Dr. Madeline Lepore said she found a passion in working in psychiatric mental health, especially paired with substance use disorders. However, she found herself wanting to help patients beyond what she was capable of with her BSN.
“This encouraged me to pursue higher education and to become a NP,” she said. “At the end of my days, I find what I’ve been able to accomplish in my NP role very rewarding.”
Dr. Lepore was born and raised in Pittsburgh and said the University was always an attractive option for higher education, especially since very few schools offer a psychiatric mental health specialty program.
“Since attending Pitt as an undergrad, I was aware of the resources and opportunities available to me if I pursued my advanced degree there. Thus, it was a no-brainer,” she said.
Since then, she’s been working two part-time jobs: UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital, which has two practice settings (a psychiatric emergency room and their methadone clinic) and a community-based mental health outpatient clinic in Washington, PA. She said it’s vital the work of NPs is recognized.
“We play a valuable role in patient care that can often be overlooked,” she said. “We bring our nursing skills, specifically the compassion and empathy we learn as nurses and pair it with advanced knowledge of how to treat patients. This creates a holistic treatment environment to promote our patients' health best.”
She added, “Nursing is a great career, and advancing your degree in nursing only immerses you further, allowing for a wide breadth of career paths within becoming an NP,” she said.