Category: What’s Happening at the School of Nursing

Alisa Strayer, MSW, MPH, is a recent alumni of the UW Master’s of Social Work and Master’s of Public Health programs. She worked with the Dementia Action Collaborative on implementing and assessing the Dementia Friends program in Washington State.

All interviews have been edited for length and clarity. 

Find more scholar spotlight interviews here. 

What got you interested in healthy aging?

After graduating from college, I worked at an organization, called Fountain House, which is a community center for people with mental illnesses. I worked at one of their independent living buildings that was specifically for older adults, and many of them had dementia. That was the first time I had worked with older adults. I fell in love with the people I was working with. They were kind and tough and hilarious. Even though the job was hard and the things they were facing were even harder, talking and laughing with them made each day fun.

After about a week on the job, I knew that working with older adults was where I wanted to spend my time and my energy. I wanted to be an advocate with them. The world turned away from each of them as they grew older. They felt like they didn’t have a right to be upset when their benefits were cut for no reason or when their prescription wasn’t ready on time, causing huge medical consequences. They thought that they didn’t deserve any attention or rights because that’s what society had shown them – that after a certain age, especially if you have a disability or are not White, you don’t deserve more than the most basic necessities. That was what made me want to be an advocate around aging.

What was your project?

The Dementia Friends program is a 90-minute talk that discusses what is dementia and what can we do as individuals to support people with dementia. It teaches participants skills on how to interact with people with dementia. It follows a train the trainer model where presenters reach out to their networks and give these talks. The people the presenters give the talks to are called dementia friends.

In August 2018, Marigrace Becker, from the UW Memory and Brain Wellness Center, and I, in partnership with the Dementia Action Collaborative, began implementing the Dementia Friends program here in Washington. We started the program in King County, Jefferson County and Yakima County. We implemented and evaluated the Dementia Friends program to see: is this program effective? Is it changing people’s attitudes towards people with dementia? And how can the program be improved?

How did you get involved in this work?

I was looking for a project where I could work on destigmatizing aging. I was introduced to Marigrace Becker, who knows just about everything about mobilizing people to destigmatize dementia. She was looking for somebody to implement Dementia Friends and to evaluate it. It was a perfect overlap.

What interests you about destigmatizing dementia?

From those early experiences working at Fountain House, I had seen the lack of respect for people with dementia. My grandmother also had Alzheimer’s disease. My own family and I responded to her differently as her symptoms progressed, often infantilizing her or dismissing her while she remained very conscious of every slight. I am grateful that she was an incredibly strong woman and told us in no uncertain terms that she was still the same person she had always been and refused to be infantilized, fighting back on the stigma and the disrespect that so many people face through their dementia diagnosis. She helped us understand how to support her and learn how to advocate for her. That is probably what first taught me about destigmatizing dementia.

Alzheimer’s Disease and other dementias are devastating, but the fear that surrounds the diagnosis makes the experience much worse than it needs to be. Our society responds to people with dementia with fear, with stigma, isolation, treating them as having no humanity. I’ve talked to people, even in the aging field who say, ‘Oh, this person has dementia. They’re basically just a vegetable’. Things that are horrific. It made me want to see how we can change that script and change people’s minds. People with dementia shouldn’t be left with that as the only reaction people give them. It makes their lives a living hell. It doesn’t need to be that way. People with dementia remain the people they have always been, people with awareness of how they are treated, people with feelings, and sensitive emotions – but the ways they need to communicate does change. We need to learn how to change how we communicate with and support them, not abandon them. We also need to support the care-partners taking on the tremendous emotional and physical challenge of supporting their loved ones with little monetary or logistical support available.

What did you find in your evaluation?

For the Dementia Friends, the people who attended the Dementia Friends presentations, their attitudes towards dementia did improve. After this one 90-minute talk, there was a change both in their knowledge about dementia and their comfort with people with dementia. They also said they appreciated a chance to talk about dementia and share their personal experience with it. There are just not a lot of opportunities to talk about it.

The feedback that we got from the presenters of the program was that they enjoyed the experience of leading the Dementia Friends presentation, engaging with people and connecting with them about dementia. But they also said that there wasn’t as much support as they could have needed, especially for presenters who had less experience organizing presentations. They suggested a few areas to improve support, such as by enhancing their training and providing logistical support to organize presentations.

How do you plan on using that feedback?

