What about Catholic University and specifically NCSSS made you want to attend school here?
I earned my Master's in Public Health Nursing from Catholic University’s School of Nursing in 2004. I decided to pursue my Master’s degree because the School of Nursing received an HRSA grant to establish a Public Health Clinical Nurse Specialist degree program. I love Public Health Nursing, having worked in that field since 1994. In 2017, I decided to reinvent myself and do something other than Nursing. It was either getting a PhD in Nursing, attend law school, or pursue a degree in counseling. My coworker, who is a Social Worker with a degree from NCSSS, suggested I get my MSW. I chose NCSSS because upon checking the website, they had a clinical specialization of Military, Veterans, and their Families. At that time I was working for the Department of Defense with that population, so that specialization sold me and I chose NCSSS.
How long were you a nurse?
I was a nurse for 30 years. I have been a Psychiatric Nurse at Saint Elizabeth's Hospital in Washington DC, I was a Public Health Nurse with Fairfax County Virginia Department of Health, a Community Health Nurse at Providence Hospital’s Perry Family Health Center, and worked emergency preparedness in the Emergency Health and Medical Services Administration in the District of Columbia Department of Health as well as in the Office of Preparedness and Response for the Maryland Department of Health. The bulk of my experience in Nursing has been in the area of Public Health.
Do you have any advice for students, who are getting into the profession? How to kind of avoid burnout or how to manage it?
Social Work is very emotionally and physically demanding. Make sure to take time for yourself. That's the biggest thing to understand. You have to go home and decompress. Do what makes you feel good. My friends used to hate that I would turn on the Disney Channel after work because it was my time to let go. We always teach our clients about self-care but sometimes we don’t practice self-care ourselves.
Take up knitting, take up a hobby when it’s time. Are you feeling a little overwhelmed? Take the day off. “Remember to put on your oxygen mask.” The preflight instructions tell you that if oxygen masks are deployed you should put yours on first in order to take care of other people. If you don’t you will pass out and then you can’t help anyone. If you don’t put on your proverbial oxygen mask, you will become burned out, and everyone suffers.
You’re pursuing a Ph.D. at NCSSS? What was the inspiration for pursuing a PhD? And, what do you hope to do with it?
So my inspiration for getting a Ph.D., which sounds slightly crazy, was I was driving down the street one day and I had an epiphany, and I said, I'm going to get my Ph.D. in Social Work. That's how I decided. I want to do my dissertation On the effects of the strong Black Woman Schema and it affects the mental health of Black women. I got the inspiration for the topic from a case study of a Black woman who was a widow with two teenage children. And one of the statements she made was “Black women are expected to be strong no matter the circumstance.” So right now I'm taking qualitative research methods, having taken quantitative methods last semester. I believe I will do a qualitative study for my dissertation.
What is your role here at NCSSS?
I am the Field Coordinator and the associate to the Director of the Field Office. I work with students to get their field placements and internships. I work to build relationships with different agencies so we can offer a plethora of options to our students.
What do you think is special about NCSSS?
I love that we talk about Catholic Social Teaching. That's really the crux of Social Work, meeting the client where they are, and recognizing the dignity and worth of a person. The professors have a special relationship with students. I've been in Nursing school, which I did enjoy, but there's something about Social Work that is really where you see a more personal return than you might see if you work in the hospital.
Do you have any advice for any students who might be anxious about what the future may bring after graduation?
Take your time. Relax. And then go out there and do what you were taught. It's very rewarding. As I said, it can be very physically, and emotionally taxing, but it's very rewarding to work with people. The job will eventually come because there are plenty of jobs out there. Everybody's hiring therapists, and case managers because they need Social Workers. We don’t take people’s children away. Social Workers are the largest providers of mental health care in the United States.