Heather Warlan

Heather Warlan is using her Barbara Tate scholarship towards her second year of pursuing a doctorate at the University of San Diego. Her undergraduate degree was in Psychology. She has worked as a research coordinator and eventually the assistant manager of a clinical trials unit at UCSD Medical Center. She credits her husband with giving her the confidence to leave that position and pursue a career in nursing. She took additional courses on an undergraduate level with this in mind and went on for a Master’s in nursing. She feels that coming to nursing later in her career provides her with a unique perspective on the profession. Upon getting her MSN she began her new career on a cardiac and medical intensive care unit where she started to create a unit project around neurology assessment. She then cut back on work and studies to have a baby daughter. She is now finishing her doctoral studies where her dissertation takes a look at the psychological recovery of patients discharged from the ICU and she is also looking forward to her first teaching position at USD’s simulation lab where she will teach pre-licensure nursing students.