Since both the participants and the presenters were quite positive about the program and there were measurable improvements in people’s attitudes towards people with dementia, the Dementia Action Collaborative decided they wanted to continue implementing Dementia Friends across Washington State. Each region in Washington will be implementing Dementia Friends and managing the implementation of it. As they roll out their program, they will need to provide additional support based on the feedback from the evaluation, such as enhancing training and providing logistical support to organize presentations. Many of these regions will continue evaluating their programs so we hope to see if these adjustments are addressing the feedback we received from our presenters.

Why is this work important?

There’s not a lot of space for conversations around dementia and there are limited opportunities to learn about it unless you’re actively a care-partner. Most of the people who attended the sessions were not care-partners. It gives them a chance to think about dementia and confront the ways that we treat people with dementia, or fear dementia as this abstract thing of the future. I think the Dementia Friends program provides hope and skills if they or a loved one develops a type of dementia. I think it’s important to shed some light and understanding and gentleness on this issue that is surrounded by a lot of fear and darkness and isolation.

What are your plans now that you’re graduating?

I’m on the job hunt, and I am still tangentially involved in the Dementia Friends program. I care a lot about continuing to spread dementia awareness. In Seattle and Washington in general, there’s a lot of energy around aging and dementia. It’s something that I’ve been honored to be able to be a part of and learn from the tremendous wealth of knowledge here. I want to add whatever limited perspective I can to the ways we think about not just aging, but how aging intersects with so many other issues that need to be addressed urgently, like racism. For example, when someone grows older, all the discrimination they have faced will continue to impact them, whether that is daily racist actions or whether it is the long-term health impacts of pollution that they were exposed to from not having access to safe housing due to redlining. This will impact how someone ages, how they develop an illness or disability as they age, the services they have access to, the support system they have, etc.

Dementia and aging advocates need to have these other needs and identities at the front of their minds when they talk about dementia, otherwise we will only ever be advocating for the wealthy and White. These are not profound statements, but I hope to be someone in the field who can keep the conversation coming back to how we can see people with dementia as full complete people, not just struggling with dementia, but with all that came before dementia and all that will come with the diagnosis.

Qian Tu, PhD, DNP, ARNP, is a recent alumni of the UW School of Nursing’s DNP-Adult Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner program.  She received the de Tornyay Center’s 2020 DNP Pathways to Healthy Aging Award. 

All interviews have been edited for length and clarity. 

Find more scholar spotlight interviews here. 

What is your Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) project?

I developed a depression toolkit for an adult family home, with screening tools and prevention and treatment activities. Adult family homes function similarly to nursing homes, but they use houses in the neighborhood to provide care to up to six residents. They provide 24-hour care service, but while nursing homes at least have LPNs or RNs on board, this type of adult family home only has what are called home aides.

I looked at the literature to see what interventions have been shown to help depression, especially focusing on what has been done on the community level. Most of the literature is focused on patients 65 or above, but there are a few studies that are 60 or above. Studies use all kinds of activities, including video conferencing, laughter yoga, and animal assistive programs. The interventions I suggested in my project all proved to be effective in at least one study, although they do not compare to the standard of care for depression, cognitive behavioral therapy.

One intervention stood out — physical activity. It doesn’t necessarily have to be cardio physical activity, it can be more focused on helping them to improve their stability, flexibility and ability to get around. Physical activity is the only one of the interventions in the scientific literature with a randomized control study showing that they have similar effects to the standard treatment of depression with cognitive behavioral therapy.

Why is this project important? 

In the literature, researchers found that depression is very significant among older populations, but at the same time it’s generally underdiagnosed and undertreated. The symptoms for depression are different in older adults compared to younger people. They may have some memory issues. They don’t feel well. That’s why it’s kind of hard to detect if you don’t have effective tools.

How did you suggest detecting depression in older adults as a part of your project? 

The first screening tool I use is very simple, it only asks two questions: During the last month, have you been bothered by feeling down, or depressed or hopeless? Have you often been bothered by having little interest or pleasure in doing things? It’s very straightforward.

If they answer yes to any of those questions, then we will do a more detailed geriatric depression scale. That will differentiate them from mild to moderate to severe depression. All the interventions I proposed are non-pharmacological, no medication involved. This project is more focused on reducing mild and moderate depression or preventing depression in someone who hasn’t developed it. If the patient has severe depression, we will refer them to the mental health professionals, because that’s above and beyond the scope of what we can do using non-pharmacological methods.

