Can you describe your career journey, and how you ended up in your current role?

I started my nursing career after earning my BSN from Northern Illinois University in 2014, quickly entering the clinical environment as a registered nurse (RN) at a local community hospital. In this role, I cared for adult medical-surgical and pediatric patients, showcasing my clinical versatility. During this time, I undertook leadership responsibilities as a charge nurse and participated in nursing quality and scheduling committees, establishing the foundation for my future in education and development.

Driven by a passion for mentoring and education, I enhanced my qualifications with a Master of Nursing degree in clinical education from Olivet Nazarene University in 2016. Alongside my bedside work, I also served as a unit educator and adjunct clinical instructor, acquiring new skills in teaching, curriculum development, and continuing education planning. These early roles demonstrated my commitment to fostering learning and promoting professional growth in others.

In 2017, I transitioned into a nursing professional development (NPD) specialist at an urban hospital in Chicago, IL. In this role, I coordinated and implemented system-wide programs such as the New Graduate RN Residency and collaborated on educational initiatives like the Resuscitation Quality Improvement (RQI) program and the Donna Wright Competency Model, further solidifying my expertise in onboarding, policy implementation, and competency development. I continued to learn how to lead influentially by transforming practice environments through evidence-based education and project management.

In 2021, I moved into my current position as a system nursing professional development specialist. Initially, I supported around 22,000 nurses across two states. After a recent integration with the Southeast region, my responsibilities have significantly expanded to encompass six states, 42,000 nurses, 69 hospitals, and over 1,000 care locations. At the enterprise level, I now function as a nursing education and professional development (NEPD) consultant, leveraging my expertise as an advisor, mentor, change agent, and collaborator, to drive large-scale improvements in nursing clinical education that directly influence patient safety and care quality.

Alongside my professional growth, I remain actively involved in the nursing community, serving as a moderator for the ANPD Neighborhood and sharing my team’s exciting work at national conferences and in publications. Currently, I’m pursuing a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree in leadership and management from Illinois State University, where I hope to continue supporting and advocating for our nurses, and ultimately our patients, through thoughtful and innovative leadership strategies that enhance clinical education, strengthen practice environments, and drive meaningful, sustainable improvements in nursing education and professional development.

What does an average day in your position look like?

My day typically includes attending scheduled meetings with interdisciplinary teams across the enterprise, such as supply chain, infection prevention, and our professional governance specialty groups such as the hospital acquired pressure injury (HAPI) and central line/vascular access associated blood stream infection (CLABSI/VASC) committees. I collaborate with our nursing practice partners to ensure that clinical education is aligned with current needs and delivered effectively. I contribute by assessing whether a practice issue arises from a knowledge gap and identifying if education is the appropriate intervention. This often requires investigative thinking, asking targeted questions, gathering context, and identifying root causes to inform the next steps. When meetings are not scheduled, I’m managing communications via email or instant messaging and progressing project work.

Some projects include the development and implementation of education and communication strategies for enterprise-wide initiatives. This may involve creating computer-based training modules (e.g., for needlestick prevention) or designing communication rollouts for practice or policy changes—such as eliminating the use of heparin flushes in central lines in response to new evidence-based guidelines.

A significant part of my role as an enterprise NPD specialist involves more than just developing education—it's about aligning content with a broader strategic communication effort that ensures consistent, timely, and actionable messaging across the nursing enterprise. For example, during urgent scenarios like a measles outbreak or a temporary product substitution, the education I create isn't developed in a vacuum. Instead, it's part of a coordinated response plan that sometimes can include other targeted education interventions, clear communication channels, consistent messaging across roles and regions, and real-time support materials. The education that I create is designed to reinforce the key messages being delivered through leadership, operational updates, and frontline communications, helping nurses not only know what's changing, but understand why what to do, and how to ultimately provide safe patient care.  

How do you apply the NPD Scope & Standards of Practice in your role?

In my enterprise-level role, I apply the Nursing Professional Development Scope and Standards of Practice (Harper & Maloney, 2022) daily by assessing learning needs, identifying gaps in clinical practice, and developing organization-wide education plans that align with strategic goals. I implement and evaluate evidence-based initiatives, such as policy and product rollouts, to ensure consistent and high-quality nursing practices across the organization.

I serve as a change agent, collaborating with interdisciplinary teams to address issues that impact patient safety and nursing care. I lead communication and education strategies for urgent changes, such as outbreaks or supply chain disruptions, ensuring timely and effective knowledge dissemination. My work consistently reflects the NPD standards of assessment, planning, implementation, evaluation, collaboration, leadership, and evidence-based practice.

