Cheryl McGaffic
Cheryl McGaffic Ph.D. RN CCRN who was a member of the Education Committee for the Arizona State Board of Nursing was a Clinical Associate Professor of Nursing at the UA College of Nursing. McGaffic obtained both her BSN and her Ph.D. from the University of Arizona College of Nursing. She taught ethics critical nursing and death and dying in the graduate and undergraduate programs in the UA College of Nursing. Dr. McGaffic was a nurse for 21 years in the areas of critical care and holistic nursing practice. She was a volunteer chaplain at UMC. Professor Cheryl McGaffic a native Arizonan was tragically killed on October 28 2002 by a nursing student at the University of Arizona campus. McGaffic whose religious convictions led her to volunteer at UMC as a chaplain was passionate about working with patients and families at the end of life. McGaffic practiced as a nurse in the intensive care cardiac intensive care and oncology units. She also served as faculty for the AIDS Education Project in the College of Medicine. In addition to McGaffic's work with students caring for the critically ill adult she taught a course in death and dying from a cross-cultural perspective as well as a course on health care ethics. McGaffic earned many awards during her academic studies and was named the Tucson AIDS Project Client Services Volunteer of the Year and one of Tucson's Fabulous Fifty Nurses. She was a Dean's Research Scholar in the College of Nursing. McGaffic has served her profession the College of Nursing and the University in many ways. She was co-editor of Rogerian Science News program chair for Beta Mu Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau chair of the Research and Clinical Scholarship Committee AHSC Library Committee Bioethics Program Committee and the Faculty Advisory Committee for the Center for Disability and Related Resources. In the community she served on the Tucson AIDS Project the Board of Directors for Frensdorff House Community Home for People with AIDS and on the Advisory Board for the AIDS Community Research Division of the National Institutes of Health. Outside of her work life Professor McGaffic had a deep personal spirituality and was active in her faith community. She organized and led lay pastoral groups taught workshops on health and listening skills especially for people who worked with the elderly and persons with AIDS and worked to integrate nursing and spirituality. --College of Social & Behavioral Sciences and Professor Kari McBride