Minnesota Nursing Magazine Spring/Summer 2012 - School of ...

education
sara ali
Inspiring the next
generation of DNP
educated nurses
by carleigh knowles
Developing Systems Thinkers, Researchers, and Faculty. The School of Nursing
commits to double the number of doctorally-prepared nurses by 2020.
A recommendation from the Institute of Medicine’s 2010 landmark report The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing
Health called for schools of nursing to double the number of nurses with a doctorate degree by the year 2020. This spring the
School of Nursing celebrated its addition of three PhD and 37 DNP prepared nurses to the profession. The school established
one of the first and largest DNP programs in the U.S., as well as an established and highly respected PhD program.
The students and graduates profiled on the next pages and throughout this issue, demonstrate the creativity of our students
to develop interventions to improve functioning of individuals with chronic conditions, promote the health of women,
children, and families, advance the care of adults and older adults, and transform health systems.
“I never thought I’d be a nurse,” says FadumaSara Ali, DNP, RN,
shaking her head. “But in the most cliché way, I really feel that
nursing chose me—not necessarily the other way around.” Ali
began her journey into nursing while living in Hawaii with her
husband, Khalid, whom she credits with the initial push and
unrelenting support throughout her education. Ali earned an RN
degree from the College of Nursing at Hawaiian Pacific University,
Honolulu, completing the program in only three years. “It was
during my last year of school I began to get really nervous about
where I would land,” she recalls. “I had a background in cardiology
from a previous position as a monitor technician, but I really had an
interest in women’s health.”
Ali reached out to revered professor, Dr. NitaJane Carrington who
advised and encouraged her to “go for the most difficult option
and path.” She applied for and accepted a position as progressive
care nurse on the medical cardiology unit at the Mayo Clinic in
Rochester, Minnesota. And in 2007 her family (which now included
a son) made the transition from Honolulu to Rochester.
It was Mayo Clinic’s emphasis in research and education,
coupled with Ali’s first-hand observation of the nurse practitioners
she was working with, that she began to consider what it meant
to have a doctorate degree in nursing. “It was really cool to me
that they knew what do in emergencies, how to handle critically
ill patients, and how to advocate for holistic treatment on their
behalf,” she says. “But frankly, the whole education piece of going
back to school just scared me.” Ali also explains that she felt her
time in Minnesota was limited, “I figured I was just going to move
back to Hawaii after a few years here and then I’d maybe apply to a
doctorate program.” u
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