Family, Protection, and Service: How a Winding Career Path Led to Nursing Excellence
Michael R. has achieved a lot in his life and career, but one of the last things he accomplished before graduation was making dessert.
“Over the weekend, I made cake pops in the red and white Maryville colors,” he said. “I had red ones with the white drizzle and white with the red drizzle, and then I put little graduation caps on top. So it turned out cool.”
Graduating in Spring 2026 was the icing on top of earning his psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner degree from Maryville. This credential — fueled by cake pops, Pepsi Zero Sugar Wild Cherry, and pizza — is the latest in a long string of accomplishments for Michael, representing the next big step in his career and the next evolution of his practice, through which he hopes to fill a critical need.
“Psychiatric mental health: That’s important,” he says. “That’s something that needs more practitioners.”
Now ready to pursue licensure and a career as a psychiatric mental health NP, Michael has found his calling: Caring for people who are often neglected by society, such as those experiencing mental illness, addiction issues, and homelessness.
“As a nurse, you shine a spotlight on them and you try to help them,” he says. “Because there’s so many of them that need help. And if everybody just ignored them, where would we be?”
Michael’s career journey has featured more stages than most, but each stop has contributed to his perspective and helped him become the caregiver he is today.
The world needs more Saints who keep learning and keep serving — like Michael.
An assortment of cake pops that Michael made the weekend before he graduated with his psychiatric mental health NP degree from Maryville.
'I learned to think on my feet': The long road toward nursing advocacy
Hearing Michael discuss his professional experience shows him as a man of many interests and passions. He came to nursing later than most, after a winding journey across education and career possibilities.
Before his psychiatric mental health NP education, Michael earned two bachelor’s degrees and an MBA, worked as a stockbroker, managed a retail store, served as a police officer, owned a sports bar, flipped houses, and changed lives as a patient tech and bedside nurse.
“I learned to think on my feet. I learned to be resourceful. If one way doesn't work, try another,” he says. “It turns out the more different jobs and different experiences you have, the more tricks and the more things you have in your goodie bag that maybe will make things work down the road.”
Several themes emerge from the many roles Michael played in management, law enforcement, and nursing: Family, protection, service, and care. It was perhaps this inclination toward helping others that drew Michael toward nursing, and specifically toward psychiatric mental health.
“The thing about nurses is, besides family, they’re the biggest advocate for patients, and they’re the ones that deal with people that society sometimes doesn’t even want to think about,” Michael says. “The biggest thing about being a nurse is being caring and being nurturing."
“Being a leader means being a major advocate for your patients," he says.
Family, faculty, and finding support
As he began his pivot from security toward care, Michael earned his Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) from Maryville, helping inspire his sister to start her own nursing journey in the process.
“I had already gotten my BSN from Maryville, and so Maryville was a natural place for her to go back and get her BSN," he says. “So she became a Saint, and we talked for years about becoming nurse practitioners together."
After earning their bachelor's degrees, both Michael and his sister decided to pursue graduate degrees and nurse practitioner licensure as psychiatric mental health NPs, supporting each other the whole time. After starting on campus, they both took leaves of absence. His sister returned and finished her degree on campus, and later, she — along with Michael's two brothers, nieces, and nephews — encouraged Michael to complete his NP education online, where he would have more flexibility.
“The family support made it better, you know? So I was only able to get through it with their help,” he says.
Throughout his program, Michael also found support through his faculty and advisors at Maryville. He says his professors' experience in the field and their dedication to helping nursing graduates thrive were valuable parts of his nursing education.
Michael says the Maryville nursing faculty impressed him in their attentiveness, availability, quickness to respond, and experience — specifically that they are still active practitioners.
“The professors here at Maryville have been top notch. And it's probably because they come from a nursing background, and most of them are still in the field," he says. “And as a professor and a nurse, they take care of their students.”
Backed by advisors, expert faculty, and education focused on real-world nursing career outcomes, Michael found success leading into the next phase of his career. These elements of support contribute to the success Maryville nursing students experience after graduation. In fact, graduates from all five NP programs exceed national average board pass rates.
Michael poses with his advisor next to the vintage Maryville College sign in front of the modern Maryville University “M” logo.
More Saints and more lifelong learners: Advice for future nursing students
As a man who has seen success across a variety of roles and responsibilities, Michael knows what success takes. In matters of determination, he is a believer in U.S. auto pioneer Henry Ford's famous quote:
“If you think you can't or think you can, you're right,” he says. “Just take it one day at a time. In fact, I had a mantra when I was going through it: One day at a time, one class at a time, one assignment at a time, and then one issue at a time. Because you can't do more than one thing at a time.”
The key is to keep self-improvement and preparedness as your goal and continue moving forward with resolve.
“The world needs more Saints that never stop learning,” he says. “At the end, you look back and go, ‘Bam! That was something.’”