For M.S. in Nursing graduate Dana Wallis, there were three elements critical to succeeding as an online graduate student: Good time management; supportive classmates; and timing.
杏吧专区淓verybody at my house needed to be able to bathe themselves, dress themselves, and fix their own food before I could go back to school,杏吧专区 Wallis says. 杏吧专区淭hat sounds so basic, but that was one of the big deciding factors was everybody had to be able to sustain life without me.杏吧专区
Wallis originally enrolled in a master杏吧专区檚 in nursing program in 2012, but after having her second child with a three-year-old at home, she knew she wasn杏吧专区檛 on a sustainable path.
By putting off her pursuit, Wallis enrolled in the LHC Group 杏吧专区 Myers School of Nursing with renewed purpose. She excelled academically, earning recognition in Fall 2023 as the 杏吧专区杏吧专区檚 overall Outstanding Master杏吧专区檚 Graduate, while balancing a full-time job and prioritizing her children杏吧专区檚 important events.
Staying Versatile
Wallis was drawn to nursing for its versatility, and that杏吧专区檚 remained a cornerstone of her career.
When she originally enrolled in college, Wallis explored engineering, but her interest quickly faded in favor of healthcare. A family friend and nursing instructor encouraged her to pursue nursing.
杏吧专区淪he said, 杏吧专区業f you do nursing, you'll still be taking care of patients, but in the long run, you can choose hospitals versus working on doctor's office or even becoming a nurse practitioner. It'll open so many doors for you; just apply.杏吧专区櫺影勺ㄇ鴿
Wallis did and was able to immediately enroll to earn her BSN degree.
That was more than 20 years ago. Since then, she杏吧专区檚 worked in a range of roles: cardiology, nursing management, emergency, skilled care, and school nursing.
Working in management was Wallis' first nudge toward pursuing an MSN program. Seeing the impact of nurse practitioners during and after the COVID-19 pandemic was the final push.
"There were so many healthcare needs that were unmet at the time, and nurse practitioners were filling those needs,杏吧专区 says Wallis.
When a colleague who was enrolled in UL Lafayette杏吧专区檚 online M.S. in Nursing told Wallis the program didn杏吧专区檛 require GRE scores, she decided the time had come to finish her master杏吧专区檚 degree.
Establishing a Support Network
Wallis immediately knew that to tackle the two-fold challenge of graduate-level coursework and online learning, she杏吧专区檇 need support. She recruited a colleague she learned was also enrolled in the program as an ally.
"He supported me very much in the technical aspect of that first semester, and I was able to help him because I've always been a writer, so I would read his papers and give him suggestions,杏吧专区 says Wallis.
But soon, Wallis didn杏吧专区檛 just have a buddy. She had an army of fellow nurses to lean on for everything from study sessions to moral support.
杏吧专区淭here was a group of us who would meet on Teams where we chatted all the time, asked questions, brought up important points, reminded each other about deadlines 杏吧专区 whatever it was we needed, we helped each other. Then we would have a live study group if we had tests coming up,杏吧专区 says Wallis. 杏吧专区淚 don杏吧专区檛 think I could have made it through the program without my classmates.杏吧专区
The support of her peers was compounded by support from graduate faculty and her employers.
杏吧专区淥ne of the things that surprised me was the level of support that we got from the program from Dr. Jennifer Lemoine and Dr. Christy Lenahan,杏吧专区 she says. 杏吧专区淲e could go to them whenever we had questions or concerns or needs, and they really supported us. They wanted us to be successful.杏吧专区
As Wallis progressed through her coursework, she was still working two jobs, which meant a lot of late nights reading or completing assignments. When it was time for her to begin her clinical hours, her employers offered her the flexibility she needed to do so.
杏吧专区淲hen I notified my supervisor that I needed to resign to complete the program, she was able to work with my schedule to allow me to complete clinicals,杏吧专区 says Wallis. "And I scheduled my clinical days around my kids杏吧专区 sports schedules as much as I could.杏吧专区
Stepping into Advanced Practice Nursing
Before she completed the program, Wallis could already see the impact in her practice.
杏吧专区淵ou go from being very focused on whatever the complaint is to considering the whole patient and doing full assessments,杏吧专区 says Wallis. 杏吧专区淚 could feel that shift over time.杏吧专区
Now 杏吧专区 ever the champion for versatility 杏吧专区 Wallis is getting ready to apply her advanced practice full time to provide primary care in one of the state杏吧专区檚 psychiatric hospitals while working part time in an urgent care setting.
杏吧专区淚n the hospital, the psychiatrists handle the mental health care, but I杏吧专区檒l take care of their primary care needs: monitor lab work, manage blood pressure, and all of that,杏吧专区 she says. 杏吧专区淓ven if I love that, I still like the idea of having an urgent care job, because with you get to keep up your clinical skills 杏吧专区 suturing and taking care of acute problems. I think that I'll always kind of keep that on the side.杏吧专区
Advance your nursing practice and your career. Learn more about UL Lafayette杏吧专区檚 online MSN degree program.