EMU Today

YPSILANTI – It has been an extraordinary year in an exceptional career for Michael Williams, director of the Eastern Michigan University School of Nursing.

As the leader of students and faculty distinctly positioned to contribute to efforts to combat COVID-19, Williams helped galvanize the school into myriad volunteer efforts around the pandemic. Combine that with his continued work every third weekend as a critical care nurse and an active family life, and you have a memorable year that reinforced Williams’ devotion to his colleagues and career.

“He is a role model for us during these extremely difficult times,” says emeritus professor Betty Beard, who preceded Williams as director of the School of Nursing and still teaches there. “During these times, he keeps all of us safe and on track. He is sensitive to the needs of staff, students, and faculty, both full and part-time.”

Beard notes that Williams is also a past president of the American Association of Critical Care Nurses, the first male to serve in that role.

“He's a father, grandfather, husband, uncle, brother, and an amazing nurse,” Beard says.

With the winter semester over, Williams took a brief time out to discuss the past year with EMU Today:

Question: When the gravity of the spread of COVID-19 became clear last spring, you were quick to urge action on the University’s part, and the school did much to reach out to the community. What was your thinking then?

Answer: When (the pandemic) first hit, we were trying to figure out how the School of Nursing could help the community. Hospitals were all asking for donations. So the question became: “What do we have in our lab that can help them?” They needed PPE and we strongly responded. Among other requests, we were also asked about cameras for computers, so therapists could conduct Telehealth sessions. The entire College of Health and Human Services rallied together and helped out in more ways than I could count.

Another question was how do we keep our students engaged in class, doing what they need to do, during this time. It turns out it was not that hard, as we had prepared for such conditions during the Ebola outbreak several years ago.

The great part was that almost all of my faculty had taught online. Our faculty pivoted to put all classes online within a week. They really did a phenomenal job. All of faculty stepped up and did what it needed to do. It was shocking how easy it was.

There was a challenge for our clinical instructors: “How can I teach if I only teach in a hospital?” (Professors) Linda Myler and Kathleen Seurynck (who run EMU’s Interprofessional Education Simulated Patient Program) volunteered their time to help train people.

While last year was stressful, it went really well. Nobody had to delay their graduation. We graduated 499 people last year. All of our courses were fully online, except the skills lab. And all those skills classes wore proper PPE, just as in the hospital. It was great practice for our students.

Q: Were there other challenging aspects?

A: There was getting Telehealth up and running. Sherry Bumpus (director of nursing operations) had the perfect skillset for getting Telehealth up and running. We had proposed establishing the Telehealth Clinic before COVID, and with the pandemic, we moved it directly over to help the community. It’s important to recognize and quickly answer the health questions people have.

Question: In addition to your administrative work with Eastern, you also work as a critical care nurse in a hospital?

A: I work every third weekend from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Chelsea. I’ve loved it. That’s my fun job. I’ve seen first-hand what COVID patients go through and hospital responses. At Chelsea, we shut down elective surgeries, and the operating room staff and recovering room staff came to help us in critical care.

Simultaneously I was thinking about my family. I have three daughters and three granddaughters. A fourth grand daughter died (in birth) March 6. March 2020 was a horrible time for our family.  

Q: Where do you find the energy to confront your weekend workload?

A: The people I know at the hospital are so inspiring. The hospital sustained our social lives (during that difficult time).

And William (his partner) has been great. He did the laundry, took care of groceries, (and other matters) outside of work. I have to protect myself on those weekends I don’t work. My time to recover is on weekends.

Question: What motivates you in these varied roles?

A: They (colleagues and students) all inspire me. I’m in awe of what nurses do in general. They help patients survive. They help patients die with dignity. I am amazed at the nurses who go in and do it day in and day out. People tell me at the hospital we love it when you are here, because you are so cheerful.  

Question: How did you arrive at the roles you presently have?

A: I have been an active practicing ICU nurse for 37 years. We take care of really sick people in the ICU. I’ve done that the whole time I have been a nurse.

I originally went to school to be a chemist, and got my initial degree in clinical laboratory science. I autopsied mice. I went back to Lansing Community College and got my associates degree in nursing. I was influenced then by my ex-wife, who was a nurse, along with her sister, who was also a nurse, and the classmates of my ex-wife.

I also worked during that time at the Saline Evangelical Home, and that’s where I figured out what I really wanted to do.

I earned my master’s at Grand Valley University in 1989, when it was still pretty rural. Back then there was no email and Fed-Ex was expensive. I commuted to Allendale from Lansing. I would tape my project underneath the trashcan next to the nursing building. It looked like a drug deal. Then I earned my Ph.D. at the U-M School of nursing.

I’ve always wanted to teach, and then got my opportunity at EMU, joining the faculty in 1998. I became director of the School of Nursing in 2012.

I feel blessed for all of the things I’ve been able to do in nursing. I’ve always tried to support families of my ICU patients. Everything you do and say is crucial to them.

My master’s thesis focused on the needs of families in critical care, and my Ph.D. dissertation looked at coping and psychological distress in the family members of critical care patients.

I think about the dad who knows nothing about (a difficult birth his wife might be having). I know how serious this is. I try to get our students to recognize how the family is under so much stress.

I try to remind our nurses that we’re just a blip in peoples’ lives, but it’s an important blip.

About Eastern Michigan University

Founded in 1849, Eastern is the second oldest public university in Michigan. It currently serves more than 16,000 students pursuing undergraduate, graduate, specialist, doctoral and certificate degrees in the arts, sciences and professions. In all, more than 300 majors, minors and concentrations are delivered through the University's Colleges of Arts and Sciences; Business; Education; Engineering and Technology; Health and Human Services; and, its graduate school. EMU is regularly recognized by national publications for its excellence, diversity, and commitment to applied education. For more information about Eastern Michigan University, visit the University's website.