LINDA PLUSH
When Linda Plush, MSN '97, looked up at the stars, she saw more than fiery
globes and wandering planets, but opportunities to take her nursing skills into
the far reaches of space. This vision led her to establish the Space Nursing
Society, an organization focused on expanding the role of health professionals
in the space program. As the society's executive director, she explores ways
in which the nursing profession can promote the comfort, safety, and well being
of people involved in space exploration.
Plush's fascination with space dates back to the impact of the moon landing
in July 1969. On a summer road trip with her family, Plush insisted that her
father pull over and find a television so that she could watch the astronauts
walk on the moon. "We ended up watching this memorable event on a little
black and white television at the KOA Campground in Durango, Colorado,"
she recalled. "But I loved it-I still do."
It was her love of nursing, however, that led her to Azusa Pacific University,
where she earned a Master of Science in Nursing and graduated with a post-graduate
certificate from the Family Nurse Practitioner Program. Although she did not
yet realize it, Plush's master's thesis would lead her straight to NASA's doors.
While researching "bone demineralization in uncomplicated male head injury
patients on side-to-side tilt and low-air-loss beds during two weeks of bed
rest," Plush found little data in nursing studies and medical literature.
Acting on a friend's advice, she contacted NASA and asked for information on
the effects of weightlessness, an analogy to extended bed rest. "I contacted
NASA so often that they got to know me," she said. "They put me on
their mailing lists and recognized my name."
As time passed, NASA began to use Plush as a resource on medical issues. At
her own expense, she attended all of the committee meetings, seminars, and conferences
that she could manage, from aerospace engineering and plant physiology to space
law. Plush frequently phoned NASA with suggestions on health care in space environments.
Her position on the Therapeutics and Clinical Care Integrated Product Team (a
committee of health care professionals who advise NASA clinical scientists and
flight surgeons on operational issues related to clinical management, medications,
and emerging technologies and procedures) resulted directly from this early
networking. The only advanced practice nurse on the panel, Plush represents
the nursing profession as a stakeholder in human space endeavors. "Linda
has become a nursing ambassador and collaborator," said Barbara Czerwinski,
Ph.D., vice president of clinical services at Health Care Resources, Rochester,
New York. "Her pioneer aerospace nursing work is an asset to the nursing
profession and the U.S. space efforts."
In addition to space nursing and her work as a family nurse practitioner, Plush
owns and operates Plush Systems, Inc., a health education and consulting business,
and West Palm, Inc., a mobile acute dialysis service. Recently named Woman of
the Year by the city of Palmdale, Plush also serves on the editorial boards
for two professional scientific journals: Life Support and Biosphere Science
and Human Performance in Extreme Environments. "Linda is a high performing
leader in the nursing profession," said Philip R. Harris, Ph.D., space
psychologist and former editor of Space Governance. "She has demonstrated
foresight in the development of space nursing as a new specialty and has been
at the forefront of advanced graduate education for her nursing colleagues."
Plush continues to widen the boundaries of possibility for herself and the
nursing profession. "Linda is not afraid to push the envelope," said
Eleanor O'Rangers, Pharm.D., with whom Plush has recently written a paper for
Ad/Astra, the official magazine of the National Space Society. "She believes
that health professionals can make a significant contribution to the space program;
this focus has been her passion."
