Celebrating Nurses Week – Nurses Make a Difference – Meet our Nursing Staff

Beads of Courage, Inc. is proud to employ staff from all fields and experiences to serve our mission to provide innovative arts in medicine programs for children and teens coping with serious illness, their families, and the clinicians who care for them.

May is Nurses Month – A month-long celebration of the nursing profession which allows for greater opportunities to promote understanding and appreciation of the invaluable contributions of nurses. This year’s theme is Nurses Make a Difference – to honor the varying roles of nurses and their positive impact on our lives. Nurses make a difference as trusted advocates who ensure individuals, families, and populations receive quality patient care and services. Beads of Courage, Inc. joins in on the celebration and extends our deepest gratitude to the nurses on our team who dedicate their time, talent, and expertise to support our mission. We also celebrate and extend this gratitude to all the nurses worldwide who partner with us and use Beads of Courage programs to transform the science of caring.

Becca Gladden (former RN, CEN, CEP, ACLS, PALS) – Director of Development

When I was around 12 years old, I read an article about a doctor who saved someone’s life at the scene of an accident on an isolated road. At that moment, I realized I wanted to be the person who knew what to do in an emergency — not the person waiting for someone who knew what to do. After becoming one of the first female paramedics in Arizona, I became an RN/CEN (Certified Emergency Nurse) and worked in several ERs, including a Level One Trauma Center. I have since left nursing, but I am grateful to have found a home at Beads of Courage. Supporting children and families coping with serious illness gives me the opportunity to continue to be of service to others at a difficult time in their lives.

Ashley Lapointe, BSN, RN, PHN- Beads in the Mail Program Manager

Ashley was born in Kenya and lived in California for most of her upbringing. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Biola University. She worked as a Registered Nurse at City of Hope, in California in the inpatient Pediatric Oncology/Hematology/BMT unit for four years. City of Hope was one of the first hospitals to start the Beads of Courage program in 2005 and Ashley was a BOC Ambassador before becoming the BOC Site Coordinator in 2007. She developed a heart for touching lives through the Beads of Courage program. Ashley has been managing the Beads in the Mail Program remotely from her home in Baltimore since 2011. She enjoys spending time with her husband, three kids (Audrey, Elliott, and Adeline), pets (Amazon parrot, greyhound, and Box turtle), and dozens of house plants.

Jean Gribbon, Ph.D., RN – Executive Director, Founder

Dr. Jean Gribbon is the Executive Director of Beads of Courage, Inc. a non-profit organization she founded in March of 2005.
She has both her Bachelor’s in the Science of Nursing and her Ph.D. in Nursing from the University of Arizona, College of Nursing. Her nursing career has been diverse including working in a cell biology lab doing breast cancer research; conducting pharmacology studies in the neonatal intensive care unit; and managing a research study to help mothers with breast cancer and their children. Her clinical experience caring for children coping with cancer both at the bedside and as a camp nurse at one of Paul Newman’s camps inspired her to create a coping intervention for children coping with cancer.
The Beads of Courage Program which began as her doctoral dissertation has now grown to be a standard of care in more than 400 children’s hospitals in 9 countries as a form of narrative medicine to help children coping with cancer and other serious illness record, tell and own their story of courage using colorful beads as meaningful symbols of their treatment journey.
Jean lives in Tucson with her three kids – Luke (19 years), Aiden (18 years), and Brooke (15 years). When not pursuing the mission of Beads of Courage with passion, you will find Jean enjoying live music (especially folk music with a banjo), hiking, biking, and cooking for her family.