“Wherever you live, whatever your background, a modern college education is as close as your mailbox, phone, or PC.”
Diane Burlock is just your run-of-the-mill modern day wonder woman. She’s a wife and mother. She’s working on a Master of Science degree in Community Health Administration and Wellness Promotion. And she’s a full-time nurse practitioner. I didn’t ask about her hobbies.
Burlock travels throughout the five regions of Northwest Territories and northern Alberta, Canada, providing primary health care services. Her story uniquely demonstrates how earning a living and getting an education are tightly interwoven; and how, today, you can do both now matter how far into the backwoods you may live. “If it were not for distance education,” she says, “I might not be a nurse practitioner today. I’d be a Registered Nurse; but I probably wouldn’t have finished the professional degree you need to become a practitioner. I certainly wouldn’t be finishing my Master of Science degree.”
What Does A Nurse Practitioner Do?
I asked Burlock to explain for readers what the title “nurse practitioner” means. What does a person with this title do for a living?
“That depends,” says Burlock. “Although all nurse practitioners are advanced nurses trained to be more independent in their assessment and treatment of patients, where you live can make a big difference in what you do.”
She travels the far northern regions and northern Alberta, Canada, working at what Canadians call “nursing stations.” These are clinics — much like a doctor’s office — but they also have an emergency room, a chest and limb x-ray, blood analysis equipment for hemoglobin and white blood count, a formulary (pharma- cy), and a two-bed hospital ward. Patients needing short-term observation or treatment (but not sick enough to warrant flying them out to a hospital) can stay overnight in this mini-hospital.
