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ERICA DEWEY

2016 GRADUATE

Nursing Education

Nursing runs in the family for Erica Dewey, 2016 graduate of the RN
to MSN program at American Sentinel University.
“I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do when I was younger, but after a few
years of waiting tables and some technical school after high school, I
decided to follow my mom’s path into nursing,” says Erica, who is originally
from Macon, Georgia. She earned the ADN at Macon State College in
2007, and started her career in critical care at the Medical Center of
Central Georgia, working in the intensive care unit, emergency room and
cardiovascular intensive care unit—leaving the hospital for a brief stint as
an agency nurse. In 2010, Erica moved into electrophysiology at Coliseum
Medical Center.

A move to Washington D.C.

When Erica’s then-husband, active-duty military, was stationed in Virginia,
she took a position in the electrophysiology lab at Washington Hospital
Center in Washington D.C. The commute from her Alexandria, Virginia,
home was difficult, however, so Erica explored opportunities at Inova
Mount Vernon Hospital, a 237-bed community hospital. She joined the
interventional radiology (IR) lab initially. “I loved electrophysiology, but IR
really grew on me,” she says. “It made me well-rounded as a nurse and
more aware of the bigger picture in terms of body systems health.”

Pursuing a Master’s degree

Before Erica moved to Virginia, her employer had approached her about
taking a director position. “The one barrier was that I had an associate
degree, so I would’ve had to agree to get a BSN for that job,” she says.
Once she arrived at Inova Mount Vernon, she started considering the idea
more seriously. “I figured that I might as well go for an MSN instead of just
a BSN. And I decided on nursing education as my specialization because
I’ve done a lot of hands-on teaching as a nurse and really love it. It seems
like there is a big need for high-quality teachers in the field today.”

When researching MSN programs, Erica decided early on that an online
program would best fit her life. “I learned about American Sentinel through
a colleague in interventional radiology, and felt that in addition to the online
platform, the school had everything else I was looking for,” Erica says.

www.americansentinel.edu

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