CU Nursing - Spring/Summer 2019 - 23

23

ALUMNI

News and Quotes

In Their Words

University of Colorado where she earned
her Bachelor's, Master's and Nurse
Practitioner degrees. After graduation,
she held a faculty position at CU School
of Nursing for five years.

THELMA ROBINSON
Cadet Nurse of WWII and CU Faculty Member
June 22, 1925-March 4, 2019

Thelma M. Robinson, RN, MSN, PNP
passed away March 4, 2019. She will
forever be remembered by the University
of Colorado College of Nursing as
a patriot, author, and educator. The
nursing community is grateful to her
for her research, documentation, and
dissemination of important nursing events
that occurred during World War II.
Born June 22, 1925, Robinson lived
through the dust bowl in Kansas. At 18,
she began attending Lincoln General
Hospital School of Nursing, beginning
her love for the profession. She enrolled in
the US Cadet Nursing Corps, a program
introduced in 1943 by President Franklin
Delano Roosevelt to assist with the need
for nurses during WWII. The accelerated
program ensured that the country had
enough nurses to care for its citizens
at home and abroad. By 1945, nursing
students were providing 80 percent of
the nursing care in US hospitals while
nursing graduates were serving in the
military. Robinson graduated from the
Corps in 1946, and later entered the

Robinson wrote multiple books, either
authored solo or with her sister Paulie M.
Perry. Her goal was to spread awareness
and educate on topics surrounding the
Cadet Nurses. Titles of her work include
"Your Country Needs You", "Nisei Cadet
Nurse of World War II: Patriotism in Spite
of Prejudice", and "Cadet Nurse Stories:
The Call and Response of Women during
World War II". Her fourth book, "Growing
Up in the Dirty Thirties" was published in
2018. In 2012 for National Nurses Week,
Ancestry.com published over 300,000
records of Cadet Nursing Corps women
with the help of Thelma Robinson:
https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/
cadet-nursing-corps-world-war-ii/
Services were held April 6, 2019 at First
Presbyterian Church, 1820 15th St.,
Boulder, CO 80302.
For more information about Thelma's work:
http://cadetnurse.com/Welcome.html

COLLEEN CASPER
MS ('91), DNP ('11)
Executive Director, Colorado Nurses
Association - The Professional Association
that advocates on behalf of all Colorado
nurses in support of a healthier Colorado.
Member of CU Nursing Alumni Board

"I am one of those fortunate individuals
that had strong nurse role models from a
very early age and I was certain that was
the work for me. Even after a wonderfully
challenging and long career, I continue to
be amazed at the capacity of nurses to

change a conversation, change a moment
and change a policy - for individuals, each
other, and for our communities.
I have benefited so much from my
education and even more so from the
relationships I have had the opportunity
to develop with faculty and student
colleagues. Colorado has many strong
nursing programs, each with unique and
important contributions. I feel strongly
that CU College of Nursing has a role in
finding the right balance of leadership in
research and advancing clinical practice
and education, while simultaneously,
working collaboratively to bring all
Colorado nursing education programs to
the benefit of patients and communities
throughout all of Colorado."

JOHN MALSBARY
BSN ('15), RN
UC Health, Inpatient Oncology
Member of CU Nursing Alumni Board

"I like what I do and where I work. My
unit has exceptional teamwork and
energy. There's just a really great culture
that prioritizes safety and innovation from
top to bottom. And on top of the positive
work environment, I get to learn from real
experts in a rapidly evolving field.

Got a note or quote
for your class?
Submit class notes
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ucdenver.edu

"Initially, I was shy about joining CU
Nursing's alumni board, but I think my
generation of nurses needs to hop into
institutional roles and be involved in
promoting our profession. Additionally,
the further removed from the CU loop I
am, the more I miss the mentorship and
direction that comes with being a student.
I'm hoping that I can help the Alumni
Association to support other young
nurses in the future."

Spring/Summer 2019
http://www.Ancestry.com https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/cadet-nursing-corps-world-war-ii/ http://www.cadetnurse.com/Welcome.html
CU Nursing - Spring/Summer 2019

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