Many young people will find a possible career path while in high school. Dr. Thayer McGahee was 4 years old when she chose nursing.
"I got a little golden book called 'Nurse Nancy,'" said the new School of Nursing dean at USC Aiken. "It stayed with me when I got older. I knew I wanted to work with children in pediatric nursing."
McGahee has been serving as the interim dean for the past two years. She joined the USCA faculty in 2005 after spending 24 years in academic and clinical practice at the Medical College of Georgia.
She arrived at Vanderbilt University after high school, where she was challenged to go into medicine; but she liked the bedside aspect of being with patients.
At MCG, McGahee relished all the aspects of nursing - including teaching the parents of young patients in the areas of treatment, discharge and care at home.
In addition to her work as a clinical nurse at MCG, McGahee served on the nursing faculty. She earned a master's degree from the University of South Carolina and earned a Ph.D. in nursing. She wrote her dissertation in 1998 on the importance of smoking prevention for children as young as fourth grade.
Ten years ago, McGahee decided she was ready to teach full-time. She found in USCA's School of Nursing a place she would stay until retirement.
McGahee's research focuses on service learning and its cognitive and affective development of nursing students, according to a USCA press release. She currently holds the lone Wells Hanly/Bank of America Endowed Chair for Nursing.
McGahee finds her greatest joy in supporting the students - knowing them personally and mentoring them to become successful.
"It's a really tough program," she said. "There is a lot of emotion in dealing with sick people. The students have to learn how to handle sickness and even death. The courses are science-based with a lot of critical thinking, but you can never lose the heart of nursing. ... You want to treat patients as you would want people you love treated."
USCA's program is outstanding and is poised to grow and improve over the new few years, McGahee said in the press release.
The university is partnering with technical colleges - including Aiken Technical College - to see higher numbers in the transition of registered nurses to those with bachelor's degrees.
"I am committed, along with our faculty, to work efficiently and utilize our resources to continue to make USC Aiken the university of choice," McGahee said in the press release.
Senior writer Rob Novit is the Aiken Standard's education reporter.