Nursing isn’t just a profession for Cyndi Sofhauser, it fully encompasses who she is to the point that she doesn’t feel she could describe herself without using the word ‘nurse’. She tends to view the world through a lens of “this would make me a better nurse”.
Sofhauser is one of those fortunate individuals who knew all along what they wanted to do with their life. She was raised in rural West Virginia, in a farming community.
“I came out of the womb wanting to be a nurse,” Sofhauser said. “When I was a little girl, maybe six or seven years old, I asked for a doll that was a Nancy Nurse for Christmas.”
Of course, her choice to be a nurse was probably influenced by her father’s illness. Sofhauser’s father contracted Hodgkin’s disease when he was just 22 years old and as a consequence she spent a lot of time in the hospital and doctor’s offices waiting to see a doctor. She also recalls her father being home and sick, and remembers thinking that she just wanted to do something to help people.
Sofhauser did struggle with the decision of whether to be a nurse or a doctor, although her original calling was to nursing. After graduating with a bachelors degree in nursing and practicing for about three years, Sofhauser decided to return to school to continue her education because she had known all along that no matter what she did with her life, she would go as far as she could go.
“I had a lot of angst,” Sofhauser said. She questioned, “Do I want to go on in nursing or do I want to make the shift into medicine?”
She recalls a period of about six months of soul searching as she made the decision. Ultimately it was her love of hands on, bedside patient care that allowed the opportunity to better know her patients that helped make her choice. Doctors don’t get the opportunity to make this deeper connection and that made nursing a better fit for her.
“I need to know everything about everything and of course that is impossible. I have a passion for always knowing and ultimately I recognize that knowledge should accomplish something for mankind,” said Sofhauser. “So that is where the actual nursing part of it comes in.”
In 1987, Sofhauser had her masters degree in nursing and had been trained as a cardiovascular clinical nurse specialist. She left a lucrative offer in Pennsylvania to come to South Bend with her husband who had been transferred here.
“I was plopped in South Bend, Indiana, to a place that was about 20 years behind the times as far as how they thought about nurses.”
The South Bend medical community did not have any similar opportunities in nursing so Sofhauser took a position as an “as needed” nurse or PRN at Saint Joseph Medical Center. She had worked there for about a year when the opportunity to teach at IU South Bend came up.
The college was opening a new generic BSN program in the fall of 1988. She interviewed and was offered the teaching position. Sofhauser attained her doctorate degree in 1992 and got on a tenure track with IUSB. She is now a tenured associate professor and director of the Complementary Health Care minor. Complementary health is something of a passion for her and this program is unique among nursing programs.
Sofhauser has two sons, ages 15 and 11, and a husband who travels a lot with his work. She manages to balance home and work although she admits it can sometimes be hectic. It is hard to be in three places at once and when her husband isn’t home it can be difficult to juggle it all.
She enjoys the outdoors and accompanies the biology department on a study abroad marine trip every other year. This year she’ll be going to Belize.
Sofhauser also loves antiques. She believes the energy of the past owners’ lives become embedded in these everyday objects and she can feel the presence.
Does she have any regrets? No. She loves research and she still does clinicals in the hospital with students. The two roles allow for a combination of all that is best about nursing.
“I do love teaching and the students are just incredible,” Sofhauser said. “I feel like I learn so much more from them than they learn from me.”
Sofhauser’s students think she is pretty incredible too.
“I am nominating her for “Educator of the Year,”.I cannot even begin to tell you how much her classes have changed my life,” said Aleah Wilburn, president of the IUSB Student Nurses Association.
“To put it simply, Cyndi is one of my heroes. Cyndi encompass the characteristics that I believe every educator and nurse should possess. She brings life to the words ‘passion,’ ‘compassion,’ and ‘kindness’.”
Wilburn holds Sofhauser in high esteem. She and her nursing classmates have talked about making bracelets that say “WWCD” - “What Would Cyndi Do” - and wearing them when they are all nurses. Wilburn feels Sofhauser has inspired her and is a vibrant reminder of the kind of nurse she wants to be. Sofhauser helps her students think deeply about the profession of nursing. Wilburn has discovered just how beautiful a profession it is and how important it is to the lives of so many.
“I am grateful for her presence in this university, and the nursing program would certainly not be the same without her,” said Wilburn. “Cyndi could go anywhere in nursing, but she chooses to be here (at IU South Bend). There is no higher calling that an instructor can impart than to pass along the knowledge that will birth a caring heart. She has inspired and birthed many caring hearts!”
Sofhauser believes that a part of her lives through her students and as a result, she will be touching the lives of many. Tearing up, she says that the legacy she will leave behind is her students.
They are all over the world, helping those who hurt.
The fruits of Sofhauser’s labor here at IUSB are those passionate nurses she has helped to shape who will go forth healing and asking, “What Would Cyndi do?”
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