Michelle R Freas, RN

freasm@njhealth.org

 

Why did you  want to become a teacher/nurse? 
I became a teacher before I became a nurse. I taught in a Handicap preschool program in Hutchinson, Kansas.

 

What is it like to work at Kunsberg? 
I enjoy being able to combine both of my degrees to work with children and their families. When you help someone improve their health and be normal, it's a wonderful thing.

 

Where did you go to school and when? 
I went to Kansas State University, in Manhattan, Kansas, where I received my Bachelor of Science in Early Children Education and my Nursing degree here in Denver, CO.

 

How did you find Kunsberg? 
I found National Jewish when I first graduated from nursing school, and I was hired to work in the pediatric unit with children under the age of 10. After several years I moved to Lung Line and eventually found my way to Kunsberg.

 

What do you do in your spare time?
In my spare time I like to read, quilt, sit in my hot tub, and my husband and I go camping almost every weekend from March through October. I plan to spend most of my retirement years traveling and learning about other cultures. I also spend a lot of my spare time with my 3 kids.

 

What is your favorite teaching story? 
My favorite teaching story was with a student who had very severe asthma. He wanted to go to school with his cousin but his mom thought it was better for him at Kunsberg. We decided when he could identify his early warning signs of his asthma and ask for help, he would be ready to transition out of Kunsberg. He struggled and struggled with this until one day he came into the clinic and he said "I think I ‘m having an early warning attack, can you check me". Sure enough he was wheezing and needed a nebulized treatment, but he knew when to come and ask for help. At the end of the school year he transitioned to the same school as his cousin and did very well. He still stops by to visit every once in awhile.

 

What is your education and work history? 
My education was in early childhood education. I worked as a preschool teacher for several years in Missouri and Kansas. I then moved to Colorado and earned my degree in nursing, and I have been at National Jewish Health ever since.