above: Kimberly Schindler (far left) and family

RN/BSN Program
Alumni Spotlight

Meet
Kimberly Schindler

- BSN '06
 

Read Kimberly's story below ...

I graduated with my associate degree in nursing in December of 1997, which was a semester later than I had planned. The last two semesters of my associate degree program were so stressful, both personally and scholastically, that I never thought I would return to school and was eager to join the work force. While I was working toward my associate degree I became a single mother and after graduation my goals were simply to stabilize my life and provide for my children. Little did I know that God had other plans for my professional life.

In January of 1998 I began work at the hospital in Wheatland, WY which provided a very solid nursing foundation for me as I practiced in Med/Surg, ER, OB and ICU; sometimes all in the same shift. In July of 1999 I married my wonderful husband, Jamie, and he adopted my two children. By 2002 I knew that I wanted to work toward my BSN. I applied to the University of Wyoming’s RN/BSN completion program but didn’t actually begin coursework until the fall of 2003. I was very nervous about returning to school and worried about failure. What I found was that I had no reason to be nervous because I continually encountered fantastic instructors and professors who truly wanted to help their students be successful. The online course format was easy to use, convenient and enjoyable and with every success in my coursework I gained confidence and grew professionally.

In 2004 I left the hospital to take a health administrator position for Head Start. I learned to implement the evidence based practice, leadership, community health nursing and family nursing that I was learning in school and enjoyed even more professional success. I discovered that I loved pediatrics and the wellness education that I was able to provide to families and staff. During this time I increased my involvement with The American Heart Association and became a CPR Instructor Trainer.

Through all of these experiences I began to consider education beyond my BSN degree and found myself drawn toward the nurse practitioner program at UW. Once again, I was afraid that I was not up to the challenge, but went ahead and applied. I was accepted to UW’s Master’s Program in Nursing to begin the Family Nurse Practitioner track in fall of 2006.

I graduated from UW with my BSN in May of 2006 and chose to participate in both the graduation and the nursing convocation ceremonies. I had no idea that two of my professors had nominated me for the Professional Nurse Award. When they announced the award at the convocation and then called my name, I was shocked!

I just completed my first year in the Family Nurse Practitioner program at UW and am on course to graduate in 2008. It has been a long road, but traveling it has created the nurse and person that I am today and provided a foundation that I believe will help me to be a better nurse practitioner than I would have been without it. If you had told me in 1997 that I would be a nurse practitioner some day I would have laughed at you, but through God’s grace and because of my family support I am here and I’m so glad that I had the opportunity to experience the programs that UW offers!