About The Author
Beth Vaughan-Cole came to the University of Utah in late summer 1971. Her first few years in Utah included a three-way split in her employment as: 1) a child psychotherapist in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry under Dr. Merritt Egan, 2) a Child Psychiatric Nurse Clinical Specialist on the Pediatric Unit at the University Hospital under Director of Nursing Minnie Walton, and 3) faculty in the College of Nursing in the Graduate Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing Program under Dean Mildred Quinn and Program Director, Sumiko Fujiki.
Vaughan-Cole’s father, Joseph B. Vaughan received his baccalaureate and master’s degrees from Purdue University in Lafayette, Indiana, his hometown, and had completed all but the defense of his doctoral dissertation when World War II broke out and his dissertation committee disbanded. Professor Vaughan loved teaching and over the course of his life was faculty in various colleges and universities, including Loyola in New Orleans, Purdue in Lafayette, Indiana, and Ferris Institute in Big Rapids, Michigan, where Beth and her older brother Greg were both born. After being on faculty at the Cincinnati College of Pharmacy, financial considerations compelled him to leave teaching and work for pharmaceutical companies where he and Dr. Lyel J. Klotz, an associate/colleague from the College of Pharmacy, developed the patent for the gelatin capsule and the assay for Lasix, as well as other patents. Vaughan married Marilyn “Lynn” Lowes, who became a homemaker and a manager of a women’s clothing store, and later on a nurse after her daughter Beth went into nursing.
Beth was the second of two children and lived most of her childhood and youth in Cincinnati and nearby Norwood, Ohio. She graduated with her Bachelor’s in Nursing and Health from the University of Cincinnati in 1965. She went directly to graduate school at Boston University where she received an NIMH traineeship and studied Child Psychiatric Nursing. She loved graduate school. Her main teachers were Arlene Petrick and Eleanor Hayden, who was her clinical supervisor and chair of her master’s thesis. After graduation she stayed in Boston for four years. For three years, she worked as head nurse and nurse clinical specialist at Judge Baker Guidance Center’s Manville School and Residence with emotionally disturbed boys. (At the time, Dr. Robert Young was the Director of the Judge Baker Guidance Center.) While at Judge Baker, she was a volunteer clinical faculty member for Boston University, supervising graduate child psychiatric nursing students. Later she was a full-time faculty member at Boston University in the graduate child psychiatric nursing program.
Seeking a new adventure, Vaughan-Cole interviewed in Utah and California for a position as a psychiatric clinical specialist. She chose the position noted above where she could work with children and served in her three-way position for several years at the University of Utah. She enjoyed teaching in the graduate program with Ann Hutton, Dale Evans, Sumiko Fujiki, and Bonnie Clayton as faculty at the University of Utah in 1971, but realized that if she wanted an academic career, she would need a doctoral degree. In 1975 she enrolled in the Brigham Young University, Family Science PhD Program. Dr. Boyd Rollins was her academic advisor and her dissertation chair. The curriculum had a wide focus on family theory, family therapy theory and practice, and family research. She chose the Family Research Track and completed her degree in 1978 enrolling in coursework year-round, while continuing to teach about seventy-five percent time at the University of Utah.
In a 1976 fortuitous opportunity, Beth met Boyd Cole, a medical resident in the Otorhinolaryngology (Ear, Nose, and Throat) Program at the University of Utah. They met on a blind date set up by a friend and married later that year. They returned the favor by introducing their friend to his future wife. Dr. Cole later completed a second residency in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. Over the ensuing ten years, the Coles had four children: Bonnie, Christina, Benjamin, and Daniel.
After receiving her degree, Vaughan-Cole taught full time for the University of Utah in the Graduate Program. For quite a few years she co-taught a year-long course on Harry Stack Sullivan’s Interpersonal Theory of Psychiatry with Bonnie Clayton. Sullivan’s approach to personality and psychiatry made a lot of sense to Vaughan-Cole and it became the theoretical foundation for both her teaching and her professional practice.
In the 1970s graduate psychiatric nursing classes were small, usually about 5 students in each of the two-year graduate psychiatric nursing programs. The program survived primarily because it had federal funding and faculty with a lot of chutzpah.
Vaughan-Cole’s many teaching assignments included psychiatric nursing theory, as well as courses in family nursing theory and therapy, and courses in group dynamics and group therapy. There was always student supervision of clinical practice as well, and typical of academics, service as either chair or as member of many theses and dissertations committees. In addition to this rewarding involvement in forwarding student careers, she assumed many leadership assignments over the years as committee chairs in the College and in the University. She also served two five-year assignments as Division Chair in the College of Nursing.
This history of the Graduate Psychiatric Nursing Program describes what happened during the 56 years of the program. Establishing Caring Connections: A Hope and Comfort in Grief Program was a significant accomplishment for Cole. She is grateful to Dr. Katherine Supiano for continuing this valuable program.
Beth Vaughan-Cole, Mary Ann Johnson, Judy Malone, and B. Lee Waler edited the book Family Nursing Practice published in 1998 by W. B. Saunders. Wonderful colleagues contributed time and expertise to make this happen.
During the late 1980s through the early 2000s, Vaughan-Cole was on the SERPN Board (Society for Education and Research in Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing), an association that was vital for its leadership in psychiatric nursing education. Colleagues in SERPN for many years, board members often remained in touch over the years, sharing information about curriculum and Nurse Practice Acts in each state. Especially valuable to Vaughan-Cole in this regard were: Margery Chisholm from Boston University, then Massachusetts General Hospital School of Nursing; Jo Hendricks and Pat Howard, University of Kentucky; Catherine Kane, University of Virginia: Cecilia Taylor, St. Olaf College, Minnesota; and Jeanette Chamberlain, with NIMH. Chamberlain was exceptionally important as a resource in tracking and assessing national trends in the mental health field.
Probably the most notable academic achievement for Vaughan-Cole was serving on NIMH and NIH Review Boards for disseminating federal funds for Training Grants in Psychiatric Nursing. She served on these committees for over a decade and felt privileged to be asked, even though it was a mountain of work.
As Vaughan-Cole was preparing to retire from the University of Utah, Drs. Jan Morse and Lauren Clark nominated Cole for a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing. Vaughan-Cole was invited to join the Academy and was active for five years serving on several committees. Cole completed her career as the Dean of the College of Nursing at Brigham Young University. In addition, she served as an on-site reviewer for the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), another arduous endeavor.
Vaughan-Cole’s heroes are those who are willing to help others, even when it isn’t easy, convenient, or clear about what to do. For some people, this has been their life’s work. Cole is grateful for all the students who willingly learned, colleagues who shared the journey, and the community of people who have valued, supported, and respected the efforts of Psychiatric Nurses in caring for those with mental illnesses, mental health issues, and in caring for their families.
