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ACC instructor does more than teach

Women Who Make a Difference

News Photo by Steve Schulwitz Alpena Community College nursing student Maria Truss, left, conducts an examination while under the tutelage of ACC Director of Nursing Melissa Fournier. Fournier has help teach hundreds of students who have went on to work in the medical field.

ALPENA — Being a teacher can be a rewarding career, but according to Alpena Community College Director of Nursing Melissa Fournier, it is even more rewarding when you help students graduate and find jobs where they can save lives.

Fournier has been employed in the nursing program for 19 years and not only acted as an instructor, but also an inspiration to more than 657 students who earned their degree and became nurses.

“When you do the math it means combined all of those graduates have cared for over one million patients,” she said. “That’s special to me because I know I helped to give them the tools to be able to help care for all of those people.”

Fournier said she moved to Alpena when she was young and wanted to get into medicine, but she said when she began in the nursing program in Alpena, she had bigger ambitions than being a nurse. She said it wasn’t long however that she realized a nurse, and teacher, is what she wanted to be.

“I got asked why I wanted to be a nurse and I gave a very bad answer. I told them I didn’t want to be a nurse, I wanted to be a thoracic surgeon,” Fournier said. “Once I got to see what a nurse truly did and the patient interaction there is, I knew it was what I wanted.”

Outside of work Fournier said she enjoys hanging out with friends, doing needlepoint and riding motorcycles. She also has created a health care therapy class which gives people exposure to alternate treatments that aren’t mainstream in the United States.

“Things like accupressure, accupuncture, oil therapies and massage,” she said. “We are bringing those things and more to the community and hope to raise the level of consciousness of people about them.”

Only 41 years old, retirement isn’t something Fournier is focusing a lot of attention on right now. She said when the time comes however she has ambitions and goals she will strive toward.

She said continuing her education and writing books are also things she intends to do when she retires. Fournier has already written one book that is used by students in dosage calculation at ACC.

“I do want to get either my Ph.D. or EDD, but not in nursing, but education,” she said. “I can write books right now and nurses respect me and believe me, but academia doesn’t. If I don’t get my degree in education then I’m not respected by it.”

Having been employed in many areas of nursing, Fournier said she has seen a lot of things and offered some advice to nurses just entering the field or beginning school.

“Never give up,” she said. “It’s going to be challenging and there will be times when you’re emotional and it will feel like there is no way to get through it, but don’t give up. You can do it.”

Steve Schulwitz can be reached via email at sschulwitz@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5689. Follow Steve on Twitter ss_alpenanews.

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