CONTACT - Volume 9, Number 1
Graduate Program in Nursing

Janyce Dyer, DNSc, CRNP, CS
Associate Dean

Fertile Soil for Thought

There are multiple paths nurses can take to and through graduate education. Consider the following scenarios.

Sheila graduated high school at age 17, enrolled in a baccalaureate nursing program and completed the program in three and a half years. Upon graduation, she accepted a staff nurse position on a medical-surgical unit and immediately applied for part-time graduate studies. On the day her master's thesis was being bound, she moved to the east coast to begin doctoral studies.

Maria began her nursing career at a local community college and then transferred to an RN-MSN program at a private university. During the course of studies, Maria was divorced and became a single parent of three small children. With a good civil service nursing position and the assistance of a scholarship, Maria realized her goal of becoming a family nurse practitioner.

Susan, on the other hand, didn't finish high school because of the untimely death of her parents. After several years of holding menial jobs, she completed a GED and applied to an associate degree in nursing program at a community college where she academically excelled. Upon graduation, Susan worked as a staff nurse and was quickly promoted to charge nurse. Two years later, she enrolled in an upper division baccalaureate program and shortly after graduation, she was accepted in a prestigious master's degree program. The next eight years of Susan's life included practice positions as well as a marriage, children, and unexpected widowhood. Susan then embarked upon doctoral studies in nursing at the age of 42.

Jean Pierre, who held a bachelor's degree in psychology and worked as a flight attendant for 12 years, suddenly lost his job due to downsizing of the airline industry. After reading an advertisement for an innovative nursing bridge program for out of field college graduates, Jean Pierre enrolled in the program. He completed his coursework and embarked on a new career as a nursing administrator.

In the words of singer-songwriter Melissa Manchester,

Some of us never grow, but all of us need to know

That there are gardens to bloom in

And there must always be room enough for all of us.

Graduate Programs within Barry University Division of Nursing offer fertile soil for growth of a wide variety of academic and career trajectories. It's the diversity of our student body and faculty that makes our flexible programs rich!