Roxie Barnes
Assistant Professor, PhD, MSN, RN, CCRN, CHSE
Walk past the IU School of Nursing Bloomington (IUSON BL) faculty offices on the third floor of the new Health Sciences Building, and one office door in particular stands out: the highly decorated door of Assistant Professor Roxie Barnes, IUSON BL’s resident free spirit, creative soul, and tech guru.
Roxie moved to Bloomington in the 1990’s from the small town of Mitchell, IN, with the goal of attending IU as an art major specializing in graphic & commercial design. “When that didn’t work out,” she says, “I did what many Gen Xers did: I got a job in retail! I am a true Generation Xer, am proud of that, and still have my Doc Marten combat boots to prove it,” she laughs.
After a short stint as the store manager and director for a beauty company, Roxie enrolled at Ivy Tech looking for a way to “feel better about my future and make a contribution to the lives of those around me.” In short order, Roxie earned her practical nursing certificate from Ivy Tech; began working as an LPN in long-term care (quickly becoming a supervisor); earned her BSN in 2008 through Indiana State’s LPN to BSN program; and transitioned from long-term care to intensive and critical care with a cardiac specialty at what is now IU Health Bloomington.
“This is where I found my passion,” she says. “The critical thinking, clinical judgment, teamwork, and close collaboration with multiple disciplines just felt right. I made a commitment to my patients and profession by becoming a Certified Critical Care Nurse (CCRN).” Inspired by her time spent precepting IUSON BL students during their clinical time in critical care, Roxie realized she loved teaching, and earned her MSN in nursing education from Indiana State University in 2012.
After finishing her MSN, Roxie transitioned into the clinical educator role for cardiovascular and critical care services at IU Health Bloomington, working with new nurses and teaching core critical care classes.
While working at IU Health, Roxie was recruited by IUSON BL’s Deanna Reising and, in 2013, began teaching critical care as a member of IUSON BL’s adjunct faculty. She joined IUSON BL as a full-time Clinical Assistant Professor in 2014 and “never looked back,” she says.
A favorite IU memory
One of Roxie’s favorite IUSON BL memories involves her mother, Melissa Slaughter, who recently passed away. “My mom,” she says, “was a big supporter of me going back to school to become a nurse. She had been sick, off-and-on, for my entire life, and that experience helped me to find my passion. While she was in the hospital, my mom thought that it was the coolest thing to see the students in their red scrubs. The students were so great to come in and talk with her and listen to her experiences and stories—even if I wasn’t their clinical instructor or even if they weren’t in my class at the time. That meant a lot to her, and I truly appreciate the extra time the students spent with her.”
Roxie currently teaches H476 (“Complex Processes”) which “has a reputation,” she says, “of being one of IUSON BL’s hardest classes. In H476, we’re helping students put it all together by focusing on how every system impacts the next and how treatments and therapies span a multitude of disease processes. Because of the complexity of the course content and clinical rotations, students engage in very complex simulations throughout the semester.”
Because Roxie herself is an American Heart Association Advanced Cardiac Life Support instructor, all of our IUSON BL students graduate ACLS-trained and certified, something that is unique to our school and H476.
Simulation is one of Roxie's passions. Having developed numerous simulations "from the ground up", Roxie says that "simulation is an effective method for immersing students into an acute patient scenario within a safe learning environment. The possibilities with simulation are endless and, as healthcare advances, we can do the same through simulation.”
In addition to teaching H476, Roxie has been extremely active at our school and university, tirelessly advocating for new methods in curriculum development, education, and course development. As further evidence of her commitment to teaching our students, Roxie is a Senior Faculty Fellow of IU’s Mosaic program, which supports innovative classroom design, research, and active learning in all IU classrooms.
Simulation is another passion of hers, with Roxie earning her CHSE (certified healthcare simulation educator) in 2016 and her PhD from Indiana State’s Bayh School of Education in 2019. Roxie’s dissertation focused on the development of clinical judgment methods and simulation use in the classroom and received the Midwest Nursing Research Society’s Nursing Education Outstanding Dissertation Award for 2021.
Roxie is currently on tenure track to becoming an associate professor, with a growing research portfolio that includes such projects as using simulation to assess drug calculation and safe medication administration; moving the traditional nursing drug calculation exam to a more authentic assessment of a student’s application of medication safety; and working with two Honors students (Alana Winters and Hannah Hittle) in conducting an analysis of the development of clinical judgment and reasoning among new nurses transitioning to practice.
Having developed numerous simulations “from the ground up”, Roxie says that “simulation is an effective method for immersing students into an acute patient scenario and assessing their response to the situation within a safe learning environment. The possibilities with simulation are endless and, as healthcare advances, we can do the same through simulation.”
“Patients are coming into the hospital sicker,” she continues, “which requires the high levels of critical thinking and clinical judgment that used to come with experience and practice. However, new nurses do not have the time to develop from a novice into an expert, especially now. Educators must prepare students to apply knowledge, behaviors, and skills in complex and critical situations. No matter where a nurse is practicing, complex situations can occur—and even the most novice nurse must respond using sound clinical judgment.”
Away from work
Away from work, Roxie and Jeremy, her husband of 22 years, are the proud parents of three beautiful children. Jeremy is a respiratory therapist at IU Health Bloomington where, for the past year-and-a-half, he has been caring for COVID patients in the ICU. “I am so proud of him and love him so much,” says Roxie.
By her own admission, the Barnes children are very much like their mother “with their strong wills and in speaking their minds.”
- Her oldest, Layne (name after Layne Staley, the former lead singer of Alice in Chains) is 17 and a junior at Bloomington South. “He won’t admit it, but he does find my jokes entertaining,” she says. Layne is hoping to attend IU with a sports media focus.
- Her middle son Keaton is 12 and “still thinks that I am pretty cool and entertaining. I think he currently has 75 books checked out from the Monroe County Public Library—he really likes to read!”
- Her daughter Tatum is 9 and “still a big fan of mine”. Tatum is active in swimming and gymnastics and “loves school and talking".
The Barnes household also includes 13 pets of all different shapes and sizes. From top, L to R: There are five dogs: Meatballs, Taco, Waffles, Steve, and EdReed (named after retired Baltimore Ravens All-Pro safety Ed Reed). The “bestest cat ever”, Matt (also affectionately known as MowMow). And seven reptiles: Arnie, the bearded dragon; Greenbean, the redfoot tortoise; Fred, the veiled chameleon; and crested geckos Pumpkin Head, Reese, Deacon “Pickles” Jones, and N.R. Bigglesworth!