Why it important to have non-pharmacological interventions?

Older adults often have other health conditions and already may be on other medications. The more medications you take, the more adverse side affects you may have, and there are more chances of drug to drug interactions. That’s why we, if possible, want some non-pharmacological methods to help older adults. Depression particularly, it can sometimes be treatable with non-pharmacological methods if it’s in the early stage.

Was there anything that surprised you while you were working on this project?

One thing that surprised me is that simply improving social interaction with another person can help decrease depression. Small steps, like making handmade crafting projects as a group will work too, including for patients with dementia. The interaction doesn’t even have to be face to face. There’s a program where the participant used video conferences with family or friends, once a week for ten weeks, and there’s a big improvement in their depression.

What interested you about this project?

I really love geriatrics, my first nursing job in this country was working in a nursing home. I feel like this population sometimes gets neglected by society, and they don’t get the care they deserve. I want to do more to help them have a better quality of life.

I also have a personal preference for older adults because I was brought up by my grandmother. When I was born, both of my parents were working full time, and my grandma was retired so she took care of me until I went to elementary school. Then when I was in third grade my grandma had a stroke and she moved in with us until she passed away at the age of 87.  In her last couple of years, she got dementia, she couldn’t recognize any people around, and they were just strangers to her. She would eat a meal and then forget once you took the plate away. That stuck in my mind a lot, when choosing nursing as a career. I felt very satisfied by taking care of her at home.

It’s fun to work with the older population, they are filled with so much wisdom from their lives, so you learn so much by talking with them.

Why did you choose nursing?

I feel so satisfied and fulfilled in nursing. My mom worked in a hospital, so I grew up with the hospital as my playground. Back then you could bring your kid to work. So, we — a bunch of doctor’s kids, nurse’s kids, administrator’s kids — just played in the hospital during the summer or winter vacation. I was immersed in the medical field at a very young age. When I went to high school, we had a general college entrance exam, and before the exam you have to fill out what school you want to go to. All my desired schools were medical schools. We have medical universities in China within which there are all specialties under the health sciences, such as medicine, nursing, pharmacy, dentistry, nutrition, etc. My teacher asked if I wanted to consider something else, and I said no. I cannot imagine choosing a career out of the medical field. It’s not an option in my eyes.

Anything else about your work or background that you’d like to share?

I originally came to the US from China to get my PhD in Nursing Science. My DNP is my second doctoral degree. I choose primary care because after I worked in long term care and the hospital, I saw a lot of patients come in because they lacked primary care. They delayed treatment for too long and ended up in the hospital. There’s a huge need for primary care.

What made you come back for your DNP?

With a research degree, you basically have two routes to go, one, you can go teach in a four year college or community college, and the second route is you continue research in a research focused school like UW. The first route you have to have extensive clinical experience, but I came from another county, so I had zero clinical experience in the U.S.. The second route, if I want to do research and go to a research- intensive school, I have to go through post doc training, and for my field of PhD research, I would have to move across the country. At the time I had a baby to raise, so I wanted to stay and go get my clinical experience first. But while doing my clinical work, I found my true love. I still enjoy research, but I feel like direct interaction with patients, that makes me feel more fulfilled.

Alexa Meins, PhD, BS, is a recent alumni of the UW School of Nursing PhD program. She received the de Tornyay Center’s 2020 PhD Pathways to Healthy Aging Award. 

All interviews have been edited for length and clarity. 

Find more scholar spotlight interviews here. 

What is your dissertation on?

My dissertation explored green exercise, or physical activity while in natural spaces, for older adults. I partnered with Seattle Parks and Recreation’s Sound Steps programs to gain insight into how we can make urban park walking programs appealing for older adults and what kinds of health benefits are received from participating in this type of programming. Findings from this study can inform future program development and expansion. They also show us that physical, mental, social, and spiritual health can all benefit from green exercise.

How did you get involved in this research?

I work in the outdoor industry as I’m going to school. I’ve had a lot of conversations in my work life about how people have had to modify how they engage in the outdoors as they age. I knew Basia Belza, who became my chair, did a lot with the walking groups in the mall. And I thought, what if we took that walking group outside.

