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Meet Beth Jaeger-Landis. A Pennsylvania native who loves early morning jogs around Grounds, gardening, and UVA men’s basketball. A member of the Virginia Council of Nurse Practitioners and a former medical ICU nurse-turned acute care nurse practitioner who’s worked at UVA since 1989, and been the sole NP at University Medical Associates since 2003. Earned the School’s Outstanding Preceptor Award for 2024 for the warmth and strength of her mentoring to advanced practice nursing students.

HER PATH TO NURSING

“I was one of those people who always wanted to be a nurse from childhood. In high school, I only applied to nursing schools, attended JMU for my undergraduate nursing degree, and then, in my last year of nursing school, I got an externship at UVA, and they paid for my last year of school in exchange for my promise to work for UVA Hospital after graduating. I graduated in 1989 and have been here ever since.

“I started out as a medical-surgical nurse on the night shift in the old hospital ... I can remember moving patients over to the ‘new’ hospital in the middle of the night, across what we now call the ‘link’ ... After a few years on med-surg, I tried out being an ICU nurse and spent eight years in the medical ICU. There, I was encouraged to go back to school to become an NP, which I did at UVA, and graduated in 2000. A few years later, my friend, physician Mohan Nadkarni—we grew up together in the MICU when he was a resident and I was a new nurse — had become the medical director at University Medical Associates (UMA) and asked me to join him as the NP. He’s been one of my most supportive physicians all these years.

“UMA is a great atmosphere . . . Everybody here is a teacher. When I was a new NP, all I had to do was just walk out of my office and had multiple mentors whom I could ask for help. It wasn’t long before I began taking on students myself, many of whom have gone on to do amazing things.”

THE LESSONS HER STUDENTS LEARN

“My students really vary in experience, but however they come in, we begin at square one: teaching them how to effectively interview a patient. If a patient has a chronic illness, or five different medical problems, for example, how do you approach a visit? Many of our patients have many complex problems with depression and anxiety as the common cherry on top.

“In the beginning, I spend at least two full days with students, and they shadow me, but never as silent partners. I tell them, ‘I want you to be active in the appointment. You can ask the patient questions, interrupt me, and then we’re going to step out of the room and talk together about what’s going on and what our plan should be.’

“After a couple of days of that, we’ll meet before the first patient of the day and decide together who might be a good patient for them to see. This is like phase two. I tell my students, ‘I’ll sit in with you while you interview the patients, off to the side, and I’ll keep my mouth shut. I can be your scribe and take notes.’ I want to see how they’re doing and what help they may need from me.

“After that, students will begin seeing a couple of patients on their own, and come out of the room and present the cases to me. I strongly prefer that they present correctly, using the medical model. Many times, NPs aren’t good at this at the beginning because they’re used to the more casual nurse-to-nurse reporting style; I know I was horrible at it when I started. A medical model, though, is necessary because it’s very strict: First reporting why the patient is coming to the appointment, their history, medications, and what is going on during the visit. You do not editorialize. Then you report the physical exam and develop a plan. This is important because that’s what is acceptable and expected in real life.”

THE IMPACT HER OWN PRECEPTORS HAD

“The real reason I became an NP was because of (professor emerita) Suzi Burns, who was a guru of acute care NP students ... she helped me realize that becoming an NP is like becoming a combat nurse. You go from really following doctors’ orders to, ‘OK, guys, I’m waking you up and saying, “This patient is dying, and we need to do this.” NPs plan the care. They have to know how to speak up, talk to doctors, just like we are one of them.

“Suzi was a huge advocate for patients but also for the bedside nurse: Seeing that was really very motivational and inspirational. She taught me that we can’t just be following orders. Nurses are part of the healthcare team, and advanced practice nurses must really feel like they’re part of the healthcare team. That’s the way all of us should feel.

“Those lessons became foundational to my own teaching and care. Show your expertise. Show you have in your mind the knowledge that your experience has helped you form.”

ADVICE TO HER STUDENTS

“Finding your niche is important: not every NP should go into Internal Medicine like the one I work in, because it’s everything from hair falling out to heart attack, and everything in between. Getting experience under your belt before becoming an NP is extremely important, because we don’t have a residency. To be an effective APRN, I feel like you need to be an RN for a while, doing the work for a bit before going back to school.

“Nursing is a great profession to be in across your whole life. For some of us, though, we want to be stronger decision-makers, plan-makers, and seeing patients all the way through the plans and doing the ordering of things: talking with families, the more advanced stuff. I don’t think being an NP is for everyone, but there is definitely a place for very skilled people at the bedside and very skilled people doing the planning and decision-making. All the nursing roles are important.”

WHY SHE PRECEPTS NURSING STUDENTS

“Oh, my gosh, I’m just so proud of my students ...  it’s almost like watching your kids grow up and become great people. You’re making it better for the future of the profession!”