Meghan Wolf’s desire to become a nurse practitioner started with her mom.
Growing up in Indiana, Wolf watched her mom work as a pediatric nurse and later as a primary care pediatric nurse practitioner. She saw the impact her mom made on friends and other families.
“Families would come to my mom and ask for advice or say, ‘We’re so grateful you’re our nurse practitioner’," she says. "Seeing how she made such a difference in people’s lives, it always made me want to become a nurse practitioner at some point in my career,” Wolf says.
Wolf has worked in the NICU for the past 11 years, including the last four at Children’s Hospital Colorado in the NICU and PICU. As a bedside nurse, she found herself thinking beyond how to care for patients toward the why: the reasoning behind each decision in a child’s plan of care.
“I found my passion right out of nursing school, and I’ve loved it for so long. I’ve been able to grow as a nurse with different roles, which is wonderful,” she says. “A few years ago, I realized I was ready to expand my knowledge and career opportunities, so I knew it was the right time to go back to school.”
When Wolf decided to go back to school, earning her Acute Care Pediatric Nurse Practitioner degree from the University of Colorado Anschutz College of Nursing was a natural fit.
“CU Anschutz Nursing is home to the first nurse practitioner program, and the program focused on pediatrics, so I knew it was an established program,” she says. “I’ve received so much guidance and support, including connecting us with clinical placements at Children’s Hospital. And there are limited pediatric programs available, so coming here was my top choice.”
Building on a Foundation of Trust
Wolf’s years at the bedside gave her more than clinical skill. They gave her a sense of what families actually need.
“I’m very passionate about babies and children, but I also really enjoy that continuity of care with families,” she says. “Families have told me how they appreciated that I would take the time to make sure they understood their child’s plan of care and involved them in that plan.”
That instinct to explain, to include, to keep asking why is what’s carrying her into her new role.
“Now as a nurse practitioner, I’ll be able to be the provider making those types of decisions,” she says. “I’ll be able to follow evidence-based care to provide the best care to patients.”
For Wolf, the most rewarding part of the work has never been the technical side alone. It’s watching a family come through the other end of it.
“You’re seeing the progress of a patient from being critically ill to going home with their families,” she says. “As a NICU nurse, that’s always been the most rewarding. You’re treating patients and their families how you’d want your own family to be treated.”
