Do you feel unprepared to interact with people from other cultures? Have you ever said or did something when interacting with people from other cultures that you later discovered was inappropriate in their cultures?  Cultural norms are something each of us learn as we grow up.  However, our cultural experience may not help us to avoid offending others.  Drawn from her many international intercultural experiences Teresa has learned a few basic rules that will work for interactions in any culture.  

Whether it is resilience in employment, discrimination, family life, business struggles, or any part of human experience, Teresa has proven her resilience in all these situations.  Give your group the benefit of hearing how she maneuvered the things life has brought her and gain insight into how to keep going when it seems impossible.  

With Teresa’s experience in public service, healthcare, and as a nursing instructor she cannot believe what people say.  So many of the things she heard were hilarious.  They say that laughter is the best medicine, so if your group needs a dose of medicine and a good laugh book Teresa to hear all the funny things that she has heard over 50 years of experience with the public.

Based on her research the nursing shortage is based on how nursing school does not emphasize or value self-care training.  She offers insight into how this applies to 

Health care versus illness care. 

All things can work together for your good if you learn from the struggles and life experiences.  Having lost the first grandchild to stillbirth, marital struggles, being the first and only female firefighter, opening a new medical practice six months after graduation, husband being gravely ill, medical missions, and other experiences have given Teresa the opportunity learn many life lessons.  Learn how you can use your life experiences to mature you, give you wisdom, and comfort you through struggles.  

When you are a child thinking of what you wanted to be when you grow up it was probably nurse, firefighter, engineer etc., but usually only one career.  Teresa certainly never planned to have multiple assorted careers throughout her life.  Come hear how all these connected to make her who she is today.

Noticing the rise in many chronic diseases and autoimmune diseases after 2020 spurred Teresa to look at potential causes and looking at root causes of chronic diseases and autoimmune disease.  She discovered research that links many of these diseases to our food supply and toxins to these diseases.  This is not taught in nursing or medical schools in the USA.  She has found that functional medicine offers insights into helping prevent and treat these autoimmune diseases.  

Nursing has a spirit about it.  Caring, putting the needs of others ahead of themselves, keeping up on medical research, spending learning about patients and family are just a few things that the spirit of nursing entails.  

Our nation has been trying to solve the “health care crisis” for decades. What we call health care; it is illness care. Even with the Affordable Health Care Act clause that enables insured Americans to obtain “preventative care” with not out of pocket expenses it is not preventative care. It is screening to see if there are signs of potential problems. The current system does truly little for prevention. By the time people obtain screening laboratory studies and a physical examination they already have developed a disease process.  What can be done to change this?  Who can turn this crisis around?

Teaching and learning should be fun! Children pretend situations and learn by pretending to be something they are not.  Sometimes we need to look to children to learn how to relate to situations we have not yet experienced.  Teresa participated in the use of role playing in her firefighter and police training and used it in teaching her nursing students. Find ideas on how to catch the attention of your students and patients using role playing and sometimes humor.