Grad Student Enjoys a Challenge in Work and Life: Allie Kraybill enrolled in a high school nursing program and never looked back.

Allie Kraybill isn’t somebody who travels on the trail of least resistance. Rising up in Wilmington, N.C., she rode horses competitively via highschool and school. Horseback driving is a bodily demanding sport that probably resulted in a again harm (and PT) later in life.

As a junior in highschool, Kraybill took step one on a nursing path that has zigzagged from North Carolina to Minnesota to Seattle and finally to Colorado.

Kraybill, RN, BSN, MSN acquired her Grasp of Science in Nursing diploma on the College of Colorado School of Nursing whereas incomes her certification as an Grownup Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (AG-ACNP) in 2023.

The seeds for her profession had been planted as teenager in North Carolina.

“In ninth grade, they wish to know what you wish to do with the remainder of your life and I had no concept,” she says. “My mother identified that I used to be actually good at science and math and may take into account one thing in healthcare. So I ended up taking loads of further anatomy lessons.”

Kraybill joined a well being occupation affiliation (HOSA-Future Well being Professionals), which allowed her to earn her Licensed Nursing Assistant (CNA), as a junior in highschool.

“I ended up working in a nursing dwelling and a hospital throughout my final two years of highschool simply to see if I used to be serious about healthcare at all–and make a bit cash on the facet,” she says. “I went into [the program] with 10 of my greatest buddies and solely two of us grew to become nurses.”

She mentioned the problem of nursing–even as a CNA–inspired her to take a deeper dive into the career.

“There’s much more healthcare coaching than simply studying tips on how to fluff somebody’s pillow and ensuring they’re snug,” she says. “I believe the workload, the dedication to really serving to folks and the number of the place you’ll be able to go together with a nursing diploma actually compelled me.”

After graduating from highschool, Kraybill studied at South Carolina College and labored as a Registered Nurse at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. earlier than taking a quick detour to Seattle after which to Colorado.

Why she selected CU Nursing at Anschutz Medical Campus

Kraybill says she was drawn to CU Nursing as a result of it was one of many few schools within the nation that provided a grasp’s diploma with an emphasis in acute care.

“CU Nursing felt like the best choice to me as a result of I favored their curriculum, it was a three-year program, and so they had been one of many main applications in grownup gero-acute care,” she says. “After speaking to Dr. [Angela] Pal and actually determining what this system was about, I made a decision this was this system for me. Then, once they had us again for interview day, I made a decision it was the correct match.”

As an MSN pupil, Kraybill loved the period of time college students can get with the college.

“This system is small and I prefer it that approach,” she says. “The quantity of one-on-one time you may get along with your professors is a big profit. For those who name them since you are having a piece, private or tutorial downside, they are going that can assist you navigate that. They wish to assist you to as a whole–not simply from an educational setting.”

The 48-credit-hour AG-ACNP program equips contributors with abilities to help sufferers with acute and sometimes power situations similar to diabetes, bronchial asthma and hypertension.

“I like with the ability to work in a extra fast-paced setting, attending to work on stabilizing folks, getting them extra wholesome and getting them able to get out the door,” Kraybill says. “I believe you may have a bigger spectrum of individuals to work with.”

Although most NPs work as household nurse practitioners, there’s a rising and pressing want for practitioners in adult-gerontology acute care. As an additional benefit, NPs with the AG-ACNP certification enter the job market with extra alternatives and better incomes potential than household nurse practitioners.

What’s forward sooner or later?

Although eight years in essential care nursing may seem to be a very long time, Kraybill says it is “fairly a very long time” contemplating how troublesome healthcare grew to become in recent times. Regardless of these challenges, she’s been energized by taking part within the MSN program and to simply accept the function of being a brand new learner.

Wanting forward, Kraybill describes her alternatives as “limitless and considerably terrifying.”

Written by Bob Mook