Ardith (Finke) Harmon
Ardith (Finke) Harmon, BSN '03, MS(N) '06
Since Ardith (Finke) Harmon stepped into the School on the first day of her fifth semester, she brought passion, determination and enthusiasm with her. She quietly exudes a confidence and authority that lets everyone in the room - hospital room or class room - know she is in charge.
Her strength and focus comes from her parents, Edith (BSN '65) and Loyd (BS '71) Finke. Growing up in northern rural Missouri, Finke saw how her mother created and cared for the individuals in her community.
Harmon pushed herself to be the best RN in the MU Children's Hospital and Columbia Public School district.
"Ardith was very kind and she took time to listen to my concerns when my son Derek entered elementary school," says Barbie Underwood. "Derek has cystic fibrosis and having a relationship built on trust with the school nurse is crucial for me. She always went above and beyond and was an advocate both for me and Derek."
A School Nurse Fellow in the program's second year, Harmon quickly realized the program was one of the most valuable experiences of her education. For two years, her clinicals hours were the same as the full-time school nurse position and she spent her time building a nursing program in that setting.
After finishing her master's program, Harmon joined the faculty at the School as an instructor of nursing. The courses she taught focused on her strengths - community health and pediatrics.
"Her dedication, leadership and volunteerism has earned her the respect of students, alumni, faculty and administration alike," says Jean Thompson, BSN ‘66. "Her ‘can do' attitude, warm engaging smile, confidence and poise makes it hard to believe she is so young in her professional career."
In the past year, Harmon has incorporated several new roles in her life. Her biggest life-changing role has come in the simple title of mom. Harmon and her husband, Jamie are the proud parents of 8-month Aynsley. With a change in her husband's career, Harmon moved her faculty role to John Wood Community College and that of a consultant for the Missouri Hospital Association's Nurse Preceptor Academy.