Centennial Spotlight: Tamala David champions change through community health nursing, discoveries in deaf health research

This article appears in the 100 Years Commemorative Issue of Rochester Nursing magazine. 

When she looks back on the start of her career, Tamala David ’06N (MS), ’10N (PhD), chuckles and says she got into nursing as her “Plan C.”

Today, she’s a nurse practitioner and associate professor at nearby SUNY Brockport, but as an adolescent, David wanted to care for animals, hoping to study zoology and become a veterinarian. A year into her college education as a pre-med biology major in Atlanta, finances put her studies on pause. 

Returning to Rochester ended up shaping the rest of her career. While home, she held roles as a nutrition office assistant and patient care technician, and helped her parents care for her grandmother, who was Deaf and used American Sign Language (ASL), as she dealt with diabetes-related health challenges.

These experiences in her community and her own family eventually led David to pursue a bachelor’s in nursing, and later, advanced degrees in nursing, health research, and public health administration. 

“I was going to appointments with my grandmother, and that illuminated some of the issues Deaf older adults face in healthcare,” she recalled. “My grandmother's participation in her care was not where it should have been because of issues with language and how she received information.” 

With more than 40,000 Deaf or hard-of-hearing residents in Rochester, David knew her grandmother wasn’t alone, and started finding ways to get involved. Toward the end of her nursing education, she took interpreting courses, volunteered with Deaf Strong Hospital, a role-playing event that helps students understand and overcome communication challenges with the local Deaf community. 

“I decided that I wanted to be a part of changing the delivery of care to Deaf Sign Language users, especially older adults. I knew I wanted to empower and equip Deaf Sign Language users to have more participation, inclusion, and power in their care,” she said.

When David was applying for NP programs, Professor Emeritus Madeline Schmitt, PhD, RN, FAAN, FNAP, who previously served as coordinator of the School of Nursing MS-to-PhD pathway, recruited her and connected her with scholarship support, helping her expand her work in Deaf health. At the same time, the National Center for Deaf Health Research (NCDHR) was just starting to take shape at the University of Rochester, expanding David’s ability to get involved in community-based research and training opportunities while she was pursuing her FNP and PhD degrees.

“I learned so much that just completely enhanced my knowledge and skills as a clinician, researcher, and educator.” she said of her time at the School of Nursing. 

Utilizing her training as an RN and family NP, David has spent the past two decades working to improve healthcare encounters for the Deaf community from all angles. She has educated non-deaf clinicians on best practices, helped patients understand their rights and ways to be involved in their own care, mentored Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals pursuing careers in healthcare, and incorporated her expertise into teaching students in community health nursing courses.

When she was an undergraduate student, David struggled to find a place where she could see herself until her final semester as a senior, when she completed community health clinicals as one of her last credits. Today, she’s proud to have helped other healthcare professionals see a path for themselves in community-based work. 

“There's so much that nurses can do outside of the hospital setting to impact the well-being of people in our region.”

Q: What impacts do you hope your work has made or will continue to make? 

David thinks back to the School of Nursing’s emphasis on the Unification Model — an approach that integrates nursing research, education, and practice to enhance care — and how she felt drawn to each branch as a student. 
“They always told us that there’s a balance you have to find to do all three. Not everyone finds that balance, but I feel that I was able to do a little bit of it all because of the networks and connections that I had made.”

As a researcher, she has seen several Deaf and hard-of-hearing scientists expand on her work and interests in new ways.

“I'm so excited about the people who are leading efforts, running their own research programs, and training others. I'm glad to have been a part of their training and education, and continue to be available to support them.” 

In addition to her work as a researcher and clinician, she’s proud of the influence she has had on students as a trusted mentor and advisor. Throughout her time as an educator, she has taught community health courses, served on thesis and dissertation committees, and precepted students across several levels from LPN to graduate. At Brockport, she also developed the School of Nursing’s first exchange program and community health study abroad course in Costa Rica, and co-leads its International Education committee.

“I hope that something I did as a professor shaped the way students thought about nursing, and inspired them to take on some challenging things in healthcare themselves and make the change,” she said. “People here have done that for me, so I hope to do the same for others.” 

Q: What advice would you share with other nurses? 

David, who has taught pre-licensure courses for several years and now works with RN-to-BSN students, encourages them to find themselves in nursing. 

In recent years, she has put that advice into practice in her own life. The COVID-19 pandemic, family caregiving, and her own battle with cancer led David to step away from her work over the past few years, and she just recently returned to teaching courses this fall. 

“Your life is going to change, and what works for you today or when you first start out is not necessarily going to work for you in 5 or 10 years. But you can do so much. Nursing is so broad, and there are so many ways to be a part of the profession.”

Q: What makes Rochester special to you? 

A Rochester native, David enjoys fall foliage in the Finger Lakes region and experiencing all four seasons. She’s also appreciative of the vast resources the city has. 

“There are a lot of people doing amazing things for Rochester, from the Golisanos and the Wegmans to people whose names you might not know — like the healthcare providers I’ve worked with, and those who’ve taken care of me and my family. We have brilliant, skilled, and talented people here. The people who provide their time, services, resources, and expertise make this a special place.” 

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