Support and Flexibility Helped Melanie O’Neill Earn Two Nursing Degrees from Chamberlain

Even while homeschooling four of her children, Melanie O’Neill knew she wanted to further her own education. So, she started with an associate degree, then earned a bachelor’s and became a nurse educator. But she didn’t stop there. 

“I decided it was time to go back and get my master’s, because I always just felt like that is the right thing to do — to pursue the next level of your degree and have the education for the job that you want in the future,” she said.

As she looked into master’s in nursing programs, she saw that many required grueling commute times — up to three hours one way — from her home in the Florida Keys. Then she discovered Chamberlain University, which offered the support and flexibility she needed to earn not one but two nursing degrees online. O’Neill earned a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) in 2013 and a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) in 2018.

“When I went back to school at Chamberlain University, I was extremely nervous. … How was I going to fit this in? I had four children, I was still homeschooling, I had a full-time job. How does anyone fit that into their life? It’s a big commitment. But Chamberlain made it easy. … And they really helped me understand what I needed to do to finish in the time period and get my degree,” said O’Neill, DNP, RN, NE-BC.

Chamberlain’s flexible online degree programs helped O’Neill create the work-life-school balance she needed, with 100% online classwork accessible 24 hours a day.

“Chamberlain made getting my education very easy and doable,” she said. “Because it’s asynchronous, I could flex things according to my timeline and what would work for me: getting up early on Sundays before church or doing it after work or in the middle of the night when I couldn’t sleep. Having that flexibility and the asynchrony of it was priceless.”

Choosing Chamberlain was “the best decision I ever made,” she said. “I got my master’s, and I was very inspired when I saw other nurses around me getting their doctoral degrees. And there was no question — I called up Chamberlain and got right into the doctoral program. And it was a big jump for me again. I finished that, and now I’m a director of nursing. So, it was a good thing.”

Nursing Is a Calling

In her role as director of nursing services at the Multispecialty Acute Care Center at Baptist Health’s Mariners Hospital and Fisherman’s Community Hospital in the Florida Keys, O’Neill continues a proud family nursing tradition.

“I chose to pursue nursing because I come from a family of nurses — from my great-grandmother, which I just found out about a couple of years ago, to two of my aunts and then myself. Two of my daughters-in-law are nurses. And that’s just here in Florida. The rest, they’re all across the country — nurses everywhere.”

O’Neill believes nursing is a career that has a lot to offer, and her own résumé reflects that.

“The versatility of nursing is what has really been wonderful for me. Going from a direct care nurse to a nurse supervisor, to a nurse educator, to a manager, to a director — not many fields have so much flexibility. So, it’s just that flexibility plus a challenge of always learning something new, all the new innovations, all the exciting technology that comes out. It really is a great career.”

Joining a Helping Profession

Becoming a nurse requires a desire to help others. And to do so, nurses must draw on deep reserves of compassion, O’Neill said.

“In my career, you never are without it. No matter if you’re dealing with the patient or you’re dealing with your employee, you always have to have just a generosity to know that they’re doing the best they can, and you always want to be able to help the other person to be their best. That’s what compassion means for me,” she said.

“Sometimes nursing isn’t easy. Patients aren’t always nice to you, right? So, you have to come to work every day giving 100 percent and thinking the best of everyone. That’s not an easy thing to do. So, our nurses need a lot of support.”

O’Neill said she found herself on the receiving end of that kind of compassion throughout her Chamberlain nursing school journey. The support she received was “beyond belief.”

“As soon as I talked to my first advisor, I knew I belonged at Chamberlain. The true caring and advocating for the students from the Chamberlain advisors and professors is amazing. … As I went along, the team was very nurturing. All of my advisors and professors took a personal interest in me as a student,” O’Neill said.

“And it’s not just the professors at Chamberlain. It’s also the other students. Through the classes, I was able to meet people in my field and I still talk to those people — both from my master’s program and my doctoral program — to this day.”

The care, compassion and connection O’Neill experienced are hallmarks of the Chamberlain experience.

“Well, I think any person can flourish at Chamberlain just because of the connection, the compassion I experienced, the way that they made everything easy. I was not a number. I was Melanie O’Neill the whole time and I always got special attention. Everyone wants to feel special,” she said.

Learn more about Melaine O’Neill’s journey

Find Your Future in Nursing

At Chamberlain, you’ll find online degree programs that provide knowledge and skills you can use to stay current with the nursing profession. Or, you may want to earn a degree that can help prepare you to shift into a different nursing specialty.

Chamberlain’s online MSN degree program offers nine specialty tracks that let you match your studies to your nursing interests.

If you want to study to become a nurse practitioner, you can choose one of these NP specializations: Adult-Gerontology Nurse Practitioner: Acute and Primary Care; Family Nurse Practitioner; or Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner. There are non-clinical tracks in Healthcare Policy, Nurse Educator, Nurse Executive, Nursing Informatics and Population Health.

You also may be eligible for one of Chamberlain’s accelerated tracks: Accelerated MSN, Accelerated RN-MSN and Accelerated MSN with Clinical Nurse Leadership.

Chamberlain’s Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) online degree program offers skills, knowledge and experiences you can apply to a variety of high-level career opportunities. Professionals with DNP degrees work in many different jobs and settings. And because a DNP is recognized in all 50 states, you’ll have no geographic restrictions.

An Admission representative can help you find the healthcare program that’s right for you. Call 877.751.5783 to get started. Take the first step toward earning your Master of Science in Nursing degree online and start working to achieve your academic and professional goals.

Chamberlain University, an accredited institution, offers bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral and certificate programs in nursing and healthcare professions. With a growing network of campuses and robust online programs, Chamberlain continues to build on more than 135 years of excellence in preparing  extraordinary healthcare professionals.

Chamberlain University accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), www.hlcommission.com an institutional accreditation agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

The baccalaureate degree program in nursing, master’s degree program in nursing, Doctor of Nursing Practice program, and post-graduate APRN certificate programs at Chamberlain University are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, (https://www.ccneaccreditation.org). 
 

By Chamberlain University