Katherine Bravo, Ph.D., is among three UNMC faculty members who will receive Outstanding Teacher Awards at the April 23 faculty meeting.
- Name: Katherine (Kati) Bravo, Ph.D.
- Title: Assistant professor, College of Nursing
- Joined UNMC: August 2005
- Hometown: Bellevue
Chancellor to speak
UNMC Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, M.D., will give his annual address to the faculty at 4 p.m. on April 23 in the Durham Research Center Auditorium as part of the annual faculty meeting. Faculty Senate President Gay Canaris, M.D., assistant professor, internal medicine, College of Medicine, will provide an overview of the year’s activities. Following the address and the award presentations, Dr. Gold will host a reception in the center’s foyer.
Awards will be presented for Outstanding Teacher, Spirit of Community Service, Outstanding Faculty Mentor of Graduate Students and Outstanding Mentor of Junior Faculty, as well as the University of Nebraska’s Outstanding Teaching and Instructional Creativity Award (OTICA) and Outstanding Research and Creative Activity (ORCA) Award. Faculty members also will be recognized for their 5, 10, 20, 30 and 40 years of service.
What are the greatest rewards of teaching?
Some of the greatest rewards of teaching are being able to watch the evolution of our students as they grow into the role of safe, professional nurses. Then seeing these same students as successful nurses, practicing with integrity and compassion, as they care for the patients they serve. The small role that I play in this process is very rewarding and serves to renew my passion for teaching on a regular basis.
Describe a moment in your career when you realized you had picked the right occupation.
I took a circuitous route to nursing and really feel like it was a calling. The same is true about becoming a nurse educator. It is a privilege to accompany students on their journey to the nursing profession. I value this opportunity on a daily basis. When a former student tells you that you made a difference in their education, this just deepens the feeling that this is the right place for me.
What are the biggest challenges you face as a teacher?
The biggest challenge is staying ahead of the student learning needs. Educators need to constantly grow in knowledge and method to respond to the changing health care environment. Assessing the need and responding to it in our instructional methods is the biggest challenge.
How do you know when you’ve been successful as a teacher?
One of the ways I gauge successful teaching is if the students are able to work through a problem on their own using the tools that we have shown them. Can they go that next step to think independently? Can they own the knowledge they have gained and apply it? These are a few indicators of successful teaching. We don’t always get it right the first time but will work with the students until our mutual goals are accomplished.
Always knew you were awesome! Congrats, Kati!!
Dr. Bravo is pretty much a rock star 😉
Congratulations Kati!
Congratulations, Kati! Thanks for all your service.
Congrats, Kati! You beat Cameron to Dr. Bravo.