Jan (Janice) Rayl

Janice Rayl (Nurs ’85 CM) retired this July after working full-time as a nurse for fifty years. In retirement, Rayl does some speaking for nursing and education groups in addition to women’s groups. Her primary focus is on enjoying her family, friends, crafts, hobbies and traveling.

Rayl’s entry into nursing was as a licensed practical nurse in 1976. In 1982, her director of nursing recommended that she return to school to become a registered nurse. She got into the UVA School of Nursing after having been out of school for nine years.

During her career, she worked as Boy Scout camp nurse, in long-term care and intensive care, as a travel nurse, in the visiting nursing specialty, and in in-home infusion nursing. In the last ten years of her career she decided to give back to the profession that she loved so much. She started as a nurse educator at Fairfax County School of Practical Nursing and retired as the program director. Rayl was instrumental in starting the county’s Nurse Aide and Patient Care Technician Programs, which now graduate about 250 certified nursing assistants and patient care technicians each year.