Janice Ellis knows the definition of dedication; she has lived her life based on its meaning and has earned numerous awards because of it.
Now, Ellis is saying goodbye to Shoreline Community College, where she has spent the past 32 years working and growing with the school’s nursing program. Ellis, 65, will retire at the end of the school year.
“It just feels like it’s time,” Ellis said earlier this week. “And there’s a lot of things I want to do that I haven’t had the chance to.”
Indeed, Ellis has held a busy schedule for the past few decades.
After discovering the college’s program when the first batch of SCC nursing students visited the Seattle hospital she was working at, Ellis talked with then-director Francis Zlaski, and was hired as a part-time nursing instructor for SCC in 1968.
She then earned her masters degree in physiological nursing from the University of Washington and began as a full-time instructor at the college in 1972.
“I said to Fran, ‘I can’t do this part-time anymore, I need a full-time job,’” Ellis said. “So they created one for me.”
The job was exactly what Ellis wanted.
“Since I was in high school, I thought I wanted to teach nursing,” Ellis said. “I don’t know how I knew then, and no one could figure it out – we don’t have any nurses in the family.”
By 1992, Ellis had worked her way to being the third-ever director of the Shoreline Community College nursing program.
During her time at the college, Ellis has authored several books in her field including a nursing textbook titled “Nursing in Today’s World” which she co-authored with the second director of the college’s nursing program, Celia Hartley. The book currently is in its eight edition and has won the Book of the Year award from the American Journal of Nursing three times.
And just last week, Ellis was inducted into the Washington State Nurses Association Hall of Fame for her contribution to nursing education and practice.
“I am so proud to be associated with that,” she said.
Ellis also has earned high accolades from her peers.
College president Holly Moore said, “Dr. Ellis is one of the most respected faculty members on our campus. She has worked diligently … in the nursing department and has been a major contributor to its success.”
But while Ellis clearly appreciates the awards and honors for her work, it seems what she is most proud of is the students who graduate from the nursing program she has worked so hard for.
“Our graduates are making a really significant contribution to nursing and are valued for the quality of what they do,” Ellis said.
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