Born in Germany, Sister M. Ludgera is the third child in a family of 11 children. She came to the United States in 1951 as a member of The Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis.Sister Ludgera began her nursing career at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center as an OB staff nurse after graduating from the Saint Francis Hospital School of Nursing.She worked as OB supervisor at SFMC before moving to Saint Phillips Hospital in Rock Hill, SC, working as an OR staff nurse for six months.From there, she transferred to St. Anthony Medical Center in Rockford to become an OR supervisor and clinical instructor for the nursing students.In 1963, she became the general supervisor for St. Joseph’s Hospital in Keokuk, Iowa.She returned to St. Anthony’s School of Nursing for 13 years and taught various nursing courses, including fundamentals of nursing, pharmacology, neurological and neurosurgical nursing and various aspects of medical-surgical nursing.She also became the senior level chairperson.In 1976, Sister Ludgera returned to SFMC to be the director of the School of Nursing.In 1981 she was also named assistant administrator for SFMC.During the period between 1983 and 1986, Sister Ludgera and her faculty changed the nursing program at Saint Francis, established in 1905, to a generic nursing program leading to a baccalaureate degree.Sister Ludgera received her nursing diploma from Saint Francis Hospital School of Nursing in 1956; her BSN degree from St. Mary’s College, Leavenworth, Kansas in 1963; her MSN degree from Loyola University of Chicago in 1969; and her MA degree in educational administration from Bradley University in 1982.In 1990, she also received her doctorate degree (PhD in higher education, educational leadership, and policies studies) from Loyola University of Chicago.She is a member of Pi Lambda Theta and Phi Kappa Phi national honor societies.Sister Ludgera has also been active on the corporate and religious community levels. Since October of 1988, she has been a member of the governing board of The Sister’s of the Third Order of St. Francis. She also is a member of the board of directors of OSF Healthcare System, which is the policy-making body of the corporation with the ultimate responsibility for the operation of nine health care facilities. Sister Ludgera is also a member of the board of directors of the following corporations: Central Illinois Higher Education Consortium, OSF Health Plans; Saint Francis Community Clinic, Peoria; advisory board of SFMC Dietetic Internship program; a member of the administrative executive council of SFMC; and ex-officio member of the SFMC community advisory board; college board and the dean of the SFMC College of Nursing.
Where were you born and raised? What is your educational background?
I was born and raised in the northwestern industrial part of Germany. Throughout my life, God placed people around me from whom I received many gifts—both physical and spiritual—and opened my eyes to see beauty, either directly or indirectly.
There have been many people who taught me through their examples of love, kindness, generosity, gentleness, willingness to forgive, loyalty and acceptance of suffering, to name a few.
One of my greatest blessings in life is my family. As I grew up –the third child and the oldest girl of a family of 11 children—I experienced much happiness, but also the discipline a child needs in a loving and growing family. My family was a traditional family, my father worked and my mother took care of the household and the children.
From my very beginning—and I am certain it started before I was born—my family was built on the foundation to love God, to serve Him, and follow His precepts. It was a natural outcome of this family environment that we supported each other in good and bad times.
I completed my primary education in Germany and started a type of an apprenticeship program for a secretarial career. Opportunities for young people were very slim towards the end of WWII and the post-war period. The secretarial step really never satisfied me, but I completed the program. Deep down in my heart I wanted to be of service to people, and the idea was born to become a Religious, a teacher, and a nurse. I am very grateful that my life has realized my dreams.
Who influenced you to go into nursing? To join the Sisters of the Third Order of Saint Francis?Tell us about the sequence of events that began your career.
There are many things that influenced my life, but the greatest influence came from my parents, especially my mother.
From my father’s example, I learned the value of devotion to duty. My mother, with whom I spent more time, was a teacher at heart. She was my friend and confidant and the best psychologist I ever met.
She was one of those saints no one knows about, a support to my father and the rock that sustained the family. In a very unselfish way, she advised and supported personal decisions in regard to my future vocation in life.
I proceeded to make my application for entrance in the Community of The Sisters on the Third Order of St. Francis, who maintained at the time a Novitiate in Bad Pyrmont in Germany.
I entered the Congregation, July 31, 1948, and spent my early years of formation in preparation for a more permanent commitment to the Lord. When I arrived in the United States in 1951, after spending 10 months in Switzerland to negotiate a visa and a passport, I realized I was half a world away form my homeland and family.
