Tragic Loss
College copes with tragic loss of nursing professors

By Heather Stringer
November 7, 2002

GRIEF-STRICKEN AND SHOCKED students and faculty are grappling with the loss of three professors after last week's shootings at the University of Arizona College of Nursing in Tucson.

A 41-year-old student fatally shot Robin Rogers in her office and Cheryl McGaffic and Barbara Monroe as they conducted a midterm exam. The student, Robert Stewart Flores, then turned the gun on himself.

Flores reportedly had failed his pediatric nursing class and was struggling in a critical care class.

McGaffic, Ph.D., RN, a clinical associate professor in the nursing college, taught courses in ethics, critical care nursing and death and dying. She was a nurse for 21 years in the fields of critical care and holistic nursing. She was also a volunteer chaplain at University Medical Center in Tucson.

The 44-year-old professor had completed research projects on topics such as the relationship between spirituality, health and the meaning of life and death for elders and adults who are chronically or terminally ill.

"Cheryl helped me a lot," said Mary Koithan, Ph.D., RN, an assistant professor in the nursing school. "She was an extremely giving person. She helped a lot of us without telling us she was doing it. When I was diagnosed with cancer, she gave me a huge hug and said she was there for me."

Koithan said one of McGaffic's greatest gifts was honoring people, even when they disagreed with her. "Cheryl and I could be on opposite sides of the table on issues, and we could argue with the best of them, but at the end of the argument, Cheryl would always reach out and hug me. It was never a personal thing."

Monroe, 45, MS, CCRN, RN, was an assistant professor in clinical nursing who worked at University Medical Center as a clinical nurse educator in critical care.

Before joining the University of Arizona last year, she taught at the University of Phoenix. She also worked as a nurse in Casa Grande from the late '80s through 1992.

Rogers, 50, MSN, CPNP, RN, was a clinical assistant professor of nursing. She retired from the Air Force in 1996 as a lieutenant colonel, and was active at Faith Evangelical Lutheran Church in Phoenix. She led the singing at the praise services Saturday nights.

Rogers earned her bachelor's degree in nursing at Loma Linda University in 1973 and a neonatal nurse practitioner certificate from the University of Arizona in 1979. She was a pediatric nurse practitioner while in the Air Force.

In 1992, she earned a master's degree from the University of Texas at San Antonio. Four years later, she joined the University of Arizona College of Nursing, where she taught graduate courses such as evaluating assessment skills for nurse practitioners.

"She touched so many patients and so many lives in her career," said James Ronan, MN, PNP, RN, who knew Rogers in the Air Force. "She was an excellent clinician. She was driven to do the very best and would go way beyond what was necessary."

Contact Heather Stringer at heathers@nurseweek.com