There are more than 600 U.S. programs that allow registered nurses with a diploma or an associate degree to earn a bachelor’s degree in nursing and more than 170 programs where they can earn a master’s degree, according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.
Those classes are filled with working nurses who want to meet career and personal goals. It’s no picnic going back to class when you have a job, a family and other responsibilities. It takes stamina, ingenuity and commitment.
"But the goal is attainable and it is definitely worth it," said Katrina Bailey, RN, BSN, MBA-HC, manager of continuing medical education at Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville.
In May 2012, Bailey graduated with an MBA with a concentration in health care administration from Brenau University. The degree helped Bailey land her present job, where she enjoys the respect of the physicians who take her courses.
A nurse since 1995 with experience in cardiac, operations management and education, Bailey had always wanted to earn a master’s degree.
“I knew it would be beneficial to my career. I just didn’t think I had any spare time,” she said. “But when I heard that NGMC was creating this MBA-HC program with Brenau for a cohort of 20 hospital administrators, I wanted to be the first to apply.”
She attended classes online and on site every Monday night for more than two years.
“It was difficult learning how to be a student again, how to research and cite references. I was sweating that first paper,” she said. “But the experience of learning things that were immediately applicable to our jobs here at the hospital was an amazing experience.”
Bailey juggled school with her role as wife and mother of two daughters, who were 7 and 5 when she went back to school. She credits a supportive husband and mother for helping her make it work.
“I’d work all day, come home and do the things that mommies do and then start assignments about 9 p.m. and work until 1 or 2 a.m.,” she said.
Bailey maintained a 4.0 grade point average despite being pregnant her last year. She delivered her son the day before graduation.
Looking back at that challenging time makes Bailey especially satisfied with her work/life balance today.
“I know I’m contributing on the job and I have time to enjoy my family,” she said. “Nurses need more education in this ever-changing health care environment, and there are so many opportunities out there if you are willing to grow.”
'You have to know your limits’
Cindy Johnson, clinical simulation educator at Northeast Georgia Medical Center, has worked in various hospitals and specialties since earning her diploma from Georgia Baptist Hospital School of Nursing in 1982. She’s worked in the emergency room, postanesthetic care, intensive care and helped usher in new initiatives as a performance improvement coordinator. Her present job as a staff simulation educator was a direct result of earning a master’s degree in 2010.
“I was a staff educator as part of a surgical observation unit and my mentor, Priscilla Stockwell, told me that many educators had master’s degrees,” said Johnson, RN, BSN, MS, CAPA.
She enrolled in a master's degree program in nursing education at North Georgia College & State University in Dahlonega.
“I went to campus one day a week and worked part time in cardiology and as a clinical instructor for the college while in school,” she said. “Working as a clinical instructor was a great way to pull together everything I was learning about teaching.”
Johnson had planned to take her new knowledge back to her old job, but she needed to do complete 180 clinical hours in a different field and asked to perform them in the simulation lab at NGMC.
“I loved the technology and it took me in a totally different direction,” she said.
After finishing her master's degree, Johnson enrolled in a hybrid Ph.D. program at Georgia Baptist College of Nursing of Mercer University in summer 2012.
"The first day was scary. I was worried about the online environment and scared that everyone knew more than me," she said.
But a good instructor helped the class to bond.
"Online is a great learning environment and if I can do it, anyone can. I didn't even have PowerPoint in nursing school," Johnson said.
Going to school and working requires a balancing act. Johnson works four days a week and meets with her classes on Thursday afternoons and all day on Fridays. She gets tired at night, so she only works on short homework assignments then and saves large projects for the weekend.
“You have to know your limits when you go back to school,” she said.
An understanding boss, a flexible schedule, having three college-age vs. young children, and a retired husband willing to run the household help her manage the load.
“I’m multitasking more than I ever have in my life, but going back to school allows you to see nursing from a different side and expand your horizons,” Johnson said.
She enrolled in the doctorate program in order to teach nursing at some point, but her manager is helping her see new opportunities in simulation research.
"There isn't much (right now) and we'd like to do some together that shows that simulation helps staff nurses to increase safety and quality of care. I'm excited about the track I'm on," she said.
'Commit to change’
After a few bumps, Adrienne Harris is on track to become a family nurse practitioner. She’s even engraved the words “commit to change” on her stethoscope.
"It reminds me why I'm doing this," said the charge nurse and interim director of the fourth floor surgical unit at Emory Johns Creek Hospital.
Torn between studying medicine and nursing in college, Harris took prerequisites for both.
“My dad was an OR nurse and he persuaded me to give nursing a try first,” said Harris, BSN, ONC. “I graduated from Georgia State’s nursing school in 2004, planning to practice two years before going to med school, but I fell in love with nursing. It’s a different aspect of medicine with different responsibilities.”
Harris saw the family nurse practitioner role as combining medicine with nursing, so she enrolled in the FNP program at Brenau University in 2012.
“I’m a big fan of real classrooms and this program met several Saturdays per month, but I discovered that the schedule just didn’t work for me,” Harris said.
On her birthday last April, she drove her son, Savion, to a soccer tournament in South Carolina, watched a game, raced back to Gainesville for a research class, and then drove back to pick him up at the end of the tournament.
“Wow, a day in the car — happy birthday to me,” the single parent said.
Harris switched gears and enrolled in an online program through the University of South Alabama, losing a semester of credits in the transfer but saving her sanity.
“I’ve had to learn how to raise my hand online and research virtually, but graduate school is different in a more fundamental way,” she said. “It’s more serious and I’ve realized that I’m not just being taught by experts. I’m an expert, too, because of my work experience. They’re pushing me to become a more independent professional.”
Harris studies every day, even during halftime at her son’s soccer games and on vacation. She and her son coordinate their schedules on Google Calendar.
Harris has also made sacrifices. She no longer plays piano or participates in live theater.
“The arts had to go, but I’m still a pro-am ball room (dancing) competitor, because you have to have a stress outlet,” she said.
As an interim director of her unit, Harris must approve requests for her staff members who want to go back to school.
“I love helping them get down to the nitty-gritty of what they want to do with the education, and we talk about the time commitment, planning and the sacrifices,” she said. “I love encouraging nurses to go back to school.
“Better-educated nurses are the wave of the future. We’re the ones who are going to help get health care where it needs to be.”
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