CU Nursing - Commencement Spring 2021 - 13

G R A D U AT I O N

Colleen
Waggoner

Dean Elias
ProvencioVasquez
with Colleen
Waggoner
volunteering
during a
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shot clinic
event.

A Call to Serve
By Dana Brandorff

rom a young age, Colleen Waggoner, RN, BSN, has been fascinated
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on our physical being. " For me, nursing is about using compassion,,
health expertise, and advocacy to promote wellness. "

The daughter of a ˋUVW-generation Mexican-American and a Navy
y
veteran, she has a passion for inclusive care and a desire to serve. " Both my
y
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Waggoner, who also comes from a family of nurses. Her sister is a nurse
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understands well the call to the profession.
" Nursing views health as not only the absence of illness, but as the balance
of our whole selves in symbiosis with our environment. This nursing paradigm is what I want to embody as a provider in healthcare today, " she said.

A COMMITMENT TO UNDER-REPRESENTED & VULNERABLE AMONG US
With a commitment to serve under-represented and underserved communi-ties, Waggoner was recently accepted into the National Health Service Corpss

(NHSC) Loan Repayment Program
and is currently seeking a position
(post-graduation) working for a
Federally Qualified Health Center
in the Denver metro area or Rocky
Mountain region. The loan repayment program, developed because of
a shortage of health professions, will
cover 100% of the cost of her student
loan debt that led to her master's degree specializing in the Family Nurse
Practitioner track.
This summer, she plans on taking her
boards and then will continue her
studies at CU in the Doctor of Nursing
Practice (DNP) program next year.
" The role of the nurse practitioner was
created here, and there's something
extremely valuable about learning in
a place that's so invested and knowlHGJHDEOHRIWKLVˋHOGȥVDLG:DJJRQHU
According to Waggoner, Colorado is a
state at the forefront of advocacy for
Nurse Practitioner autonomy and for
DNPs to utilize the full scope of practice. " I knew CU was the best choice as
I pursued advanced practice nursing
because this program has such an
amazing performance history and is
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nurse practitioning. "

CU Nursing - Commencement Spring 2021

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