My fellow alumni,

Nursing careers are often circuitous. Even for those of us who always knew they’d be nurses, the pathways available with a nursing degree are really varied and, frankly, endless.

My nursing career began when I volunteered as an EMT with the Charlottesville Albemarle Rescue Squad, and, while a UVA undergraduate, worked as an ER tech for what was then called Martha Jefferson Hospital. I knew I loved acute care and emergency medicine and, so, after graduation, took a job in the medical ICU at UVA Health where I worked for three years. But the deeper into nursing I went, the more I knew I wanted to take my nursing further. I applied for and enrolled in Columbia University’s MSN program and became a cardiology nurse practitioner.

"While you’re in school, students aren’t usually exposed to all the opportunities a nursing degree can unlock."

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I loved that work: the rush, the intensity, the patient care. And I did it for more than 15 years until, scratching another itch to earn a DNP (which I did in 2018), I transitioned to my current role where I use everything I’ve learned across my career to help my company, Novo Nordisk, develop new products and pharmaceuticals that help people with cardiovascular problems. These days, I engage in scientific discussion with clinicians, support clinical trials, and work to build system-wide cardiometabolic pathways to support patient health and Novo Nordisk's cardiovascular portfolio. I love this work, too, which, back when I was an undergraduate, I could never have imagined doing.

While you’re in school, students aren’t usually exposed to all the opportunities a nursing degree can unlock. As we gear up for the coming week’s Alumni Networking Event Feb. 12 at 12 PM on Zoom and highlight the work of a range of nurse graduates with experiences in anesthesia to midwifery, we hope to give students a glimpse of all that’s out there.

It’s a lot. I look forward to seeing students, alumni, and others interested in the many ways a nursing degree helps you take flight, and I thank my fellow alumni presenters Ashley Dierson (a certified nurse anesthetist, BSN ’06), Mia Oppler (an OR nurse, BSN ’22), Stephene Hertwig (a former flight nurse, MSN ’16), Nina Zorzi (a midwife, BSN ’20), for sharing a bit about their pathways and destinations at that event.

Destinations for now, that is. 😊 Because you never know where a nursing degree will take you!

With warmest regards,

Joshua James (BSN ’05)
DNP, MSN, RN, ACNP-BC, CHC
UVA School of Nursing Alumni Association President
Richmond, VA
joshuajamesnp@gmail.com