At Missouri State University, Alexis Curran and Dr. Lori Taula are dedicated to educating future nurses.
Curran is a visiting clinical instructor and Taula is a visiting clinical assistant professor in the School of Nursing. Let’s find out more about them.
Where are you originally from?
Curran: I grew up in Waynesville, Missouri. I moved to the Springfield area for college in 2012.
Taula: I’m from Kansas City, Missouri, but I lived in Arizona for many years.
What brought you to Missouri State University and how long have you been here?
Curran: I went through the nursing program at Missouri State in 2016 and decided my long-term career goal was to be a nurse educator. I knew from personal experience that the program and faculty were great, so I decided to come back to Missouri State to work. I started as an adjunct faculty in spring 2022, worked as the Simulation Center coordinator during the 2022-23 school year and have taught in the School of Nursing since fall 2023.
Taula: I’ve been here one and a half years. I love teaching and finding creative ways to help students learn and grow.
What’s your educational background?
Curran: I graduated with my Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) from Missouri State (go Bears!) in 2016 and my Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) with an emphasis in nursing education from Arkansas State University in 2024.
Taula: I got my Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) from University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) and both my MSN in Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) and BSN from the Research College of Nursing. I also have a bachelor’s degree in social psychology from Park University.
Why did you choose to pursue a nursing profession?
Curran: It’s an interesting story. I started out as an elementary education major when I first came to college. I worked at a bank in my hometown on holidays and we had a customer whose child was undergoing cancer treatment. One of the other tellers had lost a child to cancer and she would often talk with the customer whose child was in treatment about how great the nurses were and how much of an impact they had made during a very difficult time in their lives. I had a realization that I wanted to have that same kind of impact on people’s lives, so I decided to become a nurse. I thought I wanted to do pediatric oncology at first, but I fell in love with labor and delivery during my obstetrics class in nursing school.
Taula: My passion is working with underserved populations. I want to be a resource to patients and a provider who makes patients feel heard and seen. I want to help patients focus on progress not perfection and understand how their health connects to quality of life.
Where did you work prior to Missouri State?
Curran: I was a labor and delivery nurse at Mercy Hospital in Springfield. I worked there full time for almost six years and still pick up an occasional shift during holidays and summers off.
Taula: I’ve worked at Minute Clinic, Kansas City Hospitalist, Heritage Group PCP, Research Hospital, Advanced Wound Care and Two Rivers Psychiatric Hospital.
What do you do in your role at the university?
Curran: I primarily teach NUR 322: The Childbearing Family. I prepare and teach lectures, create and grade assignments, prepare and run simulated patient experiences, and oversee clinical experiences for students. I also help with creating and running simulations for the School of Nursing.
Taula: I’m a professor in the FNP program: Episodic-acute care, applied pathophysiology and advanced health assessment. I also guest lecture as needed as well and do clinic site visits for FNP students. I’m a chair to several DNP students and I belong to the graduate committee.
How do you incorporate real-world clinical experience into your teaching?
Curran: I try my best to stay up to date on current practices in the obstetric nursing world by being a member of professional nursing organizations and keeping up with my certifications in inpatient obstetric nursing and electronic fetal monitoring. I also really enjoy being able to incorporate my personal experiences as a labor and delivery nurse into my lectures and tie them into the content I’m teaching.
Taula: I like to give students real life experiences. I walk them through how they would handle those situations, which often involves using a simulation lab with patients (actors). I also like them to use the knowledge they already have and think about how they can apply that in real life. Additionally, I add cadaver labs and skills labs to classes.
What do you enjoy most about working at Missouri State?
Curran: I have amazing co-workers and get to work with some great students! They really are the best of the best!
Taula: The students and faculty are my favorite things. The faculty care so much about students and we all work as a team to help students succeed. I love seeing the students so dedicated to their education and overcoming challenges.
What do you do for fun or leisure?
Curran: I like spending time with friends and snuggling with my cat, Miss Kitty. When it’s nice out, I love hiking, swimming, camping and fishing. I also like to read and binge watch TV. I can play a little guitar and like to sing, as well. I’m on a bowling league, too, but I’m not that good at it. It’s just for fun and to spend time with friends.
Taula: I enjoy plants, gardening (food), hiking and travel (nature anything). I also keep up on house projects.
What are you looking forward to this summer?
Curran: Warm temperatures and sunshine! I love when it gets warm enough to go to the pool, lake or river. Summer is my favorite season.
Taula: I’m looking forward to hopefully visiting national and state parks.