I recently interviewed a colleague I met a few years prior as she rode her motorcycle to a discussion about forming a virtual chapter of the Georgia Nurses’ Association (GNA). I served on the Board of Directors (BOD) and was intimidated as the other board members all held advanced degrees.

CB wanted to be a nurse since second grade and entered nursing school directly after high school. She liked helping people and learning about the human body.

Before working as a nurse, CB was employed as a waitress, bartender, piano teacher, and baby sitter. Nursing offered job security.

In 1981 she earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and worked on a medical-surgical unit and cardiac rehabilitation at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). She shared a nurse educator position with another nurse obtaining a Master’s of Science in Nursing (MSN) to help cover the duties. While CB was in graduate school she held a nursing supervisor position at UCSF. Ten years after receiving her BSN, she completed her MSN as a Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) with major in pulmonary and minor in Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) from UCSF, the number one rated nursing education provider in the country then.

CB’s husband, a California native, desperately wanted to relocate. Although the couple earned over $100,000, it was no match for California’s high cost of living. California was too expensive and busy. CB thought not having a MSN would limit her opportunities. UCSF offered fulltime employees an 80% tuition discount, providing an excellent education at a very reasonable price. She was offered a CNS position in Savannah, Georgia after graduation and the company paid all the couple’s moving expenses.

After 12 years as a CNS, she was elected President of the GNA. Like many career women, CB faced multiple personal challenges as her father-in-law lived with the couple and her husband began a new job in Atlanta. CB felt pulled in too many directions and recognized signs of being burned out. She took a sabbatical to focus on her duties while serving as GNA president. Currently, CB has several part-time jobs to keep her stimulated and prevent boredom or burn-out. She is a home hospice case manager with United Hospice, works at a Savannah hospital as staff nurse one weekend per month, serves as a clinical consultant/educator for Cardinal Health (now Care Fusion), occasionally works as a legal nurse consultant, and manages a continuing education website on asthma for Athena Forum.

The majority of her work is providing hands-on patient care. The state of Georgia currently does not require any continuing education for nurses and does not recognize CNS as Advanced Practice Nurses (APN). CB was instrumental in getting the Georgia Board of Nursing (GBN) to address this and expects the GBN to announce changes soon.

CB’s graduate education enables her to look at things differently, evaluate evidence and research, question things more, and have more patience and tolerance. Her graduate education has served her well in everything she has done since graduating in 1992. She does not receive additional financial compensation as a staff nurse for her advanced degree.

CB advises, “Don’t give up. You don’t need to get straight A’s. No one including potential employers has ever asked or required her grade point average (GPA). Use one topic for several classes. It also helps if it relates to your work setting or work requirements. Make sure your focus topic is one that you REALLY like. Keep everything. Borrow and share as much as you can from and with others (without plagiarism, of course). Graduate school is much more tolerable if you don’t feel that you are in it alone. Focus, focus, focus. Remember it does have an END!!!!”

As I spoke with CB I reflected on my nursing career which spans over half my life. I earned an associates’ degree from Columbus College in 1985. The college is now Columbus State University and only offers a BSN and higher.

Lack of personal funds to finance education is a stressor for adults returning to school. While I am concerned about paying back student loans, I realized I would spend $20,000 on a car without hesitating. I cannot regret investing it on an education. I also hope my sons will qualify for more financial aid as a result of my acquired debt.

John Cole once said, “When you educate a woman, you educate a family” (ThinkExist, 2006). I am proud of the example furthering my education sets for my sons. Obtaining my MSN will make me better prepared and enable me to remain competitive.

Tags: advanced, higher education, MSN, nursing and leadership