The Nurse Support Program II (NSP II), administered by the Maryland Higher Education Commission and funded through the Health Services Cost Review Commission, announced in early 2021 the first annual Nurse Faculty Annual Recognition Awards (NFAR), showcasing 13 of Maryland’s finest nurse faculty. Each of the award recipients was nominated by their Dean or Director of Nursing and will receive $10,000.
Theresa Libershal RN, MA, Assistant Professor of Nursing at Harford Community College was one of only two faculty chosen for the demonstrated area of "Excellence in Teaching."
Below, Professor Libershal shared some thoughts with us on being a nurse educator.
What is your proudest accomplishment as an educator?
My focused area of teaching is first semester students. While I have had many proud accomplishments throughout my nurse educator career I’d have to say that watching first semester students build their competence, confidence and compassion from the beginning to the end of first semester is very rewarding. I often receive messages from students upon graduation who share that they ‘hear my voice’ in their head when caring for clients and use my advice as guidance for their nursing practice. And, finally when I hear from a family member, friend or neighbor that they’ve had a recent experience in health care and a really good nurse who graduated from Harford Community College --
“It’s a great feeling to know I played a small part in their nursing education.”
Thank you to Professor Libershal for your continued contributions to nursing education in Maryland and congratulations on this well-deserved recognition!
Stay tuned for upcoming features of other NFAR recipients. You can find the full list of awardees here: