Page 27 - BusinessWest June 12, 2023

“I’m very excited, and also very nervous because it’s going to be a lot. But challenge hasn’t stopped me before, so I’m excited.”
hospitals and organizations struggle to fully staff and retain their nursing teams, career opportunities abound.
“Everyone is hiring, and they’re offer- ing great incentives, sign-on bonuses, and there are lots of new positions opening,” Kalbaugh said. “There’s a lot of room for growth in healthcare, too, whether that’s climbing up to manager or supervisor or advancing your practice, like becoming a nurse practitioner. There’s a lot of room for growth.”
That’s why she’ll be back at AIC in the fall to start pursuing her master’s degree: to open up new avenues for career growth.
With a degree beyond the BSN, she noted, “you get to be an advanced-prac- tice provider ... and, obviously, there’s
a better paycheck, and you have more autonomy. So I’m definitely going to keep going because I can see myself doing that, and I believe I have the capability.”
The three-year master’s program is
fully online, except for clinical experi-
ences, she explained, an ideal model for
people who are actively working full-time
or have children and families and other responsibilities.
“I like how it’s broken into one class at a time to make it more easily manageable for people who are working full-time like me,” she said. “So I’ll be working full-time at Baystate and doing this. My unit manager is pretty awesome; I told her I was going to keep going, and she seems like she’ll be very flexible with my schedule and hours, which is good.
“It’s a great way to keep people moving up and progressing as they learn because so much help is needed,” she added. “I mean, you need nurses working, but you can actually continue your edu- cation as well. That’s a cool model. And after my first year at Bay-
Meghan Kalbaugh plans to progress toward her master’s degree while working full-time as a nurse.
state, they’ll give me some tuition reimbursement as well, which is amazing.”
In short, Kalbaugh is a woman with a plan.
“I’m very excited, and also very nervous because it’s going to be a lot. But challenge hasn’t stopped me before, so I’m excited.” BW
—Joseph Bednar
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