A Return to Workforce Inspires Nurse to Pursue a Public Health Degree

When Colleen Palay returned to nursing 10 years ago after taking time off to raise her family, not only had the profession changed, but she had changed, too. Once a floor nurse in the days before her children were born, Palay found herself searching for ways to use her skills on a deeper level in this second act of her career and to be more impactful.

She took a job at Cleveland’s University Hospitals doing something totally new for her – caring for patients with head and neck cancer. Intrigued by the challenge, she knew it would certainly be interesting, but what she never imagined was how it would ignite her passion and lead her career in a new direction – one that included pursuing a master’s degree in public health at Kent State University.

“I found myself touched by the challenges these patients have,” Palay says. “They often cannot speak. They tend to be from low-income backgrounds, and many of them cannot read. So not only has there been no medical care for most of their lives, they can’t even read things to know how to take care of themselves.”

These patient struggles galvanized Palay and turned her into more than just a nurse, she became a patient advocate in her current position, Oncology Nurse Navigator. As a navigator, Palay spends most of her time on the phone coordinating medical care, payment plans and making sure patients get where they need to be. Since many of these patients are unable to read, that makes Palay’s job as difficult as it is important.

She’s also taken her advocacy one step further – going to Columbus, Ohio, and Washington, D.C., to talk to lawmakers and raise awareness about healthcare disparities. Palay said it was learning about healthcare policy that made her realize a master’s degree in public health could help her make a bigger-picture difference, though the idea of going back to school was intimidating.

“I always thought graduate school was above me,” she says. “But I realized that I want to do so much more and I would like to make a difference.”

Kent State’s 100-percent online option for the master’s in public health was a deciding factor in her decision to enroll, since she could continue working while pursuing the degree. Palay also liked that Kent State’s program was certified by the Council on Education for Public Health and had a good reputation.

“The days of someone holding your hand are gone, and it’s up to you to decide if you are going to make it happen or not,” Palay says of the online study process. “No one is going to come and give you anything – you have to go after it.”

A degree in Public Health will enable Palay to not only move up in her field, but also pursue what she is passionate about – writing policy aimed at preventative medical care for lower-income people and getting lawmakers to take a closer look at the issue of healthcare disparity in the United States.

“Public health helps us take care of the community,” Palay says. “We want to reach people before they come into the hospital. Can we prevent these diseases in rural communities and major urban areas? We take care of the people who come from nothing and have nothing. These people don’t have the ability to know what they need. They need us to help them.”