I was at a coffee shop and I saw the Seattle Parks and Recreation catalog for that season. They had the full catalog and then they also had this lifelong recreation catalog sitting next to it. It’s this whole set of programming that the city offers for adults age 50 and above. They have walking programs and hiking programs. Basia said she knew the people that are doing this and it went from there. It was really a couple of things all happening a t once that just clicked together.

Why is this research important?

More and more we have things that keep us inside. Also some of the research says that as we age, our exercise decreases a lot. Exercise is really important for mobility and independence, for managing different health diseases and for preventing them.

The green exercise literature says that being outside can not only have multiple health benefits, but also increase people’s willingness to continue exercising. This is a great opportunity because we aren’t really looking at older adults right now within green exercise literature. It’s not only really great for everyone’s health, but it also might help solve this this problem of motivation to keep exercising. And the more that we can understand why people are choosing these programs, what is important for them, what are the needs of older adults in an outdoor space, then we can also look to expand programs or make more programs appealing to this age group.

What are some of the ways that you found that more could be done to cater to their specific needs?

There’s some logistics that are very easy to build into programs. One of them being, how did they get to the program? They drove, so parking was important. Having an onsite bathroom was important. Another thing that came through was a need for socialization. There’s a large amount of people in my study who are retired. They don’t necessarily have all the same ways of meeting people that they used to. Having programs that happen consistently at the same time every week not only gives them structure to their day and their week, but also makes it so that they’re able to develop these deep social connections and friendships with other people they are walking with. Also a lot of them say that the social group makes it so they can feel safe. They’re around other people that could get help if something happened, like a fall.

What interests you about the healthy aging field and aging research?

When I was trying to figure out what my topic for my dissertation was going to be, this idea of green exercise was really important. I saw in my dad, who’s a big skier, how my wintertime dad is very different than my summertime dad. I see how much better his health and his happiness is when he’s able to get outside. We’re seeing a lot of really great benefits of green exercise in research, but mostly for children and young adults. There’s this big opportunity for studying outdoor exercise for older adults.

How did you first realize that you wanted to do research?

Back when I was doing my anthropology degree, I had to do a research project. At that time, I was a rower and recognized that high level athletics created a unique health culture around exercise. So I went on to do my thesis on the pain experience of Division I athletes. That was the first time that I really had the opportunity to dive in and do some research. It opened up this whole world.

What was it about research that appealed to you?

The type of research that I do is qualitative, so for me, it’s being able to give a voice to people. I love the interview process. Everyone has their own life experience, but it’s amazing to see how many people have shared experiences. The more that we know in health care about what people are going through in their life then the better we are able to address their needs and take care of their health.

Anthropology has a very rich tradition in qualitative methods. I’m excited to bring my background in qualitative methods to this project and incorporate quantitative methods as well. By using both we can get the numbers and we also learn from getting their experience. Sometimes it surprises you with what you can find.

What have you found when putting them together?

We were doing walking interviews through urban parks and some of our public indoor spaces with these older adults, while they were doing the activities. I realized that there’s some misunderstandings happening with this survey. The theory that I’m using says essentially when you are exposed to nature you can get these extra health benefits around mental health and stress, and there are factors that identifies it as a restorative environment. I had included a survey that asked about these factors.

One of the questions is, rate on a scale of zero to six “to stop thinking about things that I must get done, I like to go to places like this.” Some were saying, going to the park helps me disengage and really enjoy this moment. Then others say, I sought out going outside because this is when I have the time to think. They’re looking at these at these spaces completely different, even when I give them the same prompt. Combining the survey questions and interview uncovered this potential problem. Maybe before we go into larger studies we need to look at if this survey translates well for this population.

Is there anything else that you would like to share?

One thing that I think drew me to Nursing was that there is a willingness to embrace holistic approaches to healthcare and to be focused on prevention as well as disease management. There’s so much potential here for enabling people to continue enjoying the activities that they love through aging, making some of these considerations, so that our public spaces are still accessible to all.

Najma Mohamed is a first year BSN student. During winter quarter in 2020, she traveled to Japan as part of the Keio University Short-Term Nursing and Medical Care Studies Program to learn about challenges of an aging society. UW students attending the program were supported by the Center for Global Health Nursing and the de Tornyay Center for Healthy Aging.

All interviews have been edited for length and clarity.

Find all scholar spotlight interviews here.

What interested you about the Keio University program?

I was interested in pediatrics, but the program centered on aging populations and elderly care. That was very different from what I was hoping to get into in the future. I thought if I had more experience and more knowledge about that particular area it could also be something I want to explore.

