Master of Science in Nursing
Advanced Clinical Nursing Track
Student Features - Kathy Ann Klopfer, MSN, RN
It is December 1982 and a reporter for Bob Levey's Washington column is
interviewing me for the annual Children's Hospital fund raiser. I have been
out of nursing school 18 months and I feel confident, I am an expert, or
so I think. I am planning a wedding for the following spring, as well as
planning on entering graduate school. My goals are set and my life is just
beginning.
It is 2000 and I have not thought of the Levey article during the past 17 years. I was reminded of it, however, while reading Benner's Expertise in Nursing Practice, a required book in the final year of the Advanced Clinical Program at George Mason University. I read the Levey article again, laughed at the true novice that I was, sighed at how the years passed by, and smiled thinking of my graduate school goal finally achieved. I shared my experience with my classmates, yet was too embarrassed to allow them to read the article, which laid my novice self naked before the world. The class shared their memories of similar situations, and for some of us, we realized we are novices once more.
I originally thought I wanted to enter the Nurse Practitioner program at George Mason but decided that I was more interested in managing specific populations. I believe your life interests must match your educational program in order to be successful. The Advanced Clinical program met my professional goals and the flexibility allowed me to work full time and care for my three children. The required classes renewed my commitment to the profession and the three allowed elective classes enriched my learning experience.
I entered graduate school as a novice, a novice student, uncertain of success, insecure in my academic skills. I chose to take one class first semester for fear of failing. It was not just the concern over taking Data Analysis, but the fear of time constraints and weak computer skills. I survived and slowly increased the number of classes, even attending full time for one semester. Classes that I had stumbled through as an undergraduate, I was now applying in my practice! Theory that now made sense to me, research that I could replicate, and ethical situations that I could contemplate. I started making goals, goals to get through school, goals to improve my nursing career, and goals to strengthen my personal life.
I utilized the campus computer resource lab to connect to the library internet site and taught myself Microsoft Word and Powerpoint. I bought the APA format on disc from the campus computer store and the APA book from the campus bookstore. I researched my area of interest, children with special needs, so as to write on the topic from many perspectives; case management, theoretical application, and ethical dilemmas. I organized my whole life into color coded files: academics, job, and kids.
I graduated Spring 2000 with a 4.0 and the recipient of the Kitty Parker Smith Leadership Award. Within the final year of my Advanced Clinical Program, I achieved my academic goals of developing computer skills as well as improving my writing capabilities, with two articles prepared for submission for publication. Additionally, I achieved my professional goal of becoming more involved in health policy and leadership. I previously attended the GMU Center for Health Policy, Research and Ethics Leadership Training, and in June 2000 I will participate in the Center's Washington Internship Program. I am on the ballot for VNA delegate to represent District 8 at the Delegate Assembly in Richmond in October 2000. Our class collaborated on a book of nursing stories, "Beveled Edges: A portrait of caring" which was published with the proceeds funding a nursing scholarship.
In the community I am collaborating with a non-profit organization for children with special needs in order to create a legislative/advocacy webpage on their website (www.mannys-caringhands.org). The GMU Ethics course introduced me to Georgetown University's Center for Clinical Bioethics and I have since collaborated with their department to develop the first ethics committee for children with special needs within my institution.
Through my advanced clinical studies and George Mason, I have achieved a sense of purpose and enrichment which far exceeded my expectations. I no longer believe problems are too monumental for me to impact, or that I cannot make a difference in the world around me. The encouragement I received from my peers and the faculty have revitalized my passion for nursing and have kindered a fellowship that will last throughout my career. At the last class, I allowed my classmates to read my Bob Levey article, confident in my professional growth and comfortable with the fond laughter of my nursing friends.