Former navy nurse earns doctorate; now educating next generation

by Melissa Tav

When Dr. Janice Sanders was 10, her grandmother, who was diabetic, suffered a stroke and needed home care assistance. Every day, Sanders watched as her older sister injected insulin shots for her grandmother while their mother provided around-the-clock care.

Those moments inspired Sanders and her sister, Jacqueline, to become nurses. Sanders earned her bachelor’s in nursing from Clemson University, near her hometown of Sumter, South Carolina, in 1988.

“The tender way my mother cared for others is a trait she passed on to her kids,” Sanders says. “She always encouraged us to take care of those who needed help. She was my inspiration to become a nurse.”

Sanders combined that drive with the influence of her father, a Korean War veteran of the U.S. Air Force. He passed away from a car accident when she was just 5 years old, but his legacy of service led to six of 10 children enlisting in the military, including Sanders.

She joined the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps, where she remained on active duty from 1988 to 1999. Her service took her as far as Japan and eventually to the Central Valley — where she was based at Naval Air Station Lemoore.

Sanders returned to school while serving in the reserves and earned her master’s from Fresno State in 2004. Ten years later, after retiring from the reserves, she returned to Fresno State and earned her Doctor of Nursing Practice degree in 2014, making her part of the first class to graduate from the program.

Sanders, the youngest sibling, is the first to receive a doctoral degree.

She is now an assistant professor in the School of Nursing at Fresno State, specializing in psychosocial and mental health.

“I thought the best way to influence nursing was to go into education,” Sanders says.

From her military roots to sharing her passion as an educator, Sanders feels destined for a life of service.