When I reflect on the love and support received from my family, I know it was God’s gift to provide me with the strength to follow His Son Jesus and His teaching. I still can count on the same love and support from all my family. It has shaped me and continues to do so.
You received your diploma from Saint Francis School of Nursing in 1956. Briefly tell about the history of the School of Nursing and what your curriculum was like 40 years ago?
In June of 1951, after entry into the United States, I continued my Novitiate. Simultaneously I started high school under the auspices of the Academy of Our Lady in Peoria, and completed the program within 2 ¼ years, only tow days before I started the nursing program at Saint Francis in September 1953.
St. Francis Hospital School of Nursing was organized in 1905, for Sisters only. The school’s diploma program was approved by the State of Illinois in 1915.
With the population of Peoria rapidly increasing, Saint Francis Hospital was also expanding. It was soon found out that the Sisters alone could not adequately attend to the growing number of patients. More nurses were needed and as a result, the school accepted lay students in 1918. The school maintained continuous State approval of the diploma program.
In 1950, the school received accreditation of the diploma program from the National League for Nursing which continued through graduation of the last class of 1987. Throughout its existence, the School of Nursing contributed significantly to the profession of nursing through its graduates. From 1905 through 1987, approximately 3,400 students graduated from the diploma program.
Throughout the years the school developed, enriched, and improved its educational program based upon the need for health care consumers—and changing trends in nursing, health care, and education, such as provision of an accelerated program for the U.S. Cadet Corps; participation of an exchange visitors program for students from China; and the provision of courses for affiliate students from other nursing programs in Illinois.
Many changes have taken place over the years since I graduated from the diploma nursing program in 1956. In regard to admission requirements, the applicant had to be single and between the ages of 17 and 35. As in all schools of nursing, the school considered it inadvisable to remain in school if they contracted marriage before their last six months of their course in nursing.
Expenses and fees for the three year nursing course were approximately $500. Due to the cooperative nature of the nursing course, students received maintenance during their training period, including room and board. The basic professional curriculum in nursing covered a period of three years.
The preclinical period of six months was primarily devoted to theory in basic sciences, nursing arts, and a limited amount of nursing experience. At the end of the preclinical period, the students who had shown a satisfactory degree of scholarship and aptitude to the clinical period of the course.
During the clinical period, students were rotated through the carious clinical areas, such as medical, surgical, pediatric, obstetrical etc., in such a manner as to constantly advance the students from the simpler to the more advanced and more highly specialized phases of nursing. All students were on a 44 hour week, including class and practice hours.
Lectures, classes and clinical conferences were carefully correlated by clinical instructors in the hospital to give the students an understanding of the total nursing care of the patient, and to aid the student to realize the importance of prevention of disease and the significance of emotional and social implications of illness. The clinical experience in the basic three-year curriculum in nursing covered a total of 1,095 days, including the preclinical period of 182 days.
In 1991, you completed your dissertation on A History of the Development of Nursing Education in the Community of the Sisters of The Third Order of St. Francis, Peoria, Illinois. What were some of the “surprises” found in your research?
The history and the foundation of the community, as well as the nursing education taught by the community of the sisters, is intimately intertwined with the development of nursing and nursing education in the United States.
An extremely negative and traumatic situation and experience, the “Kulturkampf” established the sisters in a new community and in a new service arena, moving form Germany to a new continent their charitable work for God and His people.
Bismarck’s infamous May Laws of 1874 attempted to make the Church in Germany subject to the state and to separate the German clergy and religious from Rome, demanding civil action on all appointments made by the Pope.
Other restrictions suppressed all religious orders and expelled many of its members. When confronted with a choice of conforming to the laws, a group of Franciscan Sisters left Germany 122 years ago during the religious persecution and settled in Iowa.
Only one year later, six sisters embarked on another journey that led from Iowa to Peoria. They came because there was a need to render care for the sick, the injured, the poor, and the homeless, and the dying.
They arrived with a willingness to work hard and desire to serve God.
The beginnings of the Sisters were very simple, unassuming and in severe poverty. Through frugal planning and the grace of God, they were able to expand their ministry of care to other localities in Illinois, Iowa, and Michigan. The Sisters’ great dedication, commitment and unfailing trust in God account for the important accomplishments and contributions to health care.
