Valeria Martinez Tenreiro, RN, PMHNP, knows the American Dream is possible. She’s done it – and has been living out her dream of becoming an advanced practice nurse.
She was a doctor in her native Argentina before coming to the United States in 2000. She earned her BS in Nursing degree through the University of Colorado College of Nursing at Anschutz Medical Campus Accelerated (UCAN) program in December 2016. She came back to CU Nursing and earned a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner degree in December 2023.
“I want to tell anyone who’s had to start again, being an immigrant – or being too old or too young – to never give up,” she says. “Hold on to your dreams and fulfill them, because if there’s one thing that’s true about the US, is that you can still make your dreams come true. The American dream is possible. You CAN reach your goals.”
Martinez Tenreiro works at UCHealth as a relief charge, discharge, and floor nurse. She’s worked mostly in oncology specialties and is a certified bilingual nurse. She has also been a member of the Denver Chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Nurses (NAHN) since 2018 and recently finished her first year as the chapter’s president.
“Nursing is an amazing career and it’s full of opportunities,” she says. “You have so many routes you can take. You can make this career into anything you want.”
CU Nursing sat down with Martinez Tenreiro to talk about her career and how she’s become a leader in Colorado’s Latino community.
April 11, 2024