NURS 6002 WEEK 1 MAIN DISCUSSION

Week 1 Main Discussion Post: Networking Opportunities. My Goals and Walden University Vision and Mission Working as a Registered Nurse for about nine years, I have worked as a Field/ Telephonic Case Manager in a Managed Care Organizations in Private duty Pediatric Nursing, Home Care, Rehabilitation center, Adult Day Care Center, and Skilled Nursing Facility. Currently, I am working as a Psychiatrist nurse in a Mental Health Hospital with the goal of becoming a Psychiatrist Mental Health Nurse Practitioner someday, very soon. I had about 3 to 4 options as at the time I was looking for a school. Still, after consulting with friends and colleagues and reading the various review online, I decided to go with Walden University. I was drawn to Walden University SON due to its vision and mission statement of providing a distinct population of professionals to give them the prospect of converting to scholar-practitioners to impact positive social change in the community (Walden University, 2019a). Eventually, I started with Walden University in 2017 when I was enrolled in the RNBSN- MSN program. But after I completed my BSN in February 2019, I decided to have a break, and here I am now, back with great determination to complete my Master’s. I am a living testimony to it that Walden University is Student-centeredness as all the faculty and staff are readily available to assist students in balancing their education with their individual and specialized lives (Walden University, 2019a). I remember when I started my BSN, and we all were required to have a contingency plan, which was very helpful. Therefore, I am so excited and at the same time nervous to start my Nurse Practitioner (NP) program here at Walden. But, just like the BSN program, I hope to be successful in this NP program with God’s help and my family’s support. Incorporation of Social Change Ever since my childhood, I have always had a passion for helping people in the community by becoming a Medical doctor. Though I did not have the privilege of becoming a Doctor, I am thankful for being in the healthcare industry and working as a nurse. One of the most rewarding jobs one can ever think of is the nursing profession. Every day, we take care of people, in fact, strangers, and they trust us that we will always provide them with the best and quality care. Nurses play an essential and increasing role in patient care, and nurses are ever participating in practically every section of the healthcare industry. Consequently, nurses have a significant impact on the advancement of healthcare organizations (Schmidt, K. n.d). I have worked in various aspects of nursing, but most of my nursing career, I worked as a Case Manager visiting people in their homes mostly. This has given me the opportunity to see that the majority of my patients are dealing with one mental health issue or the other such as Depression, Anxiety, Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder, Psychosis, and so on. In fact, there is hardly any health care setting you go without finding this population. More so, I have come to realize that generally, people do not view mental health issues as serious as medical problems. But just like people with medical issues such as hypertension, diabetes, congestive heart failure needs medical attention and treatment. Likewise, psychiatrist patients are dealing with mental health issues, and they need to be treated as well. I came to have a passion for psychiatrist nursing, as most of the patients are being stigmatized due to their mental health condition. This is my motivation that I need to help this population to promote their dignity and self-worth and as a result, take the big step to advance my career by working towards becoming a Psychiatrist Mental Health Nurse Practitioner. I hope to be a graduate of Walden University someday with the goal of becoming an intellectual, thoughtful practitioners and mediators of positive social change (Walden University, 2019a). References Schmidt, K. (n.d). 5 Reasons Nurses Should Engage in Professional Networking [Blog post]. Retrieved October 12, 2018, from networking-seriously/ Walden University, (2019a), Introduction, Retrieved from Walden University, (2019a). Vision, Mission, and Goals. Retrieved from