Can you give an example of an organizational policy that  you impacted?

Recently, I influenced a change in the competency requirements for ultrasound guided intravenous insertion. Initially, the standard required three successful attempts, despite the absence of supporting evidence. I collaborated with our subject matter experts and workgroup to advocate for a more individualized approach, emphasizing that competency should be based on the nurse’s self-assessment, accountability, and comfort level, aligning the process with evidence-based practices and professional standards.

What is a professional achievement you are proud of?

One of my proudest professional achievements has been presenting at the last two ANPD national conferences alongside my team. We shared our work on developing criticality tools for nursing-related products, policies, procedures, and guidelines—resources designed to help NPD practitioners prioritize and support clinical education more effectively. Presenting to a national audience of NPD colleagues was both rewarding and deeply meaningful. It was a moment of pride to showcase the impact of our work, contribute to the advancement of our specialty, and connect with others equally passionate about supporting nurses and improving patient care.

What challenges do you navigate in this position?

One of the primary challenges in my role is translating organization-wide initiatives and priorities into strategies that address the diverse needs of all our nurses, sites, and service areas. This is no easy task,  considering that the organization is he third-largest nonprofit integrated health system in the United States. While we share common goals across the organization, each site has its own culture, resources, and patient population, which means scalability and adaptability are always at the forefront.

To ensure successful implementation, I collaborate closely with key teammates to evaluate whether an initiative is truly feasible across all settings. If it's not, we work together to identify modifications that make it more applicable and effective locally. Another ongoing challenge is maintaining strong relationships across a wide range of teams and professional roles. Fostering transparency and cross-functional collaboration is essential to avoid working in silos and to ensure that all voices in healthcare are heard and aligned toward shared success.

What role can NPD practitioners play in improving resource utilization?

One of the most impactful ways NPD practitioners can enhance resource utilization is by consistently posing a critical question: “Is education really the answer?” It may sound ironic coming from someone in clinical education, but I often find myself advocating for solutions beyond education. Too frequently, education is viewed as the default fix—it's quick, familiar, and often turns into a checkbox activity. However, this one-size-fits-all approach can lead to unintended consequences.

Change theory reminds us that behavior change requires more than knowledge; it involves addressing motivation, environment, readiness, and reinforcement. Education is just one piece. Without accompanying systems, supports, role modeling, and reinforcement strategies, even the best-designed education can fall short. Advocating for a broader, multifaceted solution tailored to the actual root causes of the problem can be more effective. When we assign education to every issue, we risk overwhelming nurses with information, diverting them from patient care, and diminishing the effectiveness of the education that truly matters. For example, mandatory computer-based training for hundreds of staff members incurs a real financial cost, and if it doesn’t address the root cause, it’s not an efficient use of resources.

As NPD practitioners, we have a responsibility to collaborate with teams to identify the true underlying issues. Sometimes education is the appropriate intervention, but often, it must be combined with other strategies. For example, could a process change or an electronic health record (EHR) integration resolve the issue more efficiently? By asking the right questions and utilizing a systems-thinking approach, we can foster meaningful change while managing resources wisely.

What advice do you have for NPD professionals looking to find a similar career path?

If you're an NPD professional aiming to transition into a similar role—particularly in clinical education at a system or enterprise level—my best advice is to remain curious, collaborative, and always eager to learn. This might involve returning to school, accepting projects that challenge you beyond your comfort zone, or simply staying updated with current best practices and evidence-based research.

Clinical education isn’t just about developing and delivering content. It’s about helping nurses take what we know from the evidence and apply it in a way that truly makes a difference in patient care. Health care is constantly evolving, and being able to bring timely, relevant knowledge to your teams is what makes you valuable. Read the journals, join professional networks (yes, I’m going to shamelessly plug the ANPD Neighborhood here), and ask, “How does this apply to us?” That’s where the real work begins.

Relationships are equally important. You’ll be collaborating across departments and with a diverse range of roles, so establishing trust with nursing leadership, frontline staff, and operations teams is essential. The better you comprehend what’s occurring at the bedside, the more impactful your education strategies will be.

And finally—get comfortable with change. Large systems are complex. Things shift. Priorities evolve. Not everything needs an educational solution, and part of your role is knowing when to step back and ask, “Is education really the answer here?” Sometimes, the most powerful thing you can do is offer a different approach.

Reference

• Harper, M. G., & Maloney, P. (Eds.) (2022). Nursing professional development: Scope & standards of practice (4th ed.). Association for Nursing Professional Development.