Longtime nursing professor donates to support pediatric care education in honor of late brother

Dr. Cindy Goodrich has been a fixture at Liberty University’s School of Nursing (LUSON) since 1996, devoting herself to the education of Christian nurses through her heart for God and the LUSON community, or as she describes it, her “family.” Recently, Goodrich decided to make a donation to the nursing program in honor of a special member of her biological family — her late brother, James “Jimmy” Henry Goodrich — and his name now sits on a plaque outside of one the school’s pediatric care labs.

Jimmy was born in 1945 with multiple health issues that the doctors at his small country hospital in New York and at Massachusetts General Hospital did not know how to treat properly at the time. He passed away at the age of 3.

“I was born eight years after he was, but my mother just always had that little hole in her heart because of him, so I felt like I knew him and felt the impact that he had on our whole family,” Goodrich said. “My mother always felt he was like a little angel that somehow slipped out of heaven and taught so many lessons. He had an impact on us, and he never knew it.”

Goodrich shared how her mother, Jean, who was “churched” but didn’t have a relationship with God, felt alone and isolated in caring for Jimmy, having to rely on her own strength to look after him. It wasn’t until Jean was 60, when she was saved at a neighborhood Bible study, that she reflected and saw God’s hand in those arduous times.

“She looked back after she was saved and saw that, during those times when she felt she was alone, Jesus was with her all along in the fire,” Goodrich said. “I did not know my brother from personal experience but heard every reflection as to how his life influenced the family and made a significant impact.”

Goodrich has been a registered nurse for over 40 years and currently serves as a professor of nursing. She has taught med-surg, pharmacology, community health, undergraduate research, and pain management. She said she has given to Liberty and LUSON previously through the Office of Development but realized a desire to contribute to something tangible while she continues teaching, something close to her heart.

“I’ve been working with the (Development) office probably for about 20 years now. I have no heirs, so I am giving whatever’s left to Liberty for scholarships, and I thought, ‘Maybe I could do something now where I could see it,’” she said. “This would be something that students really could benefit from, and it is pediatrics, which is fitting (for Jimmy’s memory).”

The Goodrich Nursing Simulation Pediatric Acute Critical Lab in DeMoss Hall was officially named in a ceremony on Aug. 9 attended by LUSON faculty and students and Development staff.

“I’ve known Dr. Goodrich for 30 years; she was the first person I ever interacted with when I became a nurse extern, and she’s been a mentor to me ever since then,” LUSON Interim Dean Dr. Tracey Turner said. “Her love for nurse education, the field of nursing, and her students is wonderful, but bigger than that is her love for God. She’s a (beloved) person here in the School of Nursing, she wins academic awards, but it’s her heart that really makes her special.”

During the unveiling of a plaque outside the lab, Executive Vice President of Development Brian Mentzer thanked Goodrich for her multifaceted giving to Liberty and its students.

“Dr. Goodrich, you have certainly excelled in generosity,” he said, quoting 2 Corinthians 8:7. “You have given of yourself to students over the years, to Liberty University, with the gifts of encouragement, information, love, and your finances, and we thank you very much for your generosity.”

The donation also helped the nursing program procure an Advanced Pediatric HAL S2225: Five-year-old Pediatric Patient Simulator, manufactured by Gaumard. The device is the world’s most advanced pediatric patient simulator and the first capable of simulating life-like emotions through dynamic facial expressions, movement, and speech. It is designed to help providers of all levels develop the specialized skills needed to effectively communicate, diagnose, and treat young patients in nearly all clinical areas.

The simulated male child may be named “Hal,” but Lisa Foote, LUSON’s executive director of simulation and standardized patients, stated that it will herein be referred to as “Jimmy.”