Advancing her Field

While pursuing her Doctor of Nursing Practice advanced her career and her knowledge, Kimberly Glasgow ’19 DNP continued her education so that she could also help advance nursing as a profession.

MMU: What motivated you to pursue your Doctor of Nursing Practice? Why did you decide to become a nurse?

"My mom is a nurse, so I grew up listening to stories about her day at the dinner table. I knew that when I went into nursing that I wouldn’t stop at my bachelor’s degree."

KG: I chose to pursue my Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) because it’s a practice-based terminal degree in the field of nursing and as a practicing family nurse practitioner, this was appealing. Getting my DNP is also my contribution to the nursing profession. I want to continue to push nursing forward like other respected health professions that have implemented doctoral degrees (pharmacists, physical therapists are examples).

I decided to pursue nursing as a profession because of its flexibility. It’s a career that can follow many different paths depending on your interests, even if they change. My mom is a nurse, so I grew up listening to stories about her day at the dinner table. I knew that when I went into nursing that I wouldn’t stop at my bachelor’s degree, so almost immediately I enrolled in a nurse practitioner program. I wanted to become a nurse practitioner because of the autonomy that I would have, and practically speaking, we are also in high demand.

MMU: What has your career looked like so far? What impact did your DNP have on your career?

KG: I have been a family nurse practitioner since 2012 and have spent my career in family medicine and urgent care settings. I have been fortunate to be able to work for some preeminent healthcare systems such as Mayo Clinic Health System, University of Wisconsin Health, and UnityPoint Clinic. I currently work for UnityPoint Clinic—Waterloo in urgent care. The DNP curriculum helps build practitioners into strong leaders, which has helped me grow into some of the leadership roles that I fulfill currently. In the future, I hope that it will help me shape practitioners as an educator.

"The DNP curriculum helps build practitioners into strong leaders, which has helped me grow into some of the leadership roles that I fulfill currently."

MMU: Why did you choose Mount Mercy’s program over others? What stood out to you about Mount Mercy?

KG: I’d been looking at DNP programs for the last five years, but none of them really seemed to fit until I got a postcard in the mail from Mount Mercy. The 5-week, 1-day a week class schedule was intriguing, and the fact that it would only take me a year-and-a-half sold me. This was something that I could commit to while still balancing my job and home life. The program fit my life and did not require me to feel like I was making sacrifices to do it. Most other programs were going to take me over two years to complete. Mount Mercy’s program was also unique because it was all in-person. With the amount of work I knew that I would need to put into this degree, I felt it was important for me to be able to connect personally with my professors; an experience I did not get doing my master’s degree (FNP) online.

MMU: What was one lesson or piece of advice you gained during the program that was especially impactful?

KG: Something I learned going through the DNP program was that, as nurses, we really do not give ourselves enough credit for what we have achieved, the roles we fill, or the innovations we introduce.

MMU: What challenges did you face during the program? How did you overcome them?

KG: I found out that I was pregnant with our first child about two weeks before the program was set to start. I had serious thoughts about backing out, but decided just to see how it would go and I’m glad I did. Everyone was very supportive, including my daughter that allowed for a smooth pregnancy and came at a point in the program where I was working through my final project. Her timing really could not have been better!

MMU: Do you have any advice for future DNP students?

KG: This is a huge undertaking, but I promise it’s worth it in the end. If this is something that you have dreamed of doing, do it, otherwise you will regret it later. Just think how satisfying it’ll be to hear someone call you Doctor _____ for the first time. I know it brought tears to my eyes!