Suncoast Nursing Action Coalition

Dorothy Neufeld, Associate Professor of Nursing, completed a doctorate of nursing practice from Duquesne University while simultaneously teaching full-time in the associate degree program at State College of Florida. Her advice for all nurses: "Graduate school is amazing and will enhance your career beyond your imagination - Don't let anything stop you! Find the support you need and don't delay the decision because you think you're too busy".

“It was helpful for me to be a student at the same time I was a teacher! Everything I encountered to complete my doctorate was happening to my students during the Covid crisis. It was affecting me similarly to them and those parallels have helped me to understand the difficulties for all types of students during this strange year. It was an emotionally tough year. During the daytime while I was teaching I have to be strong and supportive to my students who are very concerned about not being able to graduate on time or even at all! And then in the night time, when I was online completing my doctoral courses, I found I needed the same support from my nursing faculty.” Neufeld advises to select a good university that has a philosophy similar to yours. “The most important way I am using my doctoral education as I teach now is to incorporate evidence-based practice and research into all of the content. Her first role after achieving her DNP was teaching medical, surgical and pediatric contact for the second-year students in the associate degree nursing program at state college of Florida.”