Chair of the Division of Nursing Megan Lanpher leads a multi-faceted life, balancing family, work and personal responsibilities.
At BJU Lanpher teaches nursing students both inside and outside of the classroom. She lectures in the classroom, supervises her students at clinicals and leads simulation labs that teach students how to make decisions in real-life scenarios. As division chair, Lanpher also fulfills administrative and supervisory responsibilities.
Lanpher’s inspiration for nursing came from her grandmother, who served as a nurse after World War II. Lanpher still keeps her grandmother’s nursing pin in commemoration.
Lanpher received her bachelor of science in nursing at Western Carolina University. She later received her master’s at Vanderbilt University, with a nurse practitioner focus.
To maintain her nursing licensure, Lanpher works at a doctor’s office and hospital in Spartanburg as a nurse practitioner. She sees her own patients in office and then oversees treatment plans of her office’s in-patients at the hospital. Lanpher works this job outside of her teaching hours, working one day a week in office and one weekend shift a month at the hospital. She must complete 1,000 hours every five years to maintain her nursing certification.
In addition to her job responsibilities, Lanpher serves alongside her husband as a youth group leader at their church, Cornerstone Baptist in Greenville. She is also active in nursery and serves in other ways, such as greeting guests and cleaning. Lanpher has four children, ages 7, 6, 5 and 3. She said she prioritizes making time for them in her busy schedule. She made her office space accommodating for her two older kids to come to after school which allows her to spend time with them as she finishes her workday.
Regarding her hobbies, Lanpher enjoys reading and running. To make time for these interests, Lanpher said she gets up early to exercise and listens to audiobooks as she runs. Doing so allows her to enjoy both activities without having to set aside a significant amount of time to accomplish either of them.
Lanpher has completed four half-marathons. She ran her first in 2016 and plans to run her fifth in November.
She also has sports’ team interests that lie primarily around college football as she is a huge Florida Gators fan.
In balancing her busy schedule, Lanpher said she has learned to follow the next steps God has for her, taking it one day at a time. “It is really comforting to be in the spot where God wants you to be because truly, He gives you the grace and the discernment to know what to do next in your day or to know what is most important,” Lanpher said.
She gives credit to her husband for being a great teammate and to her fellow nursing faculty for their consistent support and encouragement. On top of this, Lanpher said one huge blessing this semester has come from students who bring her treats or notes of encouragement every week. “My coworkers are amazing, and the students are fantastic,” Lanpher said.
Lanpher’s favorite part of teaching nursing at BJU is leading the simulation labs. “[I enjoy] watching [students] make connections between what we talked about in the classroom and real-world practice,” she said. Lanpher loves investing in her students and preparing them for their careers.
She and her husband Nathan have lived in Greenville since they were married in 2010 and enjoy their life here.
