Dr. Deb Bomgaars
Professor of Nursing & Director of Nursing Program
Dr. Debbie Bomgaars serves as associate professor of nursing at Dordt University. Dr. Bomgaars is a Certified Nurse Educator. Her research focuses on hopelessness in patients with heart disease and stroke, as well as how unfolding case studies improve clinical judgment in nursing students.
Bomgaars is inspired by her students: “I love watching them grow as they progress through the nursing major and become registered nurses. I love pointing out how much they learn in a short period of time.”
A Registered Nurse (RN) since 1984, Dr. Bomgaars spent 33 years at Orange City Area Health System, gaining expertise in a variety of roles such as medical-surgical nursing, obstetrics, emergency room, intensive care, cardiac rehabilitation, respiratory therapy, community health, and education.
Nursing is an act of service, she says. “Nursing is a child of God caring for another child of God, in service to Him.”
Dr. Bomgaars has published the following works:
- “Investigating Rurality as a Risk Factor for State and Trait Hopelessness in Hospitalized Patients with Ischemic Heart Disease” (J Am Heart Assoc, 2021).
- “Reliability and Validity of the State-Trait Hopelessness Scale” (Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, 2022).
Her first teaching role was at Northwestern College.
In her free time, Dr. Bomgaars enjoys spending time with her husband, her children, and grandchildren.
Education
- Ph.D. in Nursing, South Dakota State University.
- MSN in Nursing Education, Nebraska Methodist College.
- BSN, Briar Cliff University.
- RN, St. Joseph Mercy School of Nursing.