About Edson College

When Nancy Claflin attended Arizona State University in the 1970’s things were a little bit different. “When we were in nursing school, nobody wore gloves,” Claflin recalled.

This May, she is being recognized as a Golden Graduate, marking 50 years since she earned a Bachelor of Science in nursing. 

After graduating in 1974, she got a job with the Phoenix VA Health Care System where she worked for the next 40 years. 

Claflin’s skills, knowledge and passion for nursing grew right along with the profession. She witnessed and implemented the many advances in nursing and health care delivery over her four decades in the field.

And while so much has changed, Claflin said the one constant was the excellent preparation and education she received in ASU’s nursing program. Her professors set her up for success, equipping her with the knowledge and skills she needed back then while also instilling the desire for lifelong learning to advance care.

“The faculty were supportive of me and they really wanted to help us,” Claflin said.

Even after she graduated, her professors would meet with her on their own time to help her study for the state board exams and answer any questions she had about the profession.

“They were interested in helping us succeed and I just really appreciated that,” Claflin said.

It was this generosity and compassion from her professors that gave Claflin the idea all these years later to become a faculty member herself and that’s exactly what she did.

Claflin retired from full-time nursing to become a faculty associate in Edson College’s prelicensure program but she hasn’t left the VA. Now, she takes her students there, supervising their clinical rotations as they learn about the importance of health care for veterans.

“I love doing that…being able to bring the students back to the same place I was,” Claflin said.

Of all the enjoyable aspects of spending her entire nursing career at the VA, Claflin said getting the opportunity to talk to veterans daily stood out the most because they always had a story to tell.

“When I first started working at the VA, they reminded me of my grandfather; and then later on they reminded me of my dad; and now they remind me of my husband,” Claflin said.

With five decades of nursing experience under her belt, Claflin certainly knows the recipe to succeed in health care. Her one piece of advice that she stresses to her students is to soak up as much information as possible and to help as many people as possible.

“Listen to as many hearts and as many lungs as you can,” Claflin said.