Today, health care is definitely a changing environment and those who administer health care are moving into a radically different era. But there is one unifying, underlying concept that is most important, and that has characterized all service areas of the Sisters. That concept is called caring.
In our highly scientific and technological society, caring is a most important and essential element. It makes the life of others and one’s own richer—especially at a point of crisis in life.
You began your career as a staff nurse and supervisor in the OB department at OSF, then transferred to other Catholic hospitals. Is that a common practice for Sisters?
Generally, the Sisters—who profess religious vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience—are placed in OSF health care facilities according to their abilities and talents, their educational preparation, their preference in the community’s Apostolate, and the needs of the community.
In 1976, you became the director for the School of Nursing in Peoria. Was that a career goal of yours 20 years earlier?
I’ve been involved for many years in every aspect of nursing education, and believe quality education is the foundation of professional nursing, and that education is a constitutional right of every citizen.
Even though my career goals were not definitely formalized early on, I accepted the position in 1976 to help guide and shape the future of professional nursing, and to have input in the future preparation of nurses.
Education has apparently always been important to you. (Diploma, BS, MS in both nursing and educational administration and a Ph.D. in higher education.)In the early ‘80’s, you appointed an adhoc committee to investigate change in the educational preparation of graduates from diploma to baccalaureate, then in 1998 a committee to investigate a master’s in nursing program.What is your philosophy on adequate educational preparation for nurses?
During the 1980’s, external forces and pressures were primarily responsible for an investigation into alternatives in the level of educational preparation for Saint Francis’ graduates. The decision was made close to the hospital’s diploma program upon graduation of the class of 1987, and continue a nursing education program that would have degree granting power and provide baccalaureate nursing education.
During the academic year 1982-1983, the administration and faculty of the school of nursing concluded that a baccalaureate approach to nursing education would best serve the graduates, the nursing profession, the community and society.
As a result of strategic planning process, which included an in-depth study of nursing, nursing education, higher education, health care and needs of the community, the Saint Francis Medical Center College of Nursing was established in November 1985 by obtaining State of Illinois approval.
This process had as its long range goal the achievement of institutional and program accreditation. The first class of baccalaureate students was admitted as juniors in August 1986 and graduated in 1988. Since 1986, initial and continued institutional and program accreditation by NCA and NLN have been realized and maintained. The College graduated 603 students as of December 1998.
In keeping with the Mission of the Sisters, the College continues a tradition of excellence and quality of nursing education.
The administration and faculty recognize that the changes in health care have increased the need for nurses to gain new knowledge and skills.
National trends are predicting a shortage of both baccalaureate and masters’ prepared nurses. With this in mind, a faculty ad hoc committee was formed in September 1998 to investigate alternative educational offerings that will facilitate career mobility for nurses, and the preparation for qualified nurses in the workforce.
The college is progressing toward this goal by exploring the feasibility of offering a master’s of science in nursing program and offering nursing courses using interactive compressed video to the students in distant sites who are unable to come to Peoria.
For most of my professional life, I have been involved in nursing education and I do believe that education and nursing education is a continuous process directed to develop the intellectual growth and unique qualities of each individual—it is a deeply personal venture. It involves the learner—who consents to learn and then grapples with change and formation that learning brings along as it relates to themselves—others, and the world. It also involves institutions of higher learning and faculty.
They can create and provide content, contexts, and atmospheres where individual learning and change can take place. Faculty have the opportunity to share knowledge, provoke and catalyze and be willing partners and guides through their own commitment to the educational process of students.
Whatever discipline, true education does not only involve the intellect alone or the acquisition of skills for a career. Education involves one’s entire being, the universe within and without. I also believe that research and scholarship do not exist for themselves alone, but to aid growth in the scholar, researcher, the surrounding community, students, colleagues, and the larger world.
Education is far broader that the boundaries of institutions.
For this reason, I believe there needs to be equal access to higher education for all persons regardless of their segment of society, national or ethnic origin, race, color, creed, sex, age, or handicap. The development of a balanced, well-adjusted, critically thinking individual who has a positive influence on society is a right of all human beings.
The nursing profession has changed since your entrance in the field. What changes have you noticed in regard to student enrollment? Nurse/patient relationship? Nurse/physician relationship? Do you discuss “managed care” and its effects on patient care in the classroom?
When I started in nursing around 40 years ago, I thought there was a significant amount of technology that needed to be learned and understood. In those 40 years, I have also watched an explosion in the field of medical science and technology that boggles the mind.
