In her role as a nurse practitioner, Amy Loomis (MSN ’16, AGNP-C) has established an impressive early career caring for older people. The daughter of a nurse, you could say her calling runs in the family.
Amy Loomis with her Grandmother |
“My connection to the older-adult population is very much inspired by my late grandmother who passed away very recently,” Loomis says. “She was 96, incredibly strong, vibrant and smart. She was one of the most resilient people I’ve ever known. Because of her, it is my mission to improve the healthcare experience for older adults.”
A Florida native, Loomis wanted to be a physician but became fascinated in the nexus of sociology and healthcare.
“I studied the patient perspective in terms of the role of being a patient and the loss of autonomy in the system,” she says. “I was interested in how patients were being treated, and how that impacted their health more than what was on the patient chart.”
Academic and career path
Five years after receiving a nursing degree from the University of Florida, Loomis and her husband relocated to Colorado. She obtained her master’s degree as an adult-gerontology primary care nurse practitioner from the University of Colorado College of Nursing in 2016. Not long after that, she enrolled in CU Nursing’s DNP-APRN program while working with the complex, chronically ill older-adult population as a home-based primary care provider.
“My connection to the older-adult population is very much inspired by my late grandmother who passed away very recently. She was 96, incredibly strong, vibrant and smart She was one of the most resilient people I’ve ever known.”
– CU Nursing DNP-APRN Student Amy Loomis (MSN ’16, AGNP-C)
Currently the Lead Population Health Nurse Practitioner at Bloom Healthcare, Loomis helps support a home-based primary care interdisciplinary team in using population and system-based approaches to improve health and outcomes for more than 5,500 older adult patients in the Front Range.
Among her many projects with Bloom Healthcare, she is participating in a training program designed to give current and future leaders at the organization advanced skills in navigating healthcare quality improvement measures to improve outcomes for elderly patients.
Moving to Colorado
When Loomis and her husband moved to Colorado in 2013, she was already in an acute care nurse-practitioner track in Florida. She found that CU Nursing was in sync with her professional aspirations.
Overall, Loomis is thrilled with her experience at the college and looks forward to her road ahead. She will graduate from the DNP Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (DNP-APRN) program in December – starting a new chapter in her fast-paced and successful career.
Loomis also developed some great friendships with peers whom she’ll stay in touch with after she graduates.
Making the best of quality time
Although holding a full-time job while earning her degree has been demanding, Loomis still finds time for extracurricular pursuits. She shares adventures with her husband and 7-year-old daughter and serves as the president of the CU College of Nursing Alumni Board.
“It’s important for me to stay connected to the college and to continue that relationship between current students and alumni,” she says.
For relaxation, she works on pottery – a passion she developed during the pandemic.
As for future DNP students, Loomis imparts the following advice:
“Develop a topic area you are really passionate about,” she says. “Lead with your passion and your overall ‘why’ in terms of why you became a nurse or an NP. I’ve been working on my project for a long time, and it would be really difficult if it wasn’t something I cared about.”
