Barbara Zust ’76Alumni and Faculty

Barbara L. Zust  loves the diversity and creativity she finds in nursing.  Her clinical practice has had a family health focus that includes her work with grieving families in oncology/ hospice;  acutely ill patients and their families in ICU/CCU; struggling and/or violent families in public health;  new families in OB, and mental health issues throughout all experiences.

In 1996, Barbara received grant money to fund her Master’s research with INSIGHT : A Group Cognitive Therapy Program for Women designed by Dr. Verona Gordon.  She used INSIGHT as a tool of empowerment  for rural  women, many of whom had experienced violence at the hands of their partners. Barbara continued her research with women’s empowerment  through discovery of self in the INSIGHT program during her doctoral studies at the University of Minnesota. Barbara hopes to share the INSIGHT program with incarcerated women at both long term and short term correctional facilities. However, she is finding that it is hard to get into prisons ---legally.           

Barbara teaches maternity nursing and mental health nursing at Gustavus.  She finds that the rurality of the college gives Gustavus nursing students a unique opportunity to explore both urban and rural aspects of healthcare.  For example, Gustavus maternity nursing students have clinical experiences in large birthing centers in the metro area and at the same time have the opportunity to provide much needed family health nursing service projects for the rural community in which the college is nestled.  Barbara also works with students who are interested in human wellness research.  All of her research students submit their studies for presentation at the National Conference for Undergraduate Research ( NCUR).   In 2006, she was awarded the Nursing Network on Violence Against Women International Teacher of the Year. In 2011, she was awarded the Edgar Carlson Teaching Award at Gustavus.

Barbara loves to travel and loves the creative opportunities Gustavus has given her. For the last nine years in collaboration with the North Slope Borough,  Barbara has arranged for a Gustavus public health clinical group to spend 5-6 weeks in villages and hospitals in both Utqiagvik  and Fairbanks, Alaska. Three students from the Ilisagvik College in Utqiagvik have come to Gustavus for Nursing.  All three graduated as Gusties and have returned to Utqiagvik where they are mentoring our students in Public health.  Gustavus has also given her the opportunities to create J-Terms abroad in Sweden, India, Tanzania and a new J-term for 2021: Madgascar. 

Barbara lives in St. Peter with her husband, Roger McKnight from the Scandinavian Studies Department at Gustavus.  They currently have three cats and a rabbit, clearly, prone to taking in animals in spite of the fur issues they cause at home.  Barbara loves to laugh and enjoys good times with her three grown children, two grandsons, and her extended family. Her life goal is to be fluent in Swedish someday.

Courses Taught