Assistant Clinical Professor Erin Thornton graduated with a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Columbus State University (2011) and a master’s in nursing from Jacksonville University (2016). She began teaching Pediatric Critical Care for fourth semester students at AUCON in April 2022.
Although this is Thornton’s first venture into teaching, as a certified pediatric nurse, she has over 10 years’ experience in pediatrics with primary focus on critical care in the PICU and Emergency Department. In 2017, she joined the Pediatric Emergency Department at Piedmont Columbus Regional, where she served as a staff nurse as well as became the first Unit Based Educator for the Pediatric Emergency Department. During the pandemic, she served as a manager of a Level 2 Trauma Center at Piedmont.
Her teaching philosophy is based upon the belief that she should cultivate the most up-to-date knowledge in her students (and herself) to ensure a career with exemplary clinical judgment and skills at the bedside. “A good teacher helps create new knowledge as we continuously examine methods of teaching. I hope to grow pediatric critical caregivers in our community as well,” said Thornton.
“I saw so much turnover in critical care — adult and pediatric — during the pandemic and believe that there is a direct correlation to handling death and dying as a caregiver and as a person which has affected our frontline nurses. Nurses need to have a healthy relationship with that part of their job to sustain themselves at the bedside in critical care. Giving our students the approaches and resources to cope with critical care once they become professionals is critical,” she added.
She looks forward to teaching and learning with her students as they navigate pediatric critical care together. We welcome Erin Thornton to AUCON!
