Riley Rosengarten, an instructor in the College of Nursing and Health Care Professions at Grand Canyon University (GCU), is drawing on his extensive background in critical care to mentor future registered nurses. Rosengarten joined GCU’s faculty a year ago after working in emergency departments, trauma centers, and intensive care units, with a focus on adult patient care.
Now teaching level 3 nursing students, Rosengarten continues the teaching he started during his bedside roles as a nurse. “I was always drawn to precepting others. I was leading training on new protocols and new policies,” said Rosengarten, who recognized his interest in teaching as early as high school. “I took an aptitude test when I was a senior,” he recalled. “The results said I should be either a preacher or a professor.”
Rosengarten’s last clinical position was managing the oncology unit at Kaiser Permanente Northwest in Portland, Oregon. He decided to move to Arizona after enjoying a family vacation there and soon found an opening for a critical care nursing instructor at GCU. Within a month of applying, he relocated to Phoenix and began teaching.
“It’s all just very much a feeling like it was meant to be for me to end up here at Grand Canyon University,” Rosengarten said. “I have absolutely loved my students and the faculty.”
He finds that his current role combines elements of both professor and preacher. “I love that (dual role),” Rosengarten said. “I love having the ability to have more of a relationship with students than just an instructor.” He maintains open office hours so students can discuss academic matters or personal concerns with him. He values being able to support students not only academically but also personally.
Rosengarten’s dedication has been recognized by his students through their nomination of him for the Daisy Award from the national Daisy Foundation. “It was a true honor having students nominate me. For me, this is a calling. I feel like I am meant to be here in this position for me and also for the students,” said Rosengarten. “I feel that the students are the ones to be thanked, just because they have had such a positive role in my life.”
Rosengarten sees himself as playing an important part in preparing future RNs amid ongoing workforce shortages in nursing nationwide. His experiences as both a travel nurse along both coasts and as an educator guide how he helps students gain skills he did not have access to earlier in his own career.
“I lived in some bigger cities all up and down the East and the West coasts,” he said. “Through all of that, I have been provided for, and things have just always fallen into place. I really give credit to the One who is in control of it all.”
Rosengarten acknowledges that nursing school is demanding and believes strongly that his path led him naturally toward mentoring others: “At the end of the day, you only want to be a role model,” said Rosengarten. “You want to be somebody who, when you are a teacher, you are in a position of responsibility for that. You know your students are watching you. You kind of live in a fishbowl. How you present yourself is really important to how students will model themselves.”
