Your World
“My family and Riverview have been very supportive. If it weren’t for those two factors, I could not have gone back to school and work and take care of my family. It has all worked out very well. I graduate May 3. I’m glad it’s at the end, but it’s been a good process.”
management. Every adult going back into a master’s program has to deal with the time-management issue of family, work and school. My first year was the most difficult. Now people say, ‘I don’t know how you do everything,’ and I don’t either. It just happens. You learn not to sleep a lot and you drink a lot of caffeine and you get everything done.”
Q: How will this degree benefit your career and employer? A: “I will be able to step into a provider role in the wound care center, which helps in many ways. I can still be the manager, but I can also cover patient slots, help make plans of care, write the orders, do the debridement.
“It also gives me verification that I’m doing what I’m supposed to do. It gives me that little dot at the end of the sentence to say this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. My other goal in being a nurse practitioner is to do some mission work — to go overseas and use my medical background.”
Q: What’s the most difficult aspect of this transition? A: “So far the most difficult part has been time
Q: What advice would you give to someone who wants to become a nurse practitioner? A: “Even though it looks daunting in the beginning, it’s well worthwhile. If an advanced degree is going to make that push in your career to help you help others and get satisfaction from your job, it’s worth the hassle of going back to school and all the hard work.
“Make sure you have your life in place so you can juggle things at one time, because it will never be perfect. If I could’ve gone back for my nurse practitioner before having children, that would’ve been easier, but I don’t know that I would have been ready in my career for that. Know where you are in your life. If it’s really important to you, you’ll find a way to make it happen.” ●
Indiana’s nurse practitioners In Indiana, a nurse practitioner must be a licensed registered nurse and have a master’s degree. A collaborative agreement with a state physician is required for an NP to diagnose and treat illness and prescribe medication. NPs also should be certified through their specialty’s national certifying body. They may choose to be certified in areas where they worked as RNs. NPs treat acute and chronic conditions and prescribe medications and therapy. They may see patients of all ages and serve as a primary health care provider. NPs practice in such settings as physician offices, hospitals, community health clinics, home health services and nursing homes — making a priority of prevention, wellness and patient education. A master of science degree in nursing is the minimum education requirement. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing promotes the DNP as the minimum education needed for nurse practitioners to be implemented by 2015. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Indiana’s 2,650 nurse practitioners earn a mean annual salary of $85,590.
State schools offering advanced nursing degrees include: • Ball State University • Goshen College • Indiana State University • Indiana Wesleyan University • IUPUI • Purdue University • University of Indianapolis • University of Saint Francis • University of Southern Indiana • Valparaiso University
Indiana Nursing Quarterly
•
indystar.com/nursing
• Winter 2013
23