Amber Kujath serves as the Dean of Nursing and Health Sciences at Illinois Wesleyan University, a role she stepped into in January 2023. As a proud Illinois Wesleyan alumna, her advancement to one of the highest levels of academia felt like a deeply personal homecoming.
Her nursing journey, however, has been far from linear. Like many nurses, Kujath’s journey has taken many winding turns that came from a willingness to say yes to unexpected opportunities.
“When I walked across the stage [after achieving my bachelor’s degree in nursing], I told my parents, ‘I hope you’re proud because I’ve arrived. This is what I’m going to do with my life. I’ve always wanted to be a nurse, and I’m done, because that was really hard,” Kujath retells.
However, that feeling of finality—of believing she had reached the pinnacle of her journey—would prove false. Instead, it was to be just the beginning of an evolving and purpose-driven career.
Returning to Her Roots: The Road Back to Wesleyan
Kujath’s academic career began at Illinois Wesleyan University, where she pursued a dual degree in nursing and business. Kujath was committed to giving nursing school her all, never taking less than four classes a semester. After graduating, she landed a rare part-time job in a med-surg unit in Bloomington, Illinois. The decision to stay in Bloomington allowed her to go full-time, which opened the door for Kujath to become a charge nurse six months later.
After two years of working in med-surg, Kujath was ready for a change. “I decided to dip my toe in the critical care arena. We had a very busy open-heart unit, and it was very eye-opening. It was a drink-from-the-fire-hose type of situation,” she explained.
After two years of staffing issues leading to total burnout, Kujath decided CRNA school was her future. Just before depositing to the program, another life-changing opportunity presented itself. An orthopedic surgeon whom Kujath had worked with in the med-surg unit offered her a position in his office. At first, she was reluctant to change her path, but eventually she took the risk.
“I was like, ‘Oh, no, I’m not doing that,’ and he said, ‘Give me a year. I’ll invest in you. I’ll invest in your education.’ I ended up working for him for over four years,” Kujath recounted.
Philosophy of Education and Leadership
Kujath found renewed energy in mentoring traditional undergraduate students who were just beginning their journey into nursing at Illinois Wesleyan.
“I met the students (at Wesleyan) and they wanted to change the world,” she said. She was immediately inspired.
Her approach to leadership is collaborative and grounded in mutual respect. Kujath believes in building consensus and listening first. Her student-centered leadership style gives her students, and colleagues, a sense of confidence.
She also tries to instill a sense of resilience and the importance of lifelong learning. Burnout, she notes, is not confined to bedside nursing—faculty experience it too. She encourages students to understand what fills them up and how to protect their mental and emotional health.
Support networks like IACN can play a critical role here by helping nursing deans exchange strategies for curriculum innovation, share models for resilience training, and support one another through the challenges of educational leadership.
The State of Nursing Education Today
For Kujath, the most pressing challenges in nursing education today revolve around clinical placements and faculty recruitment. “The biggest challenge for nursing education for me, by far, is faculty and clinical placement. And you’ll hear that over and over and over again,” she said.
Kujath explained that at any time, a clinical facility can say they don’t have any capacity to take on nursing students. She emphasized the importance of not just finding clinical instructors, but actively engaging with them and finding the partners who are there to teach the future of nursing. “Some of them do it for a paycheck. Some of them really don’t care about the students. I think that’s an unpopular statement, but it’s totally true,” she explained.
Strategically, her goal over the next five years is to maximize enrollment without sacrificing quality.
“Enrollment is off the charts for this fall. The goal is to maximize our enrollment to a point where we don’t sacrifice quality.”
Encouragement for Future Nurse Leaders
Kujath offers students and future nurse educators a refreshing message: it’s okay not to have it all figured out.
“You gotta have dreams… but you don’t have to have every moment of your career planned out.”
She warns against rigidity and encourages embracing unexpected opportunities—even when they disrupt comfort zones. Her own journey is proof that meaningful growth often arises from those moments, going on to say, “You need to know your true north… But it doesn’t have to be so narrow that you only focus on that.”
Flexibility, curiosity, and self-reflection are traits she urges aspiring leaders to cultivate. And in this journey, organizations like IACN offer resources and mentorship that can guide those who wish to follow her path.
Embrace the Pivot
Amber Kujath’s story is one of embracing transformation. From the floor of a med-surg unit to the dean’s office, she’s carved a path defined by courage, adaptability, and purpose. Her work today is not only about educating future nurses but about equipping them to lead lives of impact and integrity.
For aspiring nurse educators and deans, her message is clear: be open, stay resilient, and don’t be afraid to pivot when the moment calls for it. With support from organizations like IACN—through mentorship, policy advocacy, and community-building—nursing education leaders can continue to rise and shape the future of health care.
“There are so many paths to becoming a nurse. And then once you’re a nurse, there’s so many journeys you can take. Don’t be so focused that you can’t enjoy the ride.”