nursing – Devon Berry

Nursing Leader, Devon Berry, on the Arts in Portland, OR

As a leader and a nurse, Devon Berry, RN, PhD, prior Executive Associate Dean at the OHSU School of Nursing in Portland, Oregon, believes that art is an important way to enrich life. This is especially true for nurses who have described their practice as being part art and part science. For the nurse, according to Dr. Berry, appreciating art can inform practice and alleviate some of the secondary suffering that healthcare providers often experience.

Fortunately, the city of Portland is rich with a large variety of engaging cultural opportunities. In Portland, you can find everything from monthly art walks, to live storytelling, to film festivals, to museums and exhibitions. The Portland Art Museum is a favorite of many locals. Complementing this large venue are many smaller art galleries with high quality exhibitions such as the Russo Lee Gallery and Nationale. The performing arts are also well represented in Portland. Several fine theatres, such as the Keller Auditorium and the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall are regularly hosting top notch theatre companies such as Portland Center Stage and the Imago Theatre. Add to this a wealth of music scenes and venues, and the local or visitor can always find a way to get in touch with the restorative power of the arts.

As a nurse, Devon Berry notes that taking time to appreciate and engage the arts can be an important element of a healthcare provider’s self-care plan. As a leader, he believes that learning to find and celebrate beauty in the world is a key skill for strengthening organizational culture. Whether nurse, or executive leader, or both, Devon Berry recommends scheduling time to get out and enjoy the cultural expressions of your community. It is good for you, those you care for and work with, and for your local artists.

Devon Berry on Manual Activity

Devon Berry is a nurse, educator and leader who most recently served as the Executive Associate Dean for Oregon Health & Science University. He is also committed to helping those who work in academic nursing and other nursing environments grow in their health as leaders. Dr. Berry has found that the intentional engagement in manual activity can relax one’s mind, provide periods of exercise, and create practical benefit for others.

As an executive leader, Devon Berry, RN, PhD, regularly prioritizes mundane manual activity. These activities include tasks such as mowing the lawn, washing the dishes (by hand!), hand mopping the floors, weeding the garden, cleaning the garage, folding laundry, making the bed, cleaning windows, and hand-washing his children’s always dirty shoes. As a nurse and an organizational leader, Devon Berry recognizes that the brain benefits from breaks. When engaged in activity that keeps the hands and the body busy, his mind is helpfully distracted from the more cerebral work that many nursing leaders are continually preoccupied with.

Serving as a dean, director, manager, supervisor, or other nursing leader, says Devon Berry, can place great demands on the mind which may, at times, be unrelenting and hard to “turn off” at the end of the work day. Intentionally engaging in distracting activity that requires the mind to re-focus provides a much needed escape. Dr. Berry often finds that after these activities, he feels more at ease and answers that previously eluded him come more easily. Nursing leader Devon Berry believes it is important for nursing leaders to take care of themselves so that they can take care of others. Although manual activity can sometimes seem like a burden, redeeming the work as a healthy brain break can provide a source of refreshment for our minds.

Nurse Devon Berry on Preventing Burnout

Dr. Devon Berry is a nursing leader, educator, consultant, and organizationalist. Serving most recently as the Executive Associate Dean at the OHSU School of Nursing in Portland, OR, he is currently taking a mid-career “gap year” to pursue an MBA, establish a digital publishing footprint, reflect on career goals, and spend time with family. Nurse Devon Berry believes that taking time to step back from the intensity of professional life is key to stepping forward in professional success.

Devon Berry believes that too few professionals take time to step back and evaluate their professional journey to the detriment of their own quality of life. Dr. Berry shares that this may lead to a professional sense of burnout evidenced by personal dissatisfaction with job performance, lack of fulfillment or meaning in the job setting, and a negative outlook on one’s own job environment. As an organizational leader, prior associate dean, and nurse, Devon Berry believes that the best treatment is prevention. He has witnessed many colleagues who suffer, for years at times, due to the overwork and high-stress levels associated with academic life.

While many things can be done to promote burnout prevention in this setting, Dr. Devon Berry believes that a key role a leader must play is in creating a culture that normalizes the behavior of taking extended breaks from work. As good leaders will confirm, happy and rested employees are far more productive than unhappy and tired employees. In the world of academic nursing where the pressure of deadlines and production are never-ending, Nursing leader Devon Berry strives to create such environments by both encouraging and supporting time off for employees as well as setting the example of taking time off himself.

