“Community college is where I started, and I feel a duty to help educate the new generation of nurses. I think it’s my responsibility to educate them on resources and career paths to success."

LaShawnda McLean is a dedicated nurse practitioner and mother of two. She has determinedly pursued further education as a nurse: a first-generation college student and the first nurse in her family, LaShawnda paid her through school at Wayne County Community College District. She committed to earning her Associate in Applied Science in Nursing (ADN) degree shortly after giving birth to her daughter and successfully completed it while working and parenting full-time. After welcoming a son, LaShawnda completed her bachelor’s in nursing, and just a few years later returned to school to earn her master’s at UM-Ann Arbor. She is known by her colleagues for her “hardworking nature, empathy, timeliness, caring demeanor, enthusiasm, and helpfulness,” as well as her “unwavering dedication.”

Now, LaShawnda is continuing her nursing education at the doctoral level as a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) student at UM-Ann Arbor. Beyond her studies, LaShawnda is a hands-on mother who frequently volunteers at her children’s school, as well as an advocate for education. She intends to use her DNP degree to teach ADN nursing students and give them the knowledge and resources to continue their education, including knowledge of different nursing specialties available to them and the encouragement to continue growing in their careers. She reflects, “Community college is where I started, and I feel a duty to help educate the new generation of nurses. I think it’s my responsibility to educate them on resources and career paths to success and not stop at ADN.”

CEW+ applauds LaShawnda’s persistence and commitment to educating the next generation of nurses and names her a Margaret Dow Towsley Scholar.