UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON ARCHIVES
ORAL HISTORY PROJECT

Interview #580
LASKY, PATRICIA A.

LASKY, Patricia A. (1941- )
Graduate Student, Pediatric Nursing; Assistant Professor; Associate Dean; Interim Dean; Executive Associate Dean, School of Nursing, Emeritus Faculty
At UW: 1966-

Interviewed: 2002	
Interviewer: Signe S. Cooper
Length: 1 hour, 20 minutes

Childhood; Early interest in nursing; Decision to study at Marquette University; First positions taken; Masters degree in pediatric nursing at UW-Madison; Florence Blake; Doctoral study; Tenure as associate dean; Integration of nursing continuing education into the School of Nursing; Collaborative nursing degree program between Continuing Education and the Schools of Nursing on five UW campuses; Encouraging nurses to continue education at the college and graduate level; Tenure as interim dean and executive associate dean; Future of nursing.

Interview Session (April 22, 2002): Tapes 1-2

Tape 1/Side 1

00:00:51	Patricia Lasky talks about her childhood in Gary, Indiana.  She says that as a child she wanted to be a nurse.  After visiting Marquette University, she decided she would study nursing there.

00:03:17	PL remembers that once when she was losing her enthusiasm for nursing, a professor presented her with an interesting challenge.  She says that this challenge changed her life by reminding her how much nursing could help people.

00:04:35	After she graduated in 1963, she took a position at a diabetic camp.  She then worked as a staff nurse at Denver Children's Hospital.  PL moved to Sacramento where she continued her nursing work with children.

00:08:19 	PL talks about later positions she took in Chicago and at Central Wisconsin Colony.  She says that she considered two Masters Programs, one at the University of Minnesota and the other at UW-Madison.  She says that she liked Wisconsin's emphasis on pediatrics.

00:12:02	At the time that she was interviewed by Florence Blake, she did not realize how prominent Blake was in the field.  PL says that during the interview, Blake asked her about her relationship to her mother.  This question reflected a new interest in the relationship of children to their mothers.  She describes Harry Harlow's studies on mother love at this time.

00:14:56	PL says that her class consisted of only seven students, and that it was young and somewhat rebellious.  She describes the way that the class affected Blake.

00:17:05	When she finished her Masters, PL took a position as an instructor at UW-Madison.  After working as an assistant professor for six years, she decided to earn a doctorate.

00:18:52 	She talks about her decision to do an independent doctoral degree.  She lists the disciplines represented on her committee.  PL's research dealt with the role of parents in the socialization of preschool children's health knowledge.

00:20:53 	PL talks about working towards her doctorate while continuing to work half-time in the School.  She found that the School supported students who chose to pursue doctorates.

00:23:45	She describes the teaching that she did both as a teaching assistant and then as an instructor and assistant professor.  She mentions that she attempted to communicate her enthusiasm for pediatric nursing to her students.  She talks about some of the careers that her students have taken.

00:28:01	PL says that she was project director of several training programs, including one for nurse-practitioners.  She talks about the evolution of these programs within the School.  Recently she has become interested in making baccalaureate education available to registered nurses.

00:30:41	End of side.

Tape 1/Side 2

00:31:23	PL continues to talk about the development of the nurse-practitioner.  This type of position was first created in Colorado, where many children lived far from medical centers.  She says that recent legislation in Wisconsin gives nurse-practitioners prescriptive authority.

00:35:06	PL talks about her administrative responsibilities.  In 1985, continuing education and outreach education in nursing, which had been housed in extension, were integrated into the School.  PL was appointed associate dean and took responsibility for supervising the integration process.

00:39:58	She discusses the development of the collaborative nursing degree program, collaboration between Continuing Education and the Schools of Nursing on five of the UW campuses.  The focus of the program was credit outreach, which meant giving nurses access to baccalaureate education. 

00:45:03	PL discusses a survey done in 1992 by UW-Extension that found a significant interest among nurses in continuing their education using distance technologies.

00:47:29	She describes the efforts between the five campuses to collaborate on the teaching of the curriculum.  Students enrolled in a course not taught on their home campus can follow it using distance technologies.

00:50:47	She says that as a result of an articulation agreement between System and the Wisconsin Technical College System, credits from a technical school will become college-transferable.  This agreement will encourage nurses to continue their education at the baccalaureate and graduate level.

00:56:19	PL talks about her tenure as interim dean of the School in 2000.  She found it challenging to be responsible for everything within the School.

00:59:44	In her new position as executive associate dean, she has the role of advising the new dean.

01:01:57	End of side.  End of tape.

Tape 2/Side 1

01:02:03	PL continues to discuss her role as executive associate dean.  She lists a few of the projects on which she is working, including a new School of Nursing building.

01:03:41	She talks about faculty participation in professional nursing organizations.

01:07:22	PL discusses the changes she has seen in the School of Nursing, including increasing standards for the undergraduate class and an increasing focus on graduate education.

01:12:42	She says that she has been very satisfied by her contribution to administration and the outreach mission.  Although she did not continue her work in pediatrics, she is happy that she indirectly helped children by making education available to nurses.

01:14:04	She talks about her feelings about the future of nursing education and some of the challenges that the discipline faces.  She says that nurses need to have greater control over their work. 

01:19:30	End of side.  End of tape. 

END