What interested you about healthy aging?

My family’s originally from Somalia so for us, when it comes to aging, it’s the women who take care of the aging and their elderly parents. When you have an aging population there is a burden on the caregivers. In Japan a lot of what I learned was different ways that they mitigate that. I thought I could come back and apply it to my own community and figure out how we can take care of our elderly people without placing undue burden on the woman who are caring for them.

How do they mitigate that burden on caregivers in Japan?

If you’re over 75, you’re entitled to two visits a week from a nurse in your own home to care for you. People tend to be healthier and get better when it’s their own personal space and they have control over it. We also did a visit to this community where you have the elderly living there and the nurses taking care of them living there as well. It removes stigma and creates a healthy and open environment.

What was the most interesting experience of your trip?

We rode bikes to go visit the homes of the people we were doing nurse visits with, and I haven’t ridden a bike in forever. Over there, they don’t have bike lanes and I spent much of the trip swerving through people and cars. Bikes over there are used as a huge means of transport for nurses, but here, going to clinicals I either drive or take a bus. It was an eye-opening experience to see how different the transportation that they rely on is.

What were the nurse visits like?

We did two. In one of them, the family was very much involved. Seeing how the nurse separately communicates with the family and the patient, and then brings them back together, I thought was really interesting.

The nurse put so much care and effort in. We watched the nurse make food for their patient, feed them, and give them their medication, they had to get that all done within two hours. They did extra stuff to make the patients smile, they really knew their patients very well. Having eight patients as a nurse is tough, but they handled it really well.

Was there anything that surprised you while you were there?

Their shifts were really different, we have the night shift and day shift here, but they have 8 hour shifts. In Japan, you don’t really get to pick your own schedule, you just tell them when you’re available and they schedule you for one of their three shifts. In Japan and Korea, nurses don’t have as much power. I was telling them that we just had a strike with nurses feeling unsupported and how when something’s not going well you can voice your opinion and make a change. But over there it’s a lot more difficult. There’s more hierarchies for nurses.

What did you learn about aging while you were there?

One thing that was reemphasized for me is aging with dignity. That was one of the biggest aspects of our program, understanding that people are more than their symptoms. People want to live and die with dignity. So to hear it being emphasized everywhere we went, I thought that showed the commitment and dedication the Japanese have to healthy aging.

Why did you choose nursing?

No one in my family is in healthcare. I wanted a major where I could make a difference in my community and still be able to support my family. People come to us on their worst days and being able to make a difference no matter how small means the world to me. The other thing that drew me to nursing was how flexible it was. There are so many roles a nurse can take on and every day brings something new.

What’s been an unforgettable experience during your time at the school of nursing?

This quarter, I am doing a clinical in community health and it’s been amazing. I spend majority of my time working with elementary school students and every day I learn something new from them. I always leave at the end of the day smiling, reminded of why I wanted to pursue nursing. The nurse there serves as a cornerstone for the entire school and witnessing that has taught me a lot about the role of a nurse in community health.

How has your experience at nursing helped you with your career trajectory?

After being at the school of nursing, I know for a fact that I want to go back to school after graduating. I hope to get my DNP at UW and expand my scope into working with communities. I can say without a doubt that all of the faculty, staff and peers at the school of nursing have helped me grow.  Just being able to say I’m a Husky Nurse, I love it.

What are your plans after graduation?

I wanted to work as a travel nurse for a few years, but I heard it’s difficult to do that your first year without experience. So first year, I’m hoping to be able to work at UW and focus on community work. My plans for the future are likely to change because I feel like I discover something new about myself everyday.

Anything else?

I really loved the program, I honestly didn’t know that I would like it as much as I did. With the other students that were with me, every morning we’d wake up and say I can’t believe we have this opportunity, we’re so grateful. They allowed us to participate in so many things that we weren’t expecting, like being able to go to people’s homes. They were constantly having to translate for us — it slowed things down — but they were so accommodating. It was one of the best experiences of my life.

Mariyam Arifova is a first year BSN student. During winter quarter in 2020, she traveled to Japan as part of the Keio University Short-Term Nursing and Medical Care Studies Program to learn about challenges of an aging society. UW students attending the program were supported by the Center for Global Health Nursing and the de Tornyay Center for Healthy Aging.

All interviews have been edited for length and clarity.

