Amanda Hazeltine, MS, CNP, AGACNP-BC, worked in health communications for 13 years before pivoting to a career in nursing as a way to contribute to the health care community that supported her family through her late mother’s cancer treatment.
“Witnessing the care my mother received inspired me to look into nursing programs to become an oncology nurse and give back to patients and families who were going through some of the most difficult times of their lives,” said Hazeltine.
On June 4, Hazeltine will speak on behalf of her classmates in the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing Class of 2023.
This Graduate Entry Pathway (GEP) to Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) student at UMass Chan Medical School said she is humbled, honored and surprised to have been asked to speak.
“It’s incredible to think back four years ago, when many of my classmates and I started in the GEP program. It was like a boot camp to get us up to speed on how to take blood pressures, check blood sugars, give shots and things like that. I remember being nervous about that.”
For her scholarly project, Hazeltine partnered with Shawna Steadman, MSN’09, ACNP, ACHPN, instructor in nursing, to address quality advance care planning in the neurocritical care unit. In collaboration with UMass Memorial Medical Center ICU staff, the project ensures that patient goals and end-of-life care discussions are documented in a way that is easily retrievable by other providers, and actionable in a meaningful way to provide care that is in alignment with patients’ wishes.
After graduation, Hazeltine plans to continue working as a hematology/oncology nurse practitioner on an inpatient bone marrow transplant unit in Boston and teach, continuing to look at things from a systems perspective and to contribute to quality improvement initiatives.
