for their comments. Nursing leader Devon Berry believes that this level of preparation when fused with careful attention to audience interest and expressive delivery can make all the difference between a strong or weak presentation.

2020 - International Year of the Nurse and Midwife

An accomplished health care professional with a long history as a registered nurse, Devon Berry most recently served as executive associate nursing dean with the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU). Former nursing dean Devon Berry’s work at OHSU enabled the next generation of nurses to practice with proficiency and confidence.

Public support for nurses rose to new heights during the health challenges of 2020, making the World Health Organization’s declaration of 2020 as the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife particularly timely. Through this declaration, the World Health Organization strives to celebrate the outstanding contributions of nurses and midwives around the world. 2020 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale.

Another goal of the International Year of the Nurse initiative is to draw attention to the massive health care risks related to nursing shortages. Unless governments and industry leaders enact prompt and drastic policy changes, the World Health Organization predicts a shortfall of nine million global nurses and midwives by the end of the decade.