Initially, I went into nursing, I had a Spanish degree and I saw a need in the community for that in the medical field. When I wanted to advance my career and my education, becoming a nurse practitioner seemed the route that would keep me in contact with patients. I'm passionate about educating patients on the resources that are available to them, because there are a lot of things in the community that people don't know about. Getting patients in touch with people or financial resources doesn?t have to be difficult. There really are a lot of options for people. I chose to work at Mercy because I agree with their core values and their care model, and I think that's important. If you have a good foundation and support from your company, it makes it a lot easier to practice the way that you want to.