What our students have to learn is not only the use of this technology, but the principles behind it; so as one mode of treatment is replaced with a more modern version the nurse can step right in and make it work.
The way health care is delivered has also undergone a staggering change. When I started, the patient paid the hospital and doctors. Now there is a third party paying—the government, an HMO, or some form of medical insurance. I am proud to say that at St. Francis, treatment is not conditioned upon the ability to pay. This is because there is a mission and an underlying commitment to serving mankind, to caring, that is practiced by the Sisters and the rest of the hospital staff, including nursing.
This caring, based on God’s commandment of love, permeates the hospital and the College of Nursing. This caring is a part of our curriculum. There is no course bearing that name, but caring is found in each and every course we teach. One of the faculties told me about a student who did not want a patient to die while in her care. It was suggested to the student that her touch may be the last human touch the patient felt and her voice the last sound the patient heard, and that it should be an honor to be there for the patient at that time.
Even in death, something that each must go through alone, the principle of caring brings some comfort, support, and solace. What I have noticed is that in spite of all the technological changes now found in health care settings, caring remains just as I learned it. And I suspect it is unchanged in all the years that there has been a profession of nursing, and that it will remain the same in the future.
The reason caring is the same today as it was long ago is because the subject of all caring remains the same. We are talking about the human being. The basic human needs remain the same. They cannot be just supplied by a machine or some piece of technology. That human person, created by God, longs for the human touch and voice to sustain it in life as well as impending death. Caring is the core of the nursing practice.
If you could change one thing that affects the delivery of nursing care today, what would it be?
As one can see, my ideals and philosophy of nursing and nursing education have not changed much over the years.
The term “Managed Care”, while we teach it in the classroom, is one of the outcomes of organizing the delivery of health services to reduce the cost of care, while at the same time the quality of care is to be maintained or improved. While it encourages preventive care and wellness services, to me the term denotes a business entity.
I would like to see nurses spend more quality time with patients, teaching them quality of life issues, promotion and maintenance of health, and support them when they are dying.
In your opinion, what are some of the more complex medical decisions facing health care providers today?
Catholic health care ministry is rooted in a commitment to promote and defend human dignity. This is the foundation of its concern to respect the sacredness of every human life, from the moment of conception until natural death. One of the more complex medical decisions facing health care providers today involves the long term use or withdrawal of life-sustaining procedures and measures.
Tell about life as a Sister of the Third Order of St. Francis. Do you have any young people who want to follow your lead, but are nervous about choosing religion as a “career”?What do you tell them?
The Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis is a religious congregation of Sisters who follow the Catholic philosophy and the ideals of St. Francis who had a great love for God, humankind, and society.
Each one of us is confronted by the challenge of giving full meaning to our life, because it is the only one given to live. I do believe every vocation is a gift from God and part of his divine plan, and as such it is a mystery—whether one is called to a married, single, or religious life. Whatever the divine plan, it involves one’s total commitment. A religious vocation is a gift—freely given and freely received—by religious consecration through the profession of the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty, and obedience.
How do you prepare nursing students to respond to some of the medical/ethical decisions that sometimes must be made by health care providers?
All nursing students are required to complete a course in Ethics and Healthcare Implications at the College of Nursing taught by the Corporate Ethicist.
How do you help students to deal with patients and relatives who must cope with severe illness and death, especially with a young child or someone who tried to lead a healthy life? How does your faith enter into that picture?
I don’t believe there is any one way to deal with most difficult situations in life or death. A caring and compassionate attitude on part of the nurse is most essential when dealing with the human condition. Faith in God and a belief in eternal life with God are a great comfort and solace.
What are some future goals for the St. Francis College of Nursing?
The college is investigating alternative educational offerings that will facilitate career mobility for nurses. We are exploring the feasibility of offering a master’s of science in nursing program, and offering nursing courses using interactive video.
What is the most rewarding aspect of your life?
In dealing with people, my sisters, faculty, staff, and students, I like to view them as persons who have hopes and dreams and faults, people who experience joys and pains in various human ways. I feel, in particular that the nursing students have helped me personally stay current in life’s issues. Thus as a religious, a Franciscan, a nurse, a nursing educator, and administrator, I feel I can share in the preparation of students to become persons who incorporate Christian social principles into their life and the practice of professional nursing. TPW