You could say that Janice Bovée, MSN, CNM (Class 22), was born to be a nurse. After all, when she was just four years old, she was drawing pictures of nurses, doctors, pregnant women, and babies.
“I would dress up with a paper white nurse cap, a bathrobe worn backward as a hospital gown, collect all my dolls in my imaginary nursery, and look at my pediatrician and his nurse with deep respect and seriousness when my siblings or I had office visits,” Bovée said.
Born in Mesa, Arizona, Bovée attended St. Mary’s High School in downtown Phoenix. Her interest in nursing seemingly never waned.
“I was fortunate to know my destiny very early in my life,” Bovée said. “When I was 10 years old, I begged my mother to sign me up at the local nursing home as a candy-striper volunteer. However, I was too young for the program. I finally became a candy-striper through the American Red Cross program at age 16.”
The experience only strengthened her resolve to become a nurse. Once she had her driver’s license, she would go to the hospital and watch the babies, nurses, and doctors through the nursery windows.
After graduating from high school, Bovée got married and had her first child. She also enrolled in a junior college nursing program.
“I remember sitting in a nursing classroom, enjoying the lecture, and feeling my baby move,” she said. “My labor and birth were quick and intense, a surprise breech baby, and a new awareness of what childbearing involved. I was still recovering from the work of it when I learned that I was expecting again nine months later.”
Bovée graduated with an associate degree in nursing at the same time her second child turned one year old in 1978. She began working as an RN in labor and delivery and the emergency room at a small, rural hospital nearby. As she gained experience, she also worked in newborn and pediatric ICUs, operating rooms, and office clinical sites.
“I absolutely loved the labor and delivery and emergency departments,” Bovée said. “I actually worked from 3-11 p.m. in the emergency department and then went upstairs to work 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. in labor and delivery. I did this for years just because I loved the work.”
When she was 31 years old, Bovée went back to school for her bachelor’s degree. She had thoughts about going to medical school to become an obstetrician but ultimately realized that she truly wanted to be a nurse-midwife. She put that plan on hold until, at the age of 43, she went back to school to become a nurse-midwife. She was living and working in rural Washington state at the time, so Frontier’s Community-based Nurse-Midwifery Education Program was the ideal solution to allow her to continue to work while also pursuing her degree.
“I was in class number 22,” Bovée said. “What a fabulous experience that was! The two trips to Hyden for the Frontier and Clinical Bounds were highlights in my life. It was educational and inspiring. I called it Midwife Cheer Camp, and it was dynamic. For Frontier Bound, there was a severe snowstorm, and several of us students were stuck at the Lexington Airport waiting for transportation to Hyden. We waited, worried and disappointed. Then suddenly, here comes a school bus with chains on all tires. The doors opened, and there stood Kitty Ernst hollering at us to get in. She had an ice chest full of drinks and snacks, the heater making the bus cozy, and she laughed, talked, and taught us Frontier midwife songs all the way to Hyden. It was quite a priceless orientation to Frontier.”
During the clinical portion of the nurse-midwifery program, Bovée was precepted by Susan Dennis, who was also a graduate of FNU’s nurse-midwifery program.
“She was fabulous and gave me all her attention and mentorship,” Bovée said. “We worked in a migrant farmer-workers’ clinic and attended hundreds of births, primarily speaking Spanish only. I became fluent in Spanish, which continues to be a blessing.” Bovée also learned how important of a role preceptors play. It was a lesson that she took to heart and paid forward by precepting and mentoring “hundreds of nurses and student nurse-midwives” over the remainder of her career. In total, Bovée worked 43 years as a Registered Nurse and was a Certified Nurse- Midwife for 23 years.
“I had the privilege of ‘catching’ 1,867 babies and assisted physicians in over 500 cesarean sections,” said Bovée, who moved back to Arizona in 2001. “I have served in nursing leadership at the American College of Nurse-Midwives, the Arizona Nurses Association, and the Arizona State Board of Nursing. I have had the best nursing career ever.”
Back in Arizona, she worked with a large OB/GYN physician-owned practice for five years, then initiated a group prenatal care program that had the support of the physician owner. That program eventually became a nurse-midwifery service with six full-time CNMs.
“The hospital where we had privileges was happy with our service,” Bovée said. “The administrators and physicians at the hospital came around to understanding the benefits and qualities of nurse-midwifery care. It involved years of persuasion and persistence. It involved countless revisions of nurse-midwifery documents involving policy, procedure, and delineation of privileges. I consistently worked to be present at the table or at decision-making events. It took us 13 years to get permission for us to have student nurse-midwives in the hospital. I consider this my legacy. My colleagues call me the ‘Pioneer Midwife’ in the east valley, and I am honored to have this title.”
While retired from practice, Bovée lives with and cares for her mother. She also sits on the Arizona Board of Nursing Advanced Practice Advisory Committee and has served as the local chapter president for the American College of Nurse-Midwives.
“I am the happiest woman alive,” Bovée said. “I am grateful, healthy, loved, and ready for my next journey. I am forever a midwife!”
National Midwifery Week
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