Sacramento Nurse Completes Advanced Degree With A Goal For Better Health Care
As the educator for the emergency, heart and vascular departments at Mercy Hospital of Folsom, which is part of Dignity Health, Frances Patmon guides the staff in many areas. She is also the educator for hospital-side projects. In her position, Patmon collaborates with the staff, including physicians, about policies, medications, procedures, new equipment, quality improvement, review of patient care and improving care given.
She received her undergraduate degree in psychology and nursing and her Master's of Science in nursing from California State University, Sacramento. Patmon recently obtained her Doctorate of Nursing Science and Health-Care Leadership from the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at the University of California, Davis. The program was launched in 2009 to transform health care through research and nursing education.
"My masters really opened doors outside of floor or staff nursing," she said. "It helped me to gain perspective in thinking on a different level including organization-wide. The doctorate enabled me to understand and gain knowledge of research methodology which is very important today. This helps to inform and we really need the data to see what is working and what is not working. Both my masters and doctorate really helped to prepare me for that aspect."
Her education included learning about different methods of research, teamwork, cultural diversity, creating a vision for the staff and workplace as well as working toward a goal for more effective and compassionate health care.
She would first encourage others to consider a career in nursing. "It is a very exciting and dynamic field. It is more than just providing patient care. There is case management, education and research. You can be a nurse for 30 years and explore many different aspects of nursing."
Patmon would also urge those in nursing to pursue a higher education. "Additional education is always important, always essential for growth. You learn new things, what is being offered and what works and what doesn't work in your field. Students can see what other institutions are doing, how to think critically, research skills and most importantly, leadership skills."
Debbie Hall is practically a Las Vegas native (34 years and counting) and loves experiencing everything in Southern Nevada from the Las Vegas Strip to the surrounding mountains and Lake Mead. She also teaches at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and loves sharing her knowledge. Her work can be found on Examiner.com.