Nursing Leader Devon Berry on Sports in Family Life

Devon Berry, PhD, RN, is a nurse and a leader who has served in academic settings for over 10 years. Serving most recently as the executive associate dean at the OHSU School of Nursing in Portland, Oregon, he has also led as a Director, Executive Director, and Senior Consultant at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. Earlier in his career, Dr. Berry functioned as both a nursing faculty member and nurse researcher at the University of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, OH. As a nursing leader, maintaining balance in life is a priority. One of the main ways Devon Berry accomplishes this is by spending time with his family as a husband and father. For many families, this means being involved in organized sports.

Sports play can play a large role in family life. In the U.S. three out of every four families have at least one child involved in sports. Some sources indicate that more than 45 million children play sports in the U.S. Given sports’ prominence in American life, finding opportunities that are appealing to different families and different children is not difficult. At times, the greatest challenge is deciding which sports to be involved in and limiting the amount of time committed to sporting activities.

Involvement in sports leads to many secondary benefits beyond the fun of participation. Many children learn teamwork, self-discipline, confidence, perseverance, and tolerance for discomfort. In addition, families get to experience the camaraderie that can form among the many diverse families that are often drawn by sports. All of this can lead to rich family time that offsets the stresses of the workplace and keeps the leader balanced in their mindset when approaching their work.

Devon Berry, Nurse Leader, on Leading at Home

Devon Berry, PhD, RN, is a nurse and executive leader who most recently served as the executive associate Dean at the OHSU School of Nursing. Over the course of Dr. Berry’s career, he has served as a teacher, a researcher, a leader, and a practitioner. He desires to see nursing leaders be healthy and successful and believes that the formula for effectiveness begins at home. During the pandemic, Devon Berry, nursing leader and prior associate dean, recommends exploring new family activities to make the most of the changes impacting daily life.

Cycling together as a family is a great way to learn to work together and to have fun. Three big ideas are important when taking up this activity for the first time. First, make sure that everyone has the right equipment. At a minimum, this includes a bike and a helmet. Bicycles can be expensive if purchased new. These days, many options exist for purchasing used bicycles online. If you purchase a used bike, always make sure it is safe for use. Second, teach all members of the family basic bicycle safety. A few places to start include operating the bicycle and rules for riding on trails and streets.

Third, family cycling provides many opportunities to learn to work together. Riding as a group requires respect and care for others, spatial awareness, and collaboration. Translated into family life, each of these skills or values plays an important role in healthy family relationships. Great leadership starts at home. Learning to lead and serve family members in a way that strengthens the stability and happiness of the family leads to greater success at work

A Nurse Runs a Marathon

Studying for his MBA at Western Governors’ University, Devon Berry is the outgoing Executive Associate Dean of the School of Nursing at OHSU and a PhD-prepared nurse. With a background in mental health research and practice, Berry considers self-care an important aspect of everyone’s life. One way Berry cares for himself is by running for exercise. He is currently training for the Portland Marathon.

For runners, the marathon holds a special place in the broad range of races available today. While there are almost 600 marathons held every year in the United States, according to marathontrainingschedule.com, very few Americans have actually completed these races. In fact, as few as one-half of one percent have run a marathon. Coming in at 26.2 miles, a marathon is a challenging endeavor. The largest Marathon in the U.S. is the New York City Marathon.

Most are not aware that the word “marathon” actually comes from the name of an ancient Greek town, according to livescience.com. Apparently, a soldier named Pheidippides, who ran 25 miles or so to let the Athenians know that the Persians had been defeated. Unfortunately, Pheidippides was not in great shape and actually died after delivering his message. The first marathon races were held to commemorate this soldier’s run.

Devon Berry, nursing leader, on finding beauty

Devon Berry is a nurse, a scholar, and a committed family man residing in Portland Oregon. In his career he has served in several universities including Cedarville University, University of Cincinnati, Wright State University, and most recently Devon Berry served as the Executive Associate Dean at the Oregon Health and Science University. Living in the Pacific Northwest, nurse Devon Berry has taken up nature photography as a pastime.

Over the past year, Devon has committed to posting an original photo every business day on Instagram. He often photographs flowers, trees, leaves, sunsets, sunrises, and other parts of the natural world. Year-round, most of Berry’s photographs are taken within walking distance of his home. His daily walks are part exercise, part meditation, and part photography. One of the greatest lessons Berry has learned through this ritual is how to look for beauty.

Devon Berry believes that looking for beauty requires a committed mindset. If you are not actively looking for beauty, he says, you will miss it every time. As a prior associate dean in nursing, Devon Berry has brought this discipline to his professional life. The professional world, like the natural world, is filled with beautiful moments. Instead of dew on a blade of grass or yellowing moss on a fence post, it is an act of kindness, a display of courage, or an expression of humility. Learning to see the professional world through this lens reduces stress and improves creativity. It is a practice that all can benefit from.