Dawn Kirstine Spanhel

Hello and welcome to my e-portfolio,

     My name is Dawn Kirstine Spanhel and I just recently graduated from Otterbein University in May of 2012 with a Masters degree in nursing with a focus as a family nurse practitioner. In order to get to know me better I would like to provide you a brief summary of my professional background and future goals.

     In June of 2000, I graduated with an Associate’s Degree in Nursing from Marion Technical College. In July of that same year, I accepted a position as a staff nurse on a medical-surgical/telemetry unit at Riverside Methodist Hospital. As a staff nurse I excelled at patient care and when the hospital decided to open 10 MICU beds on our unit I jumped at the chance to be a MICU nurse. The training was very comprehensive and encompassed a brief orientation on a Neurological Critical Care unit as well as orientation in the ICU combined with classes on medications that would be specific to the MICU as well as classes taught designed to prepare the MICU nurses on how to use arterial and CVP lines. I thoroughly enjoyed working in the MICU and was very disappointed when it was moved for financial reasons to another unit.

     It was then that I decided that I needed a change and accepted a contract position at OSU Medical Center on 9 West Rhoads, a renal/transplant unit. On 9 West Rhoads I increased my knowledge base and my skills in caring for the renal/transplant patient population. I worked at OSU for a little over a year when I decided that I missed caring for telemetry patients and decided to go back to Riverside where I had remained contingent. During the next two years I remained contingent at Riverside while I decided to expand my family and travel back and forth to Europe.

     In September of 2005, I decided to pursue my educational goals and enrolled in The University of Phoenix’s BSN program which I finished in July of 2009. Then, in April of that same year I was encouraged by my Nurse Manager to apply for the Clinical Nurse Manager position on my floor. I accepted the position where I was able to apply my clinical knowledge and skills, while learning how to manage a 40 bed unit with 86 employees. In my role as a Clinical Nurse Manager I acted not only as a resource person and a mentor, but also as an educator and a disciplinarian.  

     In 2010 decided to apply to Otterbein University's MSN program with a desire to become a Family Nurse Practitioner. I was accepted into the program and started in June of 2010.

     Finally, in March of 2011 I accepted a position as a Nurse Administrator at Riverside Methodist hospital, in my current role I am responsible for supervising the entire hospital, handling P-R issues, and staffing the hospital for the oncoming shift.

                                            Professional Goals

            My professional goals include a desire to obtain a position as a Family Nurse Practitioner. I aspire to work in the community in my role as a nurse practitioner caring for patients and promoting the health of the population by being involved in primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of care and prevention.