Masters in Nursing Overview The person selected for this interview is my mentor, an advanced nurse practitioner who specializes in geriatrics. She said she began her nursing career by graduating with a bachelor's degree in nursing at the University of California at Berkeley. The program at Berkeley well prepared her for her initial role as a registered nurse. While in school, she mentioned, she was able to procure an internship in the healthcare field which helped her confirm that she actually wanted to have a career as a nurse. After working as a registered nurse for approximately five years, she decided to earn a Master's of Science in Nursing so that she could become an advanced nurse practitioner. To her delight, after earning her degree from the University of California at Berkeley approximately 10 years ago, she was able to obtain a position at Kaiser Hospital in Oakland as an advanced nursing practitioner specializing in geriatrics.

Reason for seeking graduate education

My mentor explained to me that her decision for seeking graduate education was almost entirely predicated on expanding her expertise in the field of geriatrics. More specifically, however, she emphasized that as an APN in this field, she could do much more to serve her patient population. Instead of merely conducting examinations for patients and doing some of the more remedial tasks associated with working as a registered nurse, she can do more things (such as prescribe medication) to help her patients. The impact that she had on her patients expanded accordingly after getting her master's degree, which she said was her main reason for choosing to continue her education. She stressed the fact that her interest in geriatics, coupled with her desire to do more to offer better care for her patients, served as the impetus for her to gain APN status in this field.

Description of present position...

As such, she is intimately involved in the diagnostics, treatment, and overall well being of older populations. She observed that tn many ways, her role is akin to that of a formal doctor working in this discipline. By her own admission, her job responsibilities include formulating what typically amounts to relatively long-term relationships with her patients. Specifically, she is responsible for administering initial assessments for patients when they come in for treatment. She said that she is then tasked with determining strategies for best managing the patient's conditions, which does not infrequently involve additional diagnostic procedures and testing. She speculated that the larger part of her job responsibilities includes imparting wisdom and healthcare awareness to help her patients manage their conditions on a long-term basis. My mentor stated that this component of her job is an integral one due to the population she has chosen to work with.
Usefulness of graduate education for present role

When I asked my mentor about the usefulness of her graduate education in her present role, her initial response was to laugh. She mentioned quite frankly that she would not be able to do what she was doing -- successfully -- without such an education. She then went on to denote the fact that much of her graduate education was based on working with patients that are part of the geriatrics facet of healthcare. In addition to absorbing frequent conditions and afflictions that older people become susceptible to, she mentioned that she also learned a fair amount of the psychological component about working with such patients. She seemed…