Life is full of changes, challenges, and new beginnings. Nancy Vanderbilt (’21 grad) experienced a pivotal moment that altered the course of her life when her twins were born. While Vanderbilt and her husband were eager for the arrival of their twins, they were not expecting them to be born five weeks premature.Vanderbilt and both babies made it through the delivery process safely, but the twins needed to spend the next several weeks in the NICU to be observed.
“The nurses and the staff there were incredible,” Vanderbilt says. “It meant a lot to us to see someone caring about our babies in that way.” The love and care these nurses displayed during one of the scariest moments of Nancy’s life inspired her to pursue a new career in nursing.
Vanderbilt previously had worked as a legal assistant, but after her experience with her twins, she felt led to go back to school to become a registered nurse. “I love taking care of people,” Vanderbilt explains. “My experience with the twins opened my eyes to the idea of becoming a nurse and getting to care for people on a daily basis.”
Over the next few years, Vanderbilt obtained her Bachelor of Science in Nursing and became a certified registered nurse. In pursuit of becoming a nurse practitioner, she chose the IWU-National & Global Master of Science in Nursing Program to help her achieve her goals.
“I was looking for a program that had a focus on Christ,” recalls Vanderbilt. “I looked at IWU’s curriculum and absolutely fell in love with it. What I’m doing as a nurse is more than just the physical process of taking care of a person. There’s a spiritual aspect to it, too.”
During her time in the master’s program, Vanderbilt continued to work full-time while also balancing her role as a mom. “It was awesome for my kids to see me push through,” she says. Vanderbilt was able to set an example for her children by stepping out in faith and pursuing her goal. Despite the challenges, she worked hard, persevered, and never gave up on her passion. After graduating from IWU’s MSN program, she is now a Surgical First Assist Nurse Practitioner.
“There were times where I wanted to just let it go, especially when I was in classes and clinicals,” Vanderbilt remembers. “It was tough. There were some late nights, crazy times, and I may have missed out on a few things – but it was very well worth it.”
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