How Theresa Becker, DNP ’19, MSN ’16, BSN ’14, went from single mom in search of a career to dean of nursing in a tiny town helping others follow in her footsteps.
Zoom out from Blythe, Calif., (population 18,045) and you see Joshua Tree National Park, Mojave National Preserve and the border with Mexico. Phoenix is two hours east and Los Angeles farther west with not much in between but Sonoran Desert.
Zoom in though, and just east of the Arizona border is Palo Verde College, with 4,087 undergraduate students, 88% of whom are part time. Among them are a small but growing number of future registered nurses thanks to a three-time alumna from Adtalem Global Education’s Chamberlain University, Terrie Becker, DNP ’19, MSN ’16, BSN ’14. She wrote the curriculum for their Associate in Nursing program after moving there in fall 2020.
After arriving, Dr. Becker and her husband weren’t sure they would stay. Even coming from a small town in western Massachusetts, it was a culture shock. They sold or donated most of what they owned, bought an RV and parked it by the Colorado River “in search of an opportunity that has proven to be the biggest and most fulfilling risk we ever took.” By the time a sweltering summer was about to peak, they were ready to stay and buy a house.
From Bedside Nurse to Nurse Educator
Dr. Becker traveled more than 2,500 miles to start a new life in Blythe, but it’s only a small part of her nursing journey.
She grew up in a military family. Her parents started college when she was a teenager. She would start much later. At age 27, she was a mom of three in need of income. She worked as a licensed practical nurse, mostly in long-term care, for 15 years before becoming an RN.
A role as a staff educator took her passion for nursing and grew it to include teaching.
That experience led Dr. Becker to Chamberlain. She earned her RN to BSN and Master of Science in Nursing. She liked the pace of online courses and that she could work ahead, advice she gives to her students today so that they don’t lose ground when life challenges them. At commencement, her husband asked what it would take for her to wear the fancy regalia of the doctoral grads. She said another two years, and he encouraged her to continue on for her Doctor of Nursing Practice.
Impact of a Nursing Program on a Rural Community
Two years after she started designing the nursing program it received approval from the California Board of Registered Nursing.
She’s brought a program to local students, but they still face significant challenges.
That doesn’t deter her. She gets to know the students and what support they need.
Students also drive around 100 miles for clinicals. “We encourage them to get a hotel so that they aren’t driving two hours, working a shift, driving two hours back and going back out the next morning,” she says. “It’s exhausting, and we work hard at getting resources to assist with their travel.”
Despite the challenges, their inaugural cohort recently graduated. For those first 18 students, commencement, which included a nurse pinning and striping ceremony, was a powerful event.
“Our ceremony was the biggest thing for this community in a very long time,” she says. “Our theater was so packed we were worried about running out of space.”
So far, 14 of her first graduates have passed the NCLEX licensing exam, and not all of them have taken it yet. Nine are working two hours west in a Magnet hospital. Five stayed to serve their community working in Blythe’s only hospital. It has 51 beds and was founded 100 years ago in what had been the American Legion’s clubhouse.
“For years, the hospital has relied on contract nurses who spend 13 weeks here and leave,” says Dr. Becker. “They have been spending a lot of money getting people to come who are not committed to the community.
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