Category: Stories

Gloria works as an Inpatient Psychiatry Staff Nurse, part of an interdisciplinary team for individuals with acute mental health crisis. Working toward her BSN is the next step in realizing her goal to become a family nurse practitioner and a certified Psychiatric NP.

Challenges

It isn’t easy, especially balancing her time and finances. Going to school at least half-time has enabled Gloria to qualify for financial aid, and she receives tuition reimbursement from her employer. She has had to give up some social time, in addition to reducing her hours at work, in order to juggle her responsibilities as a single parent, employee, and student. Gloria relies on financial aid to supplement her income since decreasing her hours at work, and says she couldn’t have gone back to school without that financial help.

Success

Sometimes our greatest challenges give rise to our greatest success. In returning to school for her BSN, Gloria says her greatest success has been learning to juggle life and the many demands on her time. She feels good about the skills she has developed around setting priorities and finds school is easier for her this time around. She’s also proud of how savvy she has become in navigating the financial aid system.

Advice

Gloria offers this advice to RNs considering a return to school for their BSN: Apply for financial aid and go part time, taking 6-9 credits. She wishes she had known sooner that she could qualify for grant funding by increasing her enrollment from 6 credits to 9. Gloria also encourages people to take advantage of opportunities like travel study if they possibly can. She says, “Going back to school is a big task, but it’s a great opportunity to switch things up!”

Ingrid has a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from UVM and is currently working toward her AGNP. She went back to school for her BSN because she felt there was so much more to learn about nursing than she had been exposed to in her Associate’s program. Ingrid works in the OR at the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington, Vermont. She is so happy with her current position, she wouldn’t change a thing!

Challenges

When Ingrid went back to school for her Bachelor’s, UVM didn’t offer as many online courses as they do today, and it was really tough to balance her family life with work and school. With a child at home and a full-time job, she accepted that every free moment would have to be dedicated to school. Ingrid is grateful for the education reimbursement she receives from her employer, but relies on student loans to make up the difference.

Success

Ingrid finds online courses offer important flexibility and suit her self-directed learning style. Prior to becoming a nurse, she worked in hotel management. Ingrid loves the variation in daily tasks and the adrenaline rush of nursing, and sees herself staying in the nursing profession until she retires.

Advice

Ingrid encourages students and nurses to become active in the political process to help influence policy decisions. By taking a greater role in primary care delivery, she sees nurses as having the potential to significantly decrease healthcare costs even while improving outcomes. She believes getting a Bachelor’s degree is good preparation for becoming more politically involved as well as improving quality of healthcare overall.

Alexis has just been hired as a maternity nurse at UVMMC. She sees getting her BSN as a necessary step in her career path. In her experience, she has found more and more employers are looking for nurses who have their BSN or are working toward it.

Challenges

One of the things Alexis has found personally challenging in going back to school has been the online format: She prefers the interaction and peer support of a traditional classroom, but the flexibility of the online program makes it possible for her to enroll in classes and maintain steady employment while she works toward her degree. She sees it as a trade-off.

Success

Alexis says she is really happy to be back in school. She has gained a level of confidence that she didn’t have when she completed her Associate’s Degree. In fact, she now has her sights set on grad school and one day earning her PhD.

Advice

Alexis recommends forming study groups as a way of building connections with fellow nursing students. She has found the teachers in the online program to be very approachable and supportive. Alexis encourages other students to reach out to their instructors and take advantage of the incredible resources available to them. Alexis has been surprised at how hard it is to balance work and school; it’s important to her to do her best in both areas. She recommends designating two study days per week, and advocating for that time to be dedicated to school.

Patricia currently works as a home health nurse for Orleans/Essex visiting nurse association. As a home health nurse, she calls the beautiful Northeast Kingdom her work setting and client’s homes her office. Patricia says “A bachelor’s degree is the gateway to endless potential in nursing. As you look on websites and read nursing journals, there is a real push for bachelor degree prepared nurses and I did not want any doors closed to my future.”

Challenges

One of the major challenges that Patricia has faced is increased responsibility at work –a sense of commitment to her employer and clients– while balancing her education goals. “I do most of my homework at night and on days that my family is not around,” she said. At the beginning of a semester, she prints monthly calendars and marks the days that projects are due. She then schedules vacation time around those days to finish projects and so her employer can plan.

Success

Patricia will graduate with her BSN. She sees the opportunity a BSN degree brings. “The degree may not mean higher pay, but it certainly means more opportunity, which can lead to higher pay. Also, having the theory background helps me to be a more rounded nurse.” She credits her education with a better understanding of people in general. “I now embrace diversity.”

Advice

Patricia says, “sit down, and figure out your goals. There are great financial resources available for nurses right now; you just have to look around. The beauty of online learning, you can log into your classroom when it is convenient for you.”

One of the many things that makes nursing special is the tradition of “pinning” a new nurse. Did you know this is a tradition that has been around a long time — and that the pins are different for each school?

The Nurse Pinning Ceremony

According to the Museum of Nursing History, the nursing pin is a symbol with a rich history dating back to the Maltese Cross and the Crusades. By 1916, a ceremony awarding the badges was a tradition in England and the United States. The nursing pin and accompanying ceremony represented a meaningful experience for nursing students. It symbolized the completion of educational requirements that enabled nurses to sit for the state licensure examination and then practice nursing. The Museum has an extensive collection of nursing pins in its collection for your next trip to Philadelphia.

2016 Pinning Ceremonies

Amy O. was kind enough to post a series of photos capturing the 2016 pinning ceremony at UVM as students were getting their nursing pin pinned on by a relative or friend. Has anyone captured the pinning at the four other schools this year? Who knows the symbols and marks on their nursing pin?

“What I like about my job is the interaction with the patients, getting to know them. We see all different kinds of people from all walks of life.”

RUSSELL CHAPMAN, RN
UVM Nursing Program

Russell says, “Once you get to know them — you see them at thier worst — its really statisfying to see people at their worst and then to see them getting better. That is what I enjoy most.”