Former Kaua‘i CC nursing director continues lifelong impact

Kaua‘i Community College lost a dear member of its faculty ‘ohana last year. Josephine “Jo” Cortezan Duvauchelle taught nursing and helped develop the college’s nursing program, retiring as its director 20 years ago.

She was born in Koloa in 1927. Her father and mother, a minister and a plantation nurse who had come from the Philippines, sent her to finish high school at Mid-Pacific Institute in Honolulu. Formal secondary education had fallen apart on Kaua‘i during World War II. Jo earned a nursing degree at the University of Cincinnati, the nation’s first collegiate school of nursing, and returned home to serve as a public health nurse. She visited families, administered children’s vaccinations and assessed general health.

After several years away from the profession until her children were in elementary school, she became a nursing instructor at Kaua‘i CC. “I was ready to come back and do something,” she said in a 2010 interview. “They needed someone, and there weren’t too many people with the necessary qualifications.”

A professional approach to nursing education

Jo developed the program based on her baccalaureate experience, with licensing and continuing education in mind. Her nursing education in college, rather than in a hospital training program, influenced the nursing curriculum’s development. She said, “The only thing I knew was my collegiate courses, so that’s what I expected of the students. There was a little bit of hullabaloo, because nursing was looked at as a vocational career, rather than a professional occupation.”

She structured the program as a professional and educational ladder. “If you opted out after the first semester, you were qualified to become a nurse’s aide,” she said, “and if you continued, finishing two semesters and a summer session, you could sit for licensure as a practical nurse. And if you wished, you could continue, earning your associate’s degree in nursing and sit for the exams as a registered nurse.”

Charlene Ono, a former chair of Kaua‘i CC’s Health Education Division and director of the nursing program, says, “Jo established requirements so that Kaua‘i residents, as long as they were qualified, would be admitted to the program, if not immediately, then in the following year. And several of her graduates reminisced about how strict she was about the students being professional. She definitely left an imprint in many people’s lives, in nursing and in the community.”

In 2005, shortly before her retirement, Jo and her husband Raymond funded the Josefina A. Cortezan Endowed Scholarship Fund, named in honor of Jo’s mother. The fund provides annual scholarships for nursing students and an end-of-year award presented at graduation ceremonies. To date, 116 Kaua‘i CC nursing students have received financial assistance and awards.

The work continues

“As a first-generation college student, I am sincerely grateful to have received the Josefina A. Cortezan Nursing Scholarship over several semesters,” says Kyler Arruda-Sukehira, who completed his program at Kaua‘i CC, then graduated from UH Mānoa’s Online RN to BSN program in May 2025. “This lightened my financial burden, allowing me to focus on the most important aspect of school: learning! It will also have a long-lasting impact as it allows me to serve others and give back to my community as a nurse.”

Kyler also received the Josefina A. Cortezan Nursing Award at his Licensed Practical Nurse pinning ceremony. He says, “I was deeply humbled to know my professors believed in my potential and saw my dedication to nursing studies.”

“Nursing school is not for the faint of heart,” Kyler says. “It is a test of endurance, intellect, and emotional strength. It involves great self-sacrifice, such as spending less time with friends and family. Throughout nursing school, I realized that being a nurse is more than just a job—it’s a calling.”

Jelacia Peralta also received the Josefina A. Cortezan Nursing Award. “I am so grateful that my professors considered me for this award,” she says, “and it has shown me that all my hard work and dedication over the years have paid off. The Career Ladder Nursing Program at Kaua‘i CC is very rigorous, and without a doubt, it prepared me to enter the nursing profession. My professors emphasized that nursing is a career of endless learning, and I am excited to take on this responsibility.”

She also enrolled in UH Mānoa’s Online RN to BSN program, allowing her to earn her four-year degree from home. She says, “The courses are all asynchronous, with in-person clinicals here on Kaua‘i. I hope to be working as a registered nurse soon after my graduation.”

Remembrance and legacy

Josephine Cortezan Duvauchelle once said she hoped to be remembered for contributing to a field in which Kaua‘i’s young people can succeed, where they can provide service to their communities. “I think that’s important,” she said. Kyler, Jelacia and countless other Kaua‘i CC students, as they work toward careers in improving healthcare for Hawai‘i, are making it happen.