Leading with Empathy

McKenna Burgwin ‘19, RN, FNP-C arrived at Le Moyne in the fall of 2015 as a student in the Dual Degree Partnership in Nursing Program. Burgwin was drawn to the Heights – and to nursing – out of desire to care for others. As an undergraduate she learned about everything from clinical assessment and medication administration to what it means to be an active listener and advocate for her patients. That was just the beginning of her time on the Heights. Burgwin went on to earn a Master of Science in nursing from the College in 2021. In 2024, she had the distinction of being part of the first cohort to earn a Doctor of Nursing Practice from Le Moyne. 

Burgwin is now helping to train the next generation of advanced practice care providers as a faculty member at the College. She teaches a variety of courses in the graduate nursing program, including Transition to Advanced Practice Nursing, Advanced Health Assessment, and Health and Illness Management. What Burgwin enjoys most about her work in the classroom are the relationships she is able to forge with her students. She has been in their position, and understands the opportunities and challenges facing them in a field that is constantly changing, with new medicines, guidelines and technologies to discover, all dedicated to improving patient outcomes. What’s more, Burgwin knows that they are preparing to become advanced care providers at a time of tremendous need. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that employment of nurse practitioners, nurse anesthetists and nurse midwives is projected to grow 40 percent from 2023 to 2033, much faster than the average for all occupations.

In addition to the contributions she makes to her field in the classroom, Burgwin works one day a week as a nurse practitioner in the out-patient cardiology department at Saint Joseph’s Hospital. It serves as a reminder of what brought her to this field in the first place: the chance to serve others. On a typical day she sees 10 to 12 patients, and works to build a rapport with each one of them, seeing them as individuals, not simply diagnoses. She encourages her students to take the same holistic approach, and to meet the people they encounter, whether they are delivering a baby or providing geriatric care, where they are.