|
|
|
|
Sandy Zierer: My Story
Falling in Love with Nursing
I’m a medical records expert for the health insurance industry. Knowledge of medicine comes in handy in my work, which is why I went to nursing school at MATC - I just wanted to get better at my job. But being at MATC changed me. Somewhere along the way I fell in love with nursing.
After finishing my RN degree, I plan to become a nurse consultant with a major company while working in the field to keep my skills active. My goal is to be on a surgical unit, because that’s the most progressive environment and the place where you encounter the most challenges. I’m also fascinated by nuclear medicine.
My college background started at Marquette University in 1985. I was lucky compared to kids who had to take out loans; my dad paid for my schooling, and I was still living at home in South Milwaukee. My dad also had given me a car, but I wanted a nicer one. To pay for it, I needed a job.
|
MATC nursing student Sandy Zierer investigated her new career by taking a night job as a patient care assistant in the vascular surgery unit at Froedtert Hospital.
|
|
Worked Through College
After freshman year, I was hired as a claims processor in the health insurance division of AARP - the American Association of Retired People. I worked part-time for six months and then was given the option of going full time, with the company helping to pay for my education.
This was something I really wanted to do for my dad. It didn’t have anything to do with my major (marketing and public relations), but the hours fit my class schedule. Going to college full time and working second shift, I did graduate in four years with honors. In job interviews, I still cite that as one of my greatest accomplishments. |
|
Between Two Worlds
It was like I had two different lifestyles - college student and working person. I wasn’t into partying - I skipped that. I had to go to work every day, and all of my vacation time was used to study for finals or for class projects. I might have missed some things, but I was getting where I wanted to go.
By the time I graduated, I decided not to pursue marketing and public relations. I already had become a lead examiner and a technical person who did a lot of facility eligibility investigations and foreign coverage reviews. So I stayed with AARP and continued to move up. My most recent promotion was as training coordinator for the unit that contests medical claims.
|
 |
|
Eying Froedtert Hospital
About seven years ago, United HealthCare took over the contract as fund manager for AARP’s health insurance business. My office moved to Watertown Plank Road just west of the freeway. I was feeling an urgent need to expand my knowledge of medicine, and I could see Froedtert Hospital out my window. One day I called their HR office to find out about part-time jobs. They invited me to fax in my resume, and, basically, I had my job the next day. My idea was to get a better understanding of medical procedures.
|
Sandy Zierer studied nursing to
advance her career in the insurance business; she enjoyed it so much she decided to become a caregiver. |
Planning to be there only six months, I started off working nights pre-admitting clinic patients so they wouldn’t have to stand in line. Meanwhile, I talked to everyone I could about what they did. I realized I needed to be up on a patient care unit, where the action was.
Through Froedtert, I took a weekend class to gain my nursing assistant certification, which enabled me to start working as a patient care assistant in the vascular surgery unit. In my day job, I was involved in training my co-workers in the contestability investigations unit, so I decided the best thing for me would be to study nursing. But when I looked into the cost of going back to college, it was just out of this world! By now 35 and married, I couldn’t call up my parents and ask them for help.
Choosing MATC
Reasonable price turned out to be just one of the reasons I went with MATC. There were also the huge number of options and the flexible scheduling. I finally settled on practical nursing, because it was a well-rounded program and only took one year.
MATC offered all the prerequisite courses in the evening - perfect for me. Contrary to stereotypes about technical colleges, the nursing program at MATC is first class all the way. |
|
The teaching is very hands on, and the instructors have the kind of real-world experience you won’t find at a four-year college. They might teach one or two classes, but then the rest of the week they’re in the field doing patient care.
The training is incredibly rigorous. You live and breathe nursing, and it’s true what the teachers tell you at the beginning about needing a great support network. For clinicals (in-service training on a medical unit), you don’t get to pick the site, but you do get to pick a.m. or p.m., which is unheard-of convenience. I was able to do my clinical rotation on Saturday nights, which works best for me and my husband. Chris, by the way, also is a product of MATC. He went there to become an electrician.
Nursing as a Career
I always intended to just get my licensed practical nursing certificate; it wasn’t supposed to turn into a new career. But my whole experience at MATC changed me. Part of it was finding out how much I enjoyed the progression of healing. In the hospital, to see people get a little better every day and then finally go home to resume their lives - that’s a very special feeling.
So now, I’m starting the registered nursing program.
People ask me why I stay so busy, and my answer is that I enjoy it. I’ve always hated to waste time. My family is taking bets on whether I’ll become a perpetual student. I’m not planning to be one, but it’s true that I love to learn new things. So, this might not be the last time I go back to school.
Editor’s note: Sandy Zierer was selected as a State Ambassador for the Wisconsin Technical College System last spring.
Printer-friendly version
| |
|
|
