Read about Wilson, who served as director when UMSON launched its Doctor of Nursing Practice NNP specialty in 2015, in the latest issue of “CATALYST” magazine.
Photo: Janice Wilson (right) and her sister, Janet, shared a career goal: to become a nurse. The sisters enrolled at the University of Maryland School of Nursing, each earning a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree in 1974.
Like many twins, Janice Wilson and her sister, Janet — they both go by “Jan” — share a strong connection. As young girls, they shared toys, clothes, and a career goal: to become a nurse.
“We both knew as early as we can remember that we wanted to be nurses, we both wanted to make a difference,” says Janice Wilson, DNP ’09, MS ’94, BSN ’74, CRNP, NNP-BC, FAANP.
With that goal in mind, the sisters enrolled at the University of Maryland School of Nursing (UMSON), each earning a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree in 1974.
Having developed an interest in pediatrics during her senior practicum course, Janice Wilson spent a month in the neonatal intensive care unit at the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC), where she met neonatologist Ronald Gutberlet, MD, who became her mentor.
“That’s how I got interested in neonatal nursing. There weren’t too many, if any, neonatal nurse practitioner programs that were close by, so it took me another few years to get that education,” says Wilson, who enrolled in the first cohort of Georgetown University’s continuing education neonatal nurse practitioner program in 1990. When she was finished, Gutberlet offered her a full-time job as a neonatal nurse practitioner (NNP) at UMMC —officially making Wilson the first NNP in the state of Maryland.
“Most people didn’t know what the role was,” Wilson says. “It was a time when nurse practitioners were coming onto the scene and more visible, but neonatal nurse practitioners were not necessarily well understood or well accepted.”
Wilson returned to UMSON to earn her master’s degree in 1994 and then, pursuing another passion of hers, taught as a guest lecturer at the school in the Master of Science NNP program, eventually joining the faculty and becoming the program’s clinical coordinator.
“I almost became a grade-school teacher,” Wilson says. “I think learning is exciting and sharing that with students is priceless.”
Read more about Wilson in the latest issue of "CATALYST" magazine.
You can read the Spring 2024 issue of CATALYST magazine, which highlights UMB's new “Climate Change, Health, and Society” elective; innovations such as the School of Dentistry's Division of Artificial Intelligence Research; Carin Cardella, public information officer for UMB Police and Public Safety who has answered the call during state emergencies; the Francis King Carey School of Law celebrating 200 years; new Health Sciences and Human Services Library Dean Emily Hurst and Chief Philanthropy Officer Greg Bowden; Fahren Nipple, autopsy assistant for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and assistant program director for the Master of Science in Forensic Medicine at the Graduate School; and much, much more!