Summer Kervin is currently pursuing her Master of Science in Nursing with a concentration in Family Nurse Practitioner primarily online through The University of Alabama. She’s known that she wanted to be a nurse ever since she was diagnosed with severe scoliosis and had to have major spinal surgery at age 13. Thanks to the wonderful care she received from exceptional surgical nurses, the dream was planted that she could one day make a difference in the world by providing that kind of care to patients.
After high school, she immediately began pursuing her dream at Charleston Southern University in her home state of South Carolina. But a whirlwind romance with the love of her life stole her away from South Carolina when she met and married her husband, an airman whose career in the Air Force moved them to Alabama for five years. While in Alabama, she continued studying for her nursing degree, but as she was about to begin her senior year, her husband’s military orders moved them to Montana and created another major life change.
“I wasn’t happy about it. I was thinking, ‘It’s cold all the time, I can’t go — I have to finish my degree.’ But then we found out right before we moved that I was pregnant with our first son, so I had to put school on hold for a while.”
After three years in Montana, the Kervins were again moved to Utah, where Summer had their second child — this time, a girl.
“Then I was finally at a point where I could get back into school, so I started a program at Nightingale College in Utah and earned my associate degree in nursing. I took the NCLEX and passed in 75 questions and was extremely happy about that,” Summer remembered.
Summer then completed her bachelor’s in nursing online, and soon after had her third child, a little boy. Next, she returned to the South when her husband’s orders brought them to Montgomery, Alabama, where they have resided for the last few years and where Summer currently works as a surgical nurse, assisting with spinal surgeries every day. It seemed her story had come full circle, but there was a new chapter right around the bend.
“My husband just recently hit his 20-year mark in the Air Force, and as he gets closer to retirement, we’ve been thinking more about where we want to settle down. We both know we don’t want to be near any major cities. My ideal situation would be to work in a small clinic in the middle of nowhere, kind of like Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman,” she explained.
She knew online education was going to be the path for her, and Alabama’s Nurse Practitioner program offered primarily online coursework. “As a mom of three, I would never have the time to earn this degree right now if I were having to actually go to classes. But because it’s mostly online, I’m able to do most of it at home, either on my off day or on the weekend. In the past, I’ve had to put school on hold when our orders changed, but since this program is so flexible, I still have the ability to complete it even if we do get moved.”
Summer said Alabama’s program drew her in because of a unique concentration that she didn’t find anywhere else. The program’s curriculum emphasizes primary care for rural families. “I looked at several other programs that offer the majority of their classes online, but Alabama was the only one that offered a rural population focus.”
There’s a critical need for rural health practitioners, with 20% of Americans living in rural and frontier areas but only 9% of physicians practicing in those areas, according to the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health. Summer is excited to earn her degree and make a difference by helping to meet that need, and she believes her degree from The University of Alabama’s Capstone College of Nursing is preparing her well for this role.
“The Nurse Practitioner program was definitely an adjustment coming out of regular nursing school, because it’s so different. It changes your focus from just nursing skills and capabilities to being able to diagnose and think like a doctor while still performing as a nurse.”
Who knows? The Kervins’ next chapter may even land Summer and her family back in the West, where she can mimic Dr. Quinn’s health care practice but with 21st century upgrades.
Published: August 30th, 2020