Find all scholar spotlight interviews here.

Why did you choose nursing?

When I was in middle school, my mom was very sick. Home visit nurses used to come every day. I saw exactly what the nurses did and watched them with curiosity. That was when I first became interested in this profession. At that time, I was a kid and wanted to be a nurse just for my mom. Growing up, I learned more about my religion’s morality and realized that since all people are creatures of God, I have to love and help everybody.

In high school, I was deciding between nursing and being an interpreter, as I was passionate about learning new languages and using the three languages that I spoke. I went to Kazakhstan to visit my aunt and four cousins, who were also nurses, and they told me a lot about nursing. They inspired me to fulfill my childhood dream.

I’m also passionate about biology — human anatomy is my favorite class — and I like to work with people, so nursing is the best fit for me.

How has your experience at nursing helped with your career trajectory?

I am learning all the essential knowledge and skills that a nurse needs to work in the world. I’m very excited about my future clinicals, and the BSN rural immersion program in Montesano that I am participating in this summer. I am sure these new experiences will open up new nursing paths that I may get interested in.

What’s been an unforgettable experience during your time at the school of nursing?

The school of nursing provides a lot of opportunities for the students to find their path in nursing. I was very fortunate to go to Tokyo, Japan, for Keio University’s 2020 Short Term Nursing and Medical Care Program to learn about and discuss challenges for an aging society. I studied Japan’s aging population, went to the robocare center, did home nursing visits, shadowed nurses in Keio Hospital, and learned about nursing home models present in Japan. The experience gave me a lot of new ideas, skills, and knowledge that I will apply in my future nursing career and increased my interest in aging.

What interested you about this program?

I am a CNA in a nursing home, and I enjoy working with older adults. My goal is to run my own nursing home. Japan has a growing elderly population and high life expectancy, so I thought I could learn something from them to implement in my nursing home model.

Why are you interested in healthy aging?

As a CNA, I really it enjoy when I see the grateful faces of my residents and see how they appreciate me for being their caregiver. I also love building meaningful relationships with my residents. They share a lot of personal stories, and I learn from their life experience. Each shift, I make a difference in their daily lives. That inspires me to serve older adults as a future nurse.

Why do you want to start your own nursing home?

I feel like there are some changes that I can make to the nursing home models in the United States to improve them. First of all, I want to emphasize post-stroke patients because I personally know the challenges that stroke patients and their families face. My father had a stroke two years ago, and my grandmother passed away after her third stroke a couple of months ago. I also believe by incorporating elements from care models in other countries with an aging population, like Japan, I can provide better preventive care. I would also like to import technology and equipment that makes caring for the elderly safer and more effective.

What was the most interesting experience of your trip?

I went to Japan hoping to see how they use robots in healthcare. And I was very lucky to actually go to a robocare center and see patients using the technology for rehabilitation and communication. There are robots that can help people who lost function in their legs after strokes or other diseases move their legs so they can learn to walk again. They also have an assist suit to help caregivers, like CNAs, lift patients without hurting their back, or to help patients who are unable to stand up or sit down by themselves. I was fortunate to actually try it. I lifted different weights while wearing the assist suit and without it – it definitely helped me lift heavy weights easily.

Did anything surprise you while you were there?

We had nursing students from Japan, the UK, and South Korea. One difference that surprised me is that physical restraint, limiting the freedom of movement of patients, is illegal in the UK, but allowed in Japan, South Korea, and US. In the UK only sedatives are allowed to control movement or behavior of a patient. After discussing ethical concerns and fundamental human rights with the mental health nurses from the UK, I realized that physical restraint alternatives might be a better way to provide safe and quality care.

What was the most interesting thing you learned?

A new model of nursing home. They have nursing homes where residents live together with caregivers and the caregiver’s families. It was interesting because I had never seen a nursing home like that. They showed us videos of older adult residents cooking traditional food together with small kids and teaching them. I think it can be an ideal approach to aging for some older adults because it has a home environment and the assistance that a typical nursing home provides.

What are your plans after graduation?

I plan to spend a few years of my nursing career as a travel nurse. My main goal is to work and volunteer in rural areas of both the USA and third world countries, caring for underserved populations and improving nursing care. After that, I want to work with older adults and eventually run my own nursing home. I want to get a graduate degree from UW, but I have not decided yet if I want to go straight to grad school or work for a few years and come back.