Jason MacDonald

Jason MacDonald has always performed well under pressure. The North Wilmington native enlisted in the Delaware National Guard at 17 and joined the 153rd Military Police Company. After 9/11, he worked as a paramedic and ultimately went on active duty with the Guard, traveling to Saudi Arabia.

“I’ve always excelled at being in situations where things are at their worst,” he said.

It’s what attracted him to nursing and emergency critical care.

“I enjoyed the opportunity to make a difference--not just at the initial point of injury or illness, as I did as a paramedic--but in the longer-term, more holistic approach found in nursing.”

MacDonald has worked at ChristianaCare as an acute care nurse practitioner for the past decade, transferring to the neurointensive care unit when it opened nearly seven years ago.

“One of the biggest challenges of neuro ICU work is resiliency,” he said. “For many of these patients, it takes six months to a year to achieve a full, meaningful recovery, and nurses don’t get to see that; patients leave us as soon as they’re stable enough. It’s hard to stay motivated and not become jaded when you don’t see long-term outcomes.”

Now, he’ll be able to teach resiliency to aspiring nurses at the University of Delaware. MacDonald is embarking on his first academic teaching position, joining UD’s College of Health Sciences School of Nursing as an instructor – though this isn’t his first time at the helm of a classroom. MacDonald previously taught at the Delaware State Fire School.

“I’ve reached the point in my life where I owe it to some of the people who taught me to take those lessons, add the lessons I’ve learned, and impart that wisdom to the newer generation,” he said. “I’ve taught people from Ph.D. to GED, and I’ve had students in the same class with these degrees. So, I have experience as an educator making course materials relevant and meaningful to people with different life experiences.” 

This fall, MacDonald is teaching two courses in the new Acute Care Nurse Practitioner program--Acute Care Nurse Practitioner I and Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Practicum I. His own life experience will empower his teaching.

“Rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach, educators must understand that everyone has a different path that brings them to you as an instructor,” he said. “It’s important to acknowledge and respect that.”

MacDonald is enrolled in a combined master’s and Doctor of Nursing Practice degree program at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. His research published in Stroke examines medication management in the prevention of strokes in patients with cervical artery dissections. His doctoral research focuses on mitigating the long-term deficits experienced by patients with a brain aneurysm.

MacDonald obtained his associate of applied science in nursing degree from Delaware Technical Community College and his bachelor’s in nursing from Wilmington University. As a nontraditional student who persevered to get his initial and advanced nursing degrees, MacDonald saw little flexibility in his studies, which led to burnout. He aims to provide a healthier learning environment for the next generation of nurses.

“Nursing education has always had a reputation of being hard on students; it can be intimidating. I want to take some of the intimidation factor out of it,” he said. “Working in healthcare is hard enough, so I’m looking to turn that expectation for students on its head, so they’re excited to have the opportunity to learn.”

As UD looks to attract more nontraditional students, including transfer students and adult learners, MacDonald stressed:

“One thing to keep in mind, especially with adult learners, is that there’s a life going on for your students outside the classroom; there are competing priorities, and we need to account for that,” he said. “Flexibility is key, and we need to get the message out that getting your degree and having a job and a family is doable. We must understand that while education is a top priority, it may not always be the top priority in a person’s life, so we must find a way to balance the educational requirements with life’s requirements.”

MacDonald continues to balance all that while a DNP student working full-time at UD and part-time at ChristianaCare. He’s also the father of twin teenage girls and rarely misses a field hockey or softball game. You’ll often find him on the field as the team photographer. In his free time, he also enjoys photographing landscapes.

Tara Pezzuto

Teaching has always come naturally to pediatric nurse Tara Pezzuto. Her mother was an elementary school educator, and her father was a physical education teacher. At age 12, Pezzuto remembers teaching CCD to preschoolers in her mother’s classroom.

“I always took teaching for granted, and I didn’t realize it at first, but nurses are teachers. They teach everything they do every moment of the day – even more so in pediatric nursing,” she said.

“Betty Neuman’s Systems Model framed my career, and her theory involves ‘Helping others, help themselves,’ which is what I remind myself every day.”

Pezzuto started at Rowan University with a desire to attend medical school but struggled with the cost and hardship medical school would financially create. However, a career in nursing offered flexibility and options for learning in a way that was much more approachable. She embarked on her nursing journey through community college in New Jersey for her associate degree. Pezzuto got her first job as a nurse at Beebe Healthcare in Lewes.

“As a community hospital, Beebe gave nursing so much autonomy, and it taught me so much,” she said.

She realized quickly how important furthering her education was and enrolled in the University of Delaware for her bachelor of science in nursing. She obtained her master’s in pediatric nursing from UD and a doctor of nursing practice (DNP) in leadership from Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia.

“I fell more and more in love with nursing as I continued my education and never looked back,” she said. “I got my DNP in 2018 for two reasons – I had so many patients; it was a crime for me not to do more research and get that knowledge out there.

“But also,” she laughed. “All my patients called me doctor anyway, and I got tired of correcting them. Having clinical experience should be highlighted.”

Now, her life has come full circle as she combines her passions for nursing and teaching as an assistant professor at her alma mater – UD’s School of Nursing (SON) in the College of Health Sciences (CHS).

“I have completed the bucket list for my career plan,” she said. “It has always been one of my goals to get back and give back to UD. I have a real love for everything Delaware and UD. We are uniquely small, and together, we can accomplish great things.”

This fall, Pezzuto will be teaching Nursing Care of Children, Health Assessment Skills Practicum, and acclimating to all things UD CHS.

Pezzuto comes to UD SON from Nemours Children’s Health, where she’s worked for the past 16 years. There, she founded Nemours’ Headache Program after realizing an unmet need in the community for headache management in the pediatric population. The program sees up to 2,000 patients per year.

“The need in the community was so great, so I set out to meet that need,” she said. “And that’s how I approach nursing--I look for the need and create. That’s what nursing does. We look for where the community needs us and give them what they need.” 

Pezzuto has gone on emeritus status with Nemours and will continue with her research rooted in headaches, neurology, and the transition to practice model for advanced practice nursing in neurology.

Besides achieving her bucket list career with UD, Pezzuto is proud to have served as president of the Association of Child Neurology Nurses. During her four-year term, she recognized another unmet need: advanced practice nurses weren’t getting the specialty training they needed to succeed.

“I worked with a committee to create a boot camp for new nurse practitioners in neurology, and we are creating an extensive transition to practice model that can be adapted for different specialties.”

As she returns to teaching, Pezzuto aims to instill resilience in young nurses.

“In the last four years, I’ve seen so many nurses just at their wit’s end. Their passion is gone,” she said. “Preparing nurses to recognize their personal needs and demands and create balance in their lives so they can be what they want to be for the communities they serve is essential and something we must integrate into every aspect of nursing education.”

She also will ensure that the next generation of nurses is confident and competent.

“I want them to graduate with the skills they need to make permanent change for the better in our world,” she said.

In her free time, Pezzuto loves taking Disney trips and enjoys spending time in the barn with her daughter and at the beach with her husband. Her daughter, a sophomore on the pre-med track at UD, majoring in neuroscience, is also a competitive equestrian.

“I love watching my daughter ride, and when she’s not riding, we’re at the beach every chance we get,” she said.