If you’ve been following along, you know my path hasn’t exactly been a straight line. From bedside nurse, to wound care, to Vice President leading clinical strategy, and now back into a clinical role part-time as a Family Nurse Practitioner specializing in Gastroenterology.
Let me say it out loud: I’m a beginner again. And it feels both terrifying and exciting.
From Wound Care VP to GI Trainee
For the past several years, my world revolved around wound care. I knew the language, the staging, the dressings, the offloading strategies, the why behind every order. As a Vice President, my days were spent thinking about systems, scaling clinical programs, mentoring teams, and making decisions that shaped patient care across multiple sites. It was high-level, fast-paced, and deeply rewarding.
But somewhere along the way, I started missing the part of nursing that brought me into this profession in the first place, the patient in front of me, the puzzle of figuring out what’s really going on, the relationship that builds when someone trusts you with their health.
So I made a decision that surprised even me: I took a part-time FNP role in Gastroenterology.
Why GI?
GI is fascinating. It touches almost every system in the body, and the patients are wildly varied, from the 22-year-old struggling with IBS, to the 70-year-old needing colon cancer screening, to someone navigating IBD for the first time. The diagnostics are hands-on, the treatment options are constantly evolving, and the impact on quality of life is enormous.
I won’t pretend I chose it because I already knew it. I didn’t. I chose it because I wanted to be challenged again, and because I believe the discomfort of being new is exactly where growth lives.
Being a Beginner Again
Here’s the honest truth: walking into a GI clinic after years of leading at the executive level is humbling. I’m asking questions I would have answered confidently in wound care. I’m learning new workflows, new medications, new procedures, and a whole new vocabulary, PPIs, biologics, EGDs, colonoscopies, motility disorders, hepatology basics.
I’m in training mode every single shift. My preceptors are patient, the team has been welcoming, and I’m taking notes like a brand-new grad. There are moments where imposter syndrome whispers loudly. But I keep reminding myself: every expert was once a beginner. The only way through is through.
A few things that have helped so far:
- Showing up with humility. Nobody expects me to know GI on day one. Pretending I do would only hurt my patients.
- Studying after hours. I’m back to flashcards, podcasts, and clinical guidelines. It’s exhausting but energizing.
- Trusting the foundation. My years in nursing and wound care built strong assessment skills, communication, and clinical judgment. Those don’t disappear when the specialty changes — they translate.
Juggling Clinical Life with the Businesses
This part is the real plot twist. While I’m training in GI, I’m also still running and growing two businesses with my partner:
- Vertex Wound Specialists (vertexws.com) — our wound care company built around providing expert, accessible wound management.
- Sakari Management (sakarimanagement.com) — our management and operations arm supporting healthcare and small business growth.
Some days I’m in scrubs charting on a patient with reflux. Other days I’m in a meeting reviewing financials, contracts, or hiring decisions. Most days, it’s both, back-to-back, with very little buffer in between.
People ask me how I do it. The answer is: imperfectly, and with a lot of grace for myself. I’m still figuring out the rhythm. Some weeks I crush it. Other weeks I drop balls. I’ve had to get serious about calendar blocking, learning to say no, and protecting time with my family, because none of this matters without them.
Why I’m Sharing This
I know I’m not the only nurse or NP out there making a pivot. Whether you’re considering a new specialty, leaving a leadership role to get back to patient care, or trying to balance clinical work with entrepreneurship, I want you to know it’s possible. Messy, but possible.
There’s no expiration date on becoming a beginner again. There’s no career path that has to look like everyone else’s. And honestly? The willingness to start over in something new might be the most valuable skill we can build as nurses.
I’ll be sharing more as I go — what I’m learning in GI, how I’m structuring my study time, what’s working and what’s not for balancing clinic and business. If you’re on a similar journey, I’d love to hear from you.
For now: back to my notes. There’s an EGD list to study.
— Van
Let’s Stay Connected
If this resonated with you, here’s how we can keep the conversation going:
- Subscribe to the blog so you don’t miss the next post — I’ll be sharing GI learnings, study strategies, and real talk about juggling clinical work with entrepreneurship.
- Drop a comment below — Are you in the middle of your own pivot? Considering a new specialty? Building something on the side? I read every one.
- Follow along on Instagram @vanthenp for the day-to-day behind the scenes.
- Check out our businesses: Vertex Wound Specialists for expert wound care, and Sakari Management for healthcare operations and consulting.
If you’re a nurse or NP thinking about making a change — DM me. Sometimes all it takes is hearing someone else say “you can do this” to get moving.