USA Nursing Alum Receives Nurse Practitioner of the Year Award
Posted on August 8, 2024 by College of Nursing
USA College of Nursing alum Evan Berman was recently named Dartmouth Health’s Nurse Practitioner of the Year after working in the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center emergency room for over a year. Dartmouth Health is a health system comprised of community hospitals, clinics and healthcare services across New Hampshire and Vermont.
Berman earned a Master of Science in Nursing from the University of South Alabama in 2021 after completing the dual role family nurse practitioner and adult-gerontological acute care nurse practitioner program.
“It is an incredible honor. The emergency room is a very difficult place to work with mostly minimal to no recognition. We try our best every day to solve the difficult situations that patients come through both the front door and EMS bay with,” Berman said. “Being recognized by patients and colleagues from the entire healthcare system is honestly overwhelming and an achievement I will hold with me forever. It makes me realize that being a nurse/NP was a calling, and I can’t see myself doing anything else.”
Though working in the emergency room can be very challenging mentally, physically and emotionally, being capable to save someone’s life, make a child’s emergency room visit less scary, or encourage his colleagues makes it all worth it for Berman. Smiles from patients, family members and colleagues remind him to keep going.
“I also enjoy the thrill of not knowing what is going to come through the front door, the multiple skill sets I have obtained and get to use, and being able to use knowledge from multiple specialties,” Berman shared.
He attributes much of his knowledge and skill sets to USA’s dual role family nurse practitioner and adult-gerontological acute care nurse practitioner master’s program.
“I had a great experience in the master’s program. At first, I was hesitant about completing an online program,” Berman said. “Yet, I learned way more than I thought I could. I particularly loved coming to campus for the skills sessions. You could tell all professors and instructors at the hands-on sessions genuinely wanted to teach you and to help you succeed.”
Prior to entering the nurse practitioner program at USA, Berman worked in the emergency room for eight years as a registered nurse. As a child, he remembers always getting hurt playing sports, riding bikes and skateboards, or just by the unexpected mishaps of being a kid. Whenever he needed treatment, he was always interested to see what the nurses and doctors were going to do to care for him instead of being scared or hesitant.
When asked to offer advice to registered nurses who are interested in pursuing a graduate degree, Berman shares the importance of gaining many years of real-world experience before applying to a graduate program.
“Make sure it is something you are really passionate about. Becoming an advanced practice registered nurse is a very difficult and time-consuming achievement, and not something to do for fun,” Berman said. “Being an advanced practice registered nurse is extremely rewarding and provides a great sense of accomplishment and pride.”