Margaret Gorely Bye, EdD, RN

Retired Faculty

Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7460

Dr. Bye received her BSN in Nursing from Villanova University, where she was President of Phi Theta Chi Sorority and selected for Who’s Who among Students in American Universities and Colleges. She earned her MSN in Medical-Surgical Nursing from UNC-CH. While there, she researched and co-authored Alopecia and Body Image of Cancer Chemotherapy Patients, published in the International Journal of Cancer Nursing. Dr. Bye received an EdD in Adult Education from NC State University. Her research, published in the journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, was “An Analysis of the Continuing Education Needs of Nurses in Nursing Homes in North Carolina. Two hundred and seventy one nurses across North Carolina were surveyed and their learning needs identified. Her research has been replicated in the US and in England.

She began her nursing career as a US Navy Nurse. After completing US Navy Officer Training School, she was selected by her classmates as the female graduation speaker for the school. Beginning her teaching career, she taught at Duke University School of Nursing. Nursing Education quickly became her passion. As a consultant for a nursing home, she designed and implemented an in-service and orientation program and turn-over rates in that facility dropped in half. She was the Director of Nursing Education at Wake Are Health Education Center (AHEC) in Raleigh for thirteen years, implementing educational programs for the nine-county area. UNC-CH School of Nursing beckoned and she became an Assistant Clinical Professor and State-wide AHEC Nursing Liaison in 1995. While there, she developed the first Carolina School of Nursing “AHEC Speakers and Programs Catalogue”, and coordinated two state-wide surveys of nurses interested in attaining their BSN or their MSN. She was on the review team for grants to schools of nursing for educational mobility, and development of new clinical sites across North Carolina. In addition, she taught Continuing Education Programs and coordinated the updating of a state-wide RN Refresher program.

She is a member of The Great 100 and was selected as The Nurse of Excellence for the State of North Carolina by the North Carolina Nurses Association. She has co-authored a book, “A Facility-Wide Orientation for Long Term Care: A Guide for Developing and Retaining Vital Employees”. Her clinical, teaching, and publishing areas have been in gerontology and management/leadership.

Dr. Bye is presently a Consulting Associate at Duke University School of Nursing. Upon retirement from the UNC-CH School of Nursing, she became President of her own company, Bye Educational Services, Inc., and has consulted and taught workshops to thousands of health care providers in NC and other states.