Tiffany Ford planned to earn her bachelor杏吧专区檚 degree in nursing immediately after high school, but she says, 杏吧专区渓ife happened, and it didn杏吧专区檛 work out.杏吧专区
Still determined, she moved forward with new plans.
She earned her LPN and then her associate degree while working in long-term acute care.
Eventually, Ford found her way to the 杏吧专区杏吧专区檚 online RN to BSN degree program.
In earning her bachelor杏吧专区檚 degree at long last, Ford gained a greater understanding of evidence-based practices and leadership principles that will propel her to her next goal 杏吧专区 becoming a nurse practitioner.
Learning and Understanding
By the time she started online classes, Ford had earned three tiers of nursing credentials 杏吧专区 CNA certification, and LPN and RN licenses 杏吧专区 and worked her way into a leadership role at her full-time job as a clinical liaison.
Even equipped with so much experience, Ford says her classes were eye-opening in vital ways.
杏吧专区淭he biggest thing for me was the evidence-based practice, and they hit on those facts a lot,杏吧专区 says Ford. 杏吧专区淵ou hear about it as a nurse, but you just don杏吧专区檛 really understand it or know where it comes from.杏吧专区
Ford says she now better understands the decision-making process at different levels of health care.
杏吧专区淎s a nurse or even a regular employee not in a leadership position, you don杏吧专区檛 always see both sides of the coin,杏吧专区 she says. 杏吧专区淲ith UL Lafayette, they have classes that focused on leadership and different financial things.杏吧专区
Logging Into Class
Digging into her online classes, Ford found an engaging culture with instructors who are quick to communicate.
杏吧专区淚 really liked the instructor interaction. I didn杏吧专区檛 have that before in online classes,杏吧专区 says Ford.
杏吧专区淚t was a lot easier at the 杏吧专区 for people that are having to work and try to do this to have that hands-on, constant interaction with instructors. They were always emailing and very open to questions and assistance.杏吧专区
And that community extended to her classmates and how they treated one another in Moodle, as well.
杏吧专区淲hen I would go on the forums, there would always be somebody on there thinking the same thing I was, asking the same question, or somebody would say, 杏吧专区榊ou know, I was wondering the same thing!杏吧专区櫺影勺ㄇ鴿 says Ford. 杏吧专区淣obody was ever negative.杏吧专区
Bringing it all Home
Nursing is hard. Earning a bachelor杏吧专区檚 degree in nursing is difficult. Balancing multiple jobs, school, and homelife is a challenge.
In addition to maintaining two to three jobs while in her program, Ford made the decision to delay completing her BSN program to help her son realize his college dreams.
杏吧专区淗e graduated high school in 2019 and immediately started college, and so because I was working and paying out of pocket for my program, I put mine on hold to help him,杏吧专区 she says.
Once her son was well on his way toward his degree, Ford was able to continue her own journey. And as an LHC Group employee, she was able to take advantage of reduced tuition and additional resources to do so.
杏吧专区淏y then, LHC Group had come up with the incentive program, so we got a little discount, which helped me to further afford it.杏吧专区
Throughout her time as a student, Ford杏吧专区檚 husband and parents were there to cheer her on, take chores off her plate, and let her vent her frustrations.
杏吧专区淏etween my parents and my husband, they were the bulk of my support system,杏吧专区 she says. 杏吧专区淭here was never a minute of doubt, it was always 杏吧专区榊ou can do it! You just stick with it! You see the light at the end of the tunnel. Just keep pushing.杏吧专区櫺影勺ㄇ鴿
Everyone in the family felt invested in the catharsis that graduation would bring.
杏吧专区淎 lot of times, I think they were more excited than I was simply because they knew that it was something that I wanted for a really long time,杏吧专区 says Ford. 杏吧专区淎nd they knew I had put my stuff on hold to support my son to reach his opportunities.杏吧专区
Ford, her husband and parents all attended commencement to celebrate the culmination of her degree, but they will likely be back on duty as the support team soon.
杏吧专区淚杏吧专区檝e already reached out to UL Lafayette again about the MSN program,杏吧专区 says Ford. 杏吧专区淚杏吧专区檓 trying to decide when I want to start moving forward with that.杏吧专区