When Lara Lewis first stepped into her counseling career with dual degrees in psychology and mental health counseling, she never imagined her path would lead to nursing scrubs. But as she helped people overcome substance abuse, she discovered something crucial: healing isn't just about the mind or the body – it's about both.

“I hit a point when I realized that while my counseling knowledge was effective and helpful, but my scope of practice wasn’t providing the full picture of what a patient needs," she says.

The Legacy of Care

With a legacy of nursing in her family – her grandmother had been a nurse who adored the profession – Lewis felt a pull toward the field.

"She loved nursing and loved people," Lewis reflects. "I wanted to emulate that."

This early inspiration, combined with her counseling and clinician experience at inpatient psychiatric hospitals, eventually led her to earn her BS in Nursing through the Accelerated (UCAN) pathway at the University of Colorado College of Nursing at Anschutz Medical Campus.

Breaking New Ground at DAWN 

One of the defining experiences of Lewis’s nursing education came through volunteering at the DAWN Clinic, a student-led free clinic serving underserved populations in the Denver area. Here, Lewis found herself among 20 nurses and healthcare professionals, all united in serving an underserved population. This experience became a place where her mental health expertise merged with emerging nursing skills:

• Assessment techniques enhanced by counseling experience.
• Deeper patient conversations leading to better care.
• Team-based healthcare delivery in action

Lewis’s clinical experience extended beyond the DAWN Clinic to Denver Health, where her clinical placement opened new horizons in understanding acute care while maintaining her counseling perspective: "I think nursing and counseling are both edging towards this common ground where we realize the two aren't so different," Lewis explains, painting a vision of future healthcare where mental and physical health are treated as one.

Reflecting on the Impact of CU Nursing

For Lewis, attending CU Nursing was more than just an educational experience – it was a personal transformation.

“I wanted to earn my nursing degree from somewhere where, once I was done, I would feel confident in what I was doing," she says.  

Reflecting on her journey, she acknowledges CU Nursing has a profound impact on her life. The experiences she’s gained – from community health work at the DAWN Clinic to observing high-stakes surgeries at Denver Health – have prepared her for the demands of nursing in a way she couldn’t have imagined.

“I really enjoyed watching my preceptors because they love teaching about their hospital and the population they serve,” she says. “We had great opportunities to see surgeries and see highly acute patients, which are some things students don’t always get to see.”

A New Kind of Resource

Her unique background brings something special to nursing. Lewis's ability to read between the lines during patient assessments and her technical nursing skills create a more comprehensive approach to patient care.

"The more comfortable I get as a nurse, I want to incorporate my counseling and mental health knowledge into my nursing career,” she says.