KEYSER, W.Va. — “Be careful what you wish for” is a mantra April Shapiro carries with her. She not only believes in that phrase, but she has also lived it. And after almost a decade spent as the head of the WVU Potomac State College Nursing Department, she has absolutely no regrets about visualizing a career dream and then watching that wish come true.
On Sept. 1, 2017, Shapiro not only started a new chapter in her career at PSC, she started a new program, one that had been discussed for years, one on which she served on a community advisory panel, and one that she now — as she faces retirement in one week- feels rooted.
“I finished up at the Mineral County Technical Center in August that year and then came here,” she said. “The reason I left is because I had earned my PhD in nursing and I figured I had gone as far as I could go in my career at the tech center and I thought ‘Well, I have this degree, what am I going to do with it’? And then I raised my hand.”
It was at a committee meeting of medical professionals where the idea to resurrect the Potomac State College Nursing Program was born. Sitting with a group of people during a discussion in the spring of 2017, someone at the meeting asked the question, “Who would be the ideal candidate to coordinate and run this program as its director?” And without hesitation and even without much thought, Shapiro raised her hand.
“And I said, ‘I would be interested in doing that,” she said. “I was thinking ‘Pick me, pick me.”
Shapiro said Mary Kaye Staggers had “ran the program for years and when she retired, they let the program go. In 2016, they started talking seriously about bringing it back. I was asked to be part of an advisory panel that could research information. Little did I know then it would turn into something much bigger.”
“Much bigger” indeed. Shapiro was tasked not only with reviving the PSC nursing program but was instrumental in the planning and design of what would be a newly remodeled nursing facility to be located in the former Keyser Armory building, The J. Edward Kelley Complex Nursing Wing.
“My first office was in the basement of the little brown house near Reynolds Hall,” Shapiro said. “I went to Phil Douthitt’s office that morning. He walked me over to where my office would be. I had a phone and a computer. On that first day I didn’t even have my college email, so I just started sending out emails from my Gmail account and making phone calls. On the second day, they had me touring the old armory and looking at plans and ideas for the building. And just after walking through it, I had a vision and ideas of what it would look like and where offices and labs would go. I thought to myself, ‘I am so thankful Dean Hulsey had faith in me for this position and this wonderful opportunity.’ I was so excited!”
If Shapiro had any personal doubts at all about her position, those were put to rest when a twist of literary fate intervened. To prepare for her new position, Shapiro said she wanted to familiarize herself with the campus and its history and so she read Dinah Courrier’s book, released in 2001 for the college’s 100-year celebration.
“And in that book, she mentions a former president of the college was named Lloyd Friend,” Shapiro said. “And I thought – my father’s name is Lloyd, and I am related to the Friends. And then I found out that yes, I am distantly related to Lloyd Friend. At that moment, it felt like destiny – like I had come full circle – and I came in with the attitude that I meant for this job. This was an answer to a prayer. And so, yes, be careful what you wish for and be careful when you raise your hand. I am so thankful I did.”
Now settled into what she believed was a job the universe itself aligned for her, Shapiro said the first goal was to design a program and a curriculum for not just a two-year RN degree but a four-year BSN, under the guidance of Dean Tara Hulsey. And then there was also the matter of the looming construction of the new building that fell into her hands.
“The goal was to have the building finished by April 2018, have the Board of Nursing visit in May, and to welcome nursing students that fall,” she said. “A lot was happening all at once, but a lot came together to get the building done on time. And to be honest, the building turned out better than I envisioned. When I first toured it though, it was a mess, but we realized we had to make an even bigger mess before we could make it beautiful.”
Shapiro said the department officially moved into the new facility in the summer of 2018. Furniture and supplies and equipment were in place a little ahead of some other installations, she remembered.
“I was sitting in my office with a colleague, and we had been talking and suddenly, the air kicked on and we didn’t even realize the AC had come on for the first time,” she said. “It was sometimes very overwhelming at that time, but nobody slacked. It was all-hands on deck, and we made it happen ahead of schedule.”
Not only was the building being constructed and a new program on its feet, but Shapiro herself was undergoing a transformation all her own.
“I weighed over 300 pounds back then,” she said. “But even with that weight on, I was energized. Every day was a new adventure, and I was like a kid on her birthday. For those first eight months of the new job every day was exciting and new. And we were under this big time crunch to get things done.”
In May 2018, the director and members of the West Virginia Registered Nursing Board toured the facility. The board’s approval on the program and the facility would be needed before the department could be up and running and classes could commence.
“I remember they were so impressed,” Shapiro said.
That isn’t all Shapiro remembers from that first year. She also clearly remembers the first applicant to the newly revitalized Potomac State College Nursing Program.
“Ashley Thompson was the very first applicant,” she said. “I still have her original application. She continues to be a nurse in the Petersburg area now.”
In the fall of 2018, Potomac State welcomed Thompson and 22 other nursing students. The first class to finish with BSN degrees graduated in 2021. The department recently held a five-year anniversary celebration, welcoming back to campus those original students and inviting all 117 graduates of the program since its rebirth.
“I have been here to watch it all unfold,” Shapiro said. “And then to watch the program become what it has over the years. I have seen it grow from the ground up. We have been able to hire our staff and to add to our faculty over the years. And this growth has been because of the whole team we have here.”
Shapiro said it is the staff and the students that have made her entire career at Potomac State College a joyful adventure.
“It has been exciting since day one,” she said. “We have done a lot, and it has taken the whole team to do it. Everything about this position here has been a rewarding experience. This is where I met all my career goals.”
Nursing was not her original career choice, however, Shapiro admitted. “For a long time, I had no idea what I wanted to do,” she said. “I actually attended Potomac State right out of high school and I bombed out. I even failed a few classes. In high school I was a great student and I didn’t break any rules. I came to Potomac State, fell head over heels in love with a man who became my husband, and started skipping classes to go see him.”
Now married for 42 years, Shapiro said she returned to school in her early 20s and then took her studies more seriously. It was a chance meeting with a professor who had her doctorate in nursing that inspired Shapiro to continue her education.
“I went home and told my husband ‘Did you know you can be a doctor of nursing?’ And I was so excited because I knew then that was something I wanted to do,” she said.
In fact, Shapiro became a ‘doctor of nursing’ – a PhD – and has multiple degrees – including two master’s– from Allegany College of Maryland, the University of Maryland Baltimore County, University of Maryland at Baltimore, Marshall University and West Virginia University.
“It has been one step after the other,” she said. “I have always been very goal oriented.”
The last commencement she will attend as director of the nursing program will be May 9. She said she is sure the moment will be bittersweet.
“It’s all kind of hitting me just now,” Shapiro said. “I have been reflecting and that is something I have never had time to do. I realize I need to savor these moments. I sure have been blessed. I have lived out my purpose, but I didn’t ever think about it until now. I never had the time to think about it until now.”
Shapiro said she likens her retirement to that of a parent-child relationship. “The baby eventually grows up and leaves the nest,” she said. “But it feels like I am the one leaving the nest and leaving my baby behind. I am the one going out into the world. But I am leaving now knowing my baby will continue to be successful. I will miss it terribly, but I have climbed the ladder as far as I can and got exactly out of my nursing career what I wanted. I have a sign in my office that says, ‘Grow where you are planted’ and I think I have done that. I am leaving this career with no regrets. My heart is full.”
Shane Riggs is the assistant director of Strategic Communications and Marketing at WVU Potomac State College in Keyser.