My love for nursing began as a surgical cardiothoracic stepdown nurse many years ago. I always say I loved cardiac nursing because of the fast-paced environment. I loved that I could treat patients quickly (give them a shock or push a medication) and could follow up with teaching. My goal was to always promote patient learning so they could achieve behavioral changes and manage their disease more fully. After being educated as a Cardiopulmonary Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS), I went on to move into CNS, Disease Management, and Telehealth program founder positions. Always, my focus was on the clinical side of nursing. At one point, I was even a Professional Development Specialist. In that position, we were responsible for certain educational programs, at the hospital, developing competencies and competency books. In addition to those duties, we supported two to three units at the hospital. I switched to academia full time in 2011 and have remained there since. I ...