Longing for Liberia
Professor Jane Blood-Siegfried dreams of returning to Liberia to train teachers
Name: Jane Blood-Siegfried
Position: Professor in the Duke School of Nursing
Years at Duke: 17
What I do at Duke: I teach nurse practitioners in the masters and doctoral program how to manage care for children in a pediatric clinic. I also travel to Nicaragua every summer with nursing students for a two-week experience in community health.
To start a conversation with me, someone should ask about: Liberia. I lived there from age 11 to 15 because my dad worked for the State Department building schools. My father died in 2009, and I recently returned for the first time in 46 years to scatter some of his ashes on the beach in front of the house where we used to live. I am scattering his ashes in as many places around the world as I can think of that he loved.
Something most people don't know about me: When I lived in Africa, I raised orphan chimpanzees. We had one that slept in a crib in my room. If I didn't get up early, she would climb into my bed and take the rollers out of my hair, unload my dresser drawers, and swing on the clothes in my closet.
My first ever job: I worked in student records at Cal State Fresno part-time while I was in college. I had to pull student records that were all in manila folders filed by Social Security number.
If I had $5 million, I would: Pay off the school loans for my two children, who are 28 and 31. After that, I'd find a way to build schools and train teachers in Liberia. Postwar Liberia is back where they were when I lived there in the 1960s. Unemployment is high and most people are not educated. If children can't get a high school education, they can't go on to be the health care providers and professionals the country needs.
My dream job: Going to Liberia and teaching teachers to build the country's capacity for education. I'm excited that I'll be doing just that this summer through a program at the School of Nursing.
When I'm not at work, I like to: Turn wood. I make bowls, plates and pens. I put a piece of wood on the lathe and start turning it, and the wood directs what it becomes. It is a very relaxing process.
What I love about Duke: The collegiality of the School of Nursing. When I started we were a faculty of only 20. We have grown and grown, but we still have a strong connection.
The best advice I ever received: Someone at work today said something I need to keep in mind. She told me to keep my view at 5,000 feet so that I don't get caught up in the minutia.
A book I enjoy reading: "Outlander," by Diana Gabaldon. It is the story of a woman from the time of World War II who gets pulled back to Scotland in the 1700s. She is a nurse and becomes a healer. I find her medical descriptions fascinating.
Something unique in my office: I have a picture frame that has in it a replica of Florence Nightingale's nurse uniform sash, my nursing cap from Cal State Fresno, my mother's nursing class photo and a picture of my daughter and her nursing class. It shows three generations of nursing.