MN-NP 2016

As a student taking a few general science courses at the University of Victoria, I realized that nursing is the perfect way to use the knowledge I was acquiring and apply it to benefit others. I obtained my BSN in 2007 and worked in general medicine for a year before moving to Vancouver to take emergency training at BCIT.

As a UVic student I took my final consolidated practicum in Guatemala. For five weeks our team set up adult, paediatric, and women’s health clinics in rural and remote areas. The nurse practitioner who accompanied us ran the women’s clinics and I was in awe of her knowledge and autonomy. I aspired to work in that capacity one day.

So after seven years as an Emergency RN at Vancouver General Hospital, and including a year of maternity leave while studying, I finally achieved my goal. This year I graduated from the School of Nursing at UBC as a Nurse Practitioner. I love challenging myself academically, and the nurse practitioner program seemed like a perfect fit for me. I especially enjoy classroom work; I couldn’t have imagined doing this program by distance education. The UBC program really helped prepare me for a hands-on practical career by providing lab time and fabulous, approachable instructors to help demonstrate what it means to be an NP. Our primary care classes were my favourite classes. This is where we learned the nitty gritty of being a primary care practitioner and what it means to provide evidence-based care. It was a big switch from being an RN to becoming an NP, and this is the course that prepared us for this transition.

“Nurse Practitioners bring a nursing lens to the primary care role, and we have the autonomy and knowledge to provide holistic and comprehensive care to patients.”

As daunting as my final culminating project was to take on, in the end I really enjoyed writing it. It really helped consolidate what it means to do a thorough research review in order to provide evidence-based practice. My project entitled: Polycystic Ovary Syndrome in Adults: A literature review and clinical practice guideline for the primary care nurse practitioner won the award for Outstanding Culminating Project.

When I’m not pursuing my career, my studies, and my family life, I enjoy CrossFit and hiking. My passion for health promotion and disease prevention is very much integrated into my life. My husband and I try to stay as fit as we can so we can keep up with our two-and-a-half year old daughter and hopefully live long, healthy lives. I always try to incorporate discussions about prevention with my patients because I know how empowering this can be in maintaining an overall healthy lifestyle.

My dream job is to work in a women’s health primary care clinic, but I also have a passion for emergency nursing and I believe a nurse practitioner role can make a big impact on reducing wait times and increasing patient satisfaction within the emergency department.

In the coming years, I would love to see the NP profession become more widespread than it is now. I have such a passion for the NP role and how it can have a positive impact on both our health care system and patient care. I would love to see NPs working in a variety of areas, in both hospitals and the community, and am so excited to see so many nursing colleagues entering the program.