Fourth Generation Nurse Earns Her BSN and MSN Online

Fourth Generation Nurse Earns Her BSN and MSN Online

May 6, 2013

“I’m married to nursing and my daughter,” said single mother and fourth generation nurse Veronica Weaver, who earned her BSN in 2009 and her MSN in 2011, both from Drexel University Online.

“It was an amazing journey. I loved the flexibility and diversity of the classes,” Weaver said. “We were from diverse backgrounds. We were from all over the country and we were all doing different things. We were at different places in our lives and yet, we were able to share ideas. I think that’s one of the things the online programs lend themselves to – allowing creativity and the exchange of ideas.”

Weaver currently works as an acute care case manager at the Broward Health Medical System in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She lives with her mother, a retired registered nurse first assistant, and her daughter, who is studying to be a nurse, making her the fifth generation in their family to pursue a path in nursing. 

When Veronica started working at Wellspan Health in 1996, she encountered co-workers who inspired her to pursue an RN via Drexel University Online. 

“There’s not a structure where you go into a classroom, you’re given a book, you’re going to take a test, and that’s it,” Weaver said. “Drexel’s online program was really about helping us expand our knowledge base in ways we hadn’t thought of by using the diversity of all of the students and the instructors to guide and explore rather than saying we’re going from point A to point B.”

After receiving her MSN from Drexel University Online, Weaver took a two-year break from school, during which time she realized she enjoys teaching and wants to take her nursing education to the next level. She plans to enroll in Drexel one more time to earn her DNP online. Weaver’s ultimate career ambition is to one day teach for Drexel University because she wants to be one of the instructors to bring out in other potential nurses what Drexel brought out in her.

“Drexel crosses a void with the technology and, as a result, 30 students from across 15 or 20 different states know each other, know their kids’ names, know where they work, what they do and what they think about something. That’s just phenomenal to me,” Weaver said.

To read the full interview from the College of Nursing and Health Professions, please click here.