Elmarie Botha
Assistant Professor Co-Director MSN CLE Program DNP, RNPrograms and Courses Taught
Master of Science in Nursing CLE (Clinical Leadership and Education): Foundations of Nursing Education, Role of the Caring Nurse Leader, and Exploring the Science of Teaching.
BSN: Pathopharmacology II
About Me
I was born and raised in South Africa and this is where my nursing career started. My first job as an RN was in a surgical ICU where I quickly realized that I love critical care and soon transferred to a Cardiac Care ICU. I decided it was time to see the world and Nursing provided the perfect opportunity to do so. I worked at King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh, the capitol of Saudi Arabia, for a year while waiting for my green card to be approved. I moved to the US in 2003 and started working at the Summit campus of ABSMC as a traveler. As soon as my travel contract was completed I went on staff at ABSMC on the Cardiac Telemetry unit. I started teaching at Samuel Merritt University as an adjunct in 2010 and became full time faculty in 2013. I have a passion for supporting students to understand all the facets and intricacies of caring for critically ill patients, I feel honored to have been a part of so many students' journeys in becoming RN's during the first decade of teaching at SMU. Now I have the privilege of teaching future educators and nurse leaders!
Education
I graduated with a BSN degree from the University of the Free State in South Africa in 1997 and received my MSN as an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (ACNP) from UCSF in 2007. In 2016 I completed my DNP at Samuel Merritt University.
Teaching Interests
Critical care, Cardiac Nursing, Medical Surgical Nursing, Pathopharmacology, Nursing Education courses.
Scholarly Interests
My scholarship work have included:
Application of Mindfulness techniques to reduce incivility among nurses
Course Development for the MSN CLE program
Professional Affiliations & Memberships
Sigma Theta Tau
Community Service
SMU Community Learning Forum (CLF) at Allen Temple Baptist Church, Speaking at Middle and High Schools about Nursing as a profession