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Lesson 2: Educational Reflections/Goals
Educational Preparation
Describe Your Educational Preparation.
Our three guests all have different educational experiences and career paths. It is interesting to hear about their reasons for obtaining their professional degrees and how they have applied them.
Bettyann Milliron: Yes. I started my nursing career at a hospital school of nursing, which was a diploma program. And at the time for financial reasons, I couldn't afford to go to a university for a bachelor degree, so that was my way of getting into the nursing profession of which I loved.
And then later on in my career, I found that for any advancement I would need to have a bachelor degree. So I got my bachelor degree through a distance-learning program that was being offered because I couldn't actually go to a university, because I had to work, and distance learning was really good for people who have to work.
Michelle Stroud: My educational preparation included receiving my associate degree in nursing from Mount Aloysius College. And then I went on to Penn State Altoona for the RN to BSN program. And then continued from there into Saint Francis University for my school nurse certificate, which required a BSN. And then-- now I'm interested in continuing on for the DNP program at Penn State.
Kelly Wolgast: My educational experience is very varied. I think I have both an academic educational experience and a life experience. I always wanted to be a nurse. My mom was a nurse. My aunt was a nurse. And I sort of always thought that I wanted to take care of people. I didn't know exactly how to do that. But in high school, I worked in a nursing home. And I really learned a lot about the hard work behind caring for people. But then I thought, OK, now I need to go off to college to do that.
And so I remember my mom sitting me down after I told her I wanted to be a nurse. And she said, gosh. It's the hardest job you will ever love. And so she wished me well. And off I went to Penn State in the '80s to get my baccalaureate degree in nursing.
After that, I needed to go on. I knew I was going to have to go on. And so academically, I have a master's in nursing from Vanderbilt University, nursing administration and education. I always thought leadership was where I wanted to be. I loved clinical, but I wanted also to do that.
At the same time, I explored a career in the military. I served in the Army as an Army nurse for over 26 years on active duty. And that is an encouraging leadership, not only clinical, but leadership opportunities, so I needed to get more education as well. So on the way, I got another master's degree in strategic studies through the Army War College as part of my military professional training.
And then finally, my doctorate in nursing practice is from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in executive nurse leadership. And so I really have a broad educational experience, I think, in nursing, but also really in health care, and in systems and understanding that nursing is really part of a bigger, broader system in our nation.
My life experience is also my education, and I've had many, many roles, both clinical and leadership, throughout my military experience, and then in my faculty in leadership positions at both when I retired from the military and now serving in academia.