Graduate Success Story: Angeline Bernard
Angeline Bernard has never stopped learning, working, or growing in the health care field. She is dedicated to her craft, and her passion and determination to succeed is evident each day she goes to work or begins a new project.
Bernard, of Margate, Florida, received an associate degree in business from in 1992 and then pursued a technical career in nursing after receiving her nursing diploma from Bergen Pines Hospital School of Nursing in 1998. She wasn鈥檛 completely satisfied with this career path, however, and decided to shift gears toward health care administration. 鈥淚 found out you needed a master鈥檚 degree to really get anywhere in health care administration but in order to get a master鈥檚 degree, you must get a bachelor鈥檚 degree first,鈥� she says.
That鈥檚 when she discovered she could pursue an education by combining online and in-person learning. Bernard attended in-classroom courses at Florida Atlantic University while taking online courses at Excelsior College to complete her degree. 鈥淓xcelsior was my avenue because they allowed me to work and attend school,鈥� she recalls, noting Excelsior made it seamless to earn her bachelor鈥檚 degree in liberal arts in 2009. She was determined to finish her degree quickly, too, even taking 18 credits in one semester!
Bernard considers herself a creative thinker, which is why she wanted to branch out into the administrative side of nursing. So, she went on to pursue her master鈥檚 in health care administration with Florida Atlantic University and earned that degree in 2016.
Now Bernard is a senior consultant for Focus Management Group, a professional services team that offers financial advisory services focusing on crisis management. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what my master鈥檚 degree has introduced me to,鈥� she says. Prior to that, she spent seven years in managed care (the health insurance world), which afforded her much experience working as an auditor for Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) measures. HEDIS measures are established by the National Committee for Quality Assurance and are designed to provide purchasers and consumers with the information they need for reliable comparison of health plan performance. Bernard notes that HEDIS hires contract nurses to do chart reviews for them. She says, 鈥淭his is where my nursing background comes into play.鈥�
From that exposure, Bernard began her own online HEDIS training course. She hired people to design a user-friendly website but developed the material herself. She notes that she found some of the HEDIS material she was taught insufficient to what she felt was necessary to properly do the work. 鈥淚 created a clear, concise layout for nurses,鈥� Bernard says. The site launched in November 2018 after about seven months of preparation, organization, and design. She also recently met with the medical vendor VITAS Medical Systems to design a home health aid assistant in nursing program for them.
In addition to her work in health care administration, Bernard is the treasurer of the Palm Beach chapter of . The chapter鈥檚 health initiatives are HIV- and cardiac-focused, and members want to ensure that the disparities in the community are addressed. 鈥淲e want to target vulnerable communities because the rates of the diseases are more prevalent in those areas,鈥� Bernard explains. Being a part of Black Nurses Rock has allowed her to give back to her community and also has given her educational exposure, introduced her to health care leaders, and offered training.
Although Bernard takes advantage of the educational and training opportunities, she鈥檚 thinking about but not ready to pursue a PhD; she鈥檚 happy being on the entrepreneurial track. She鈥檚 busy working with Black Nurses Rock and the National Association of Health Services Executives and devotes time to providing health care programs for the community. She works at various children鈥檚 centers and extracurricular programs to clean up shelters and assist with projects, and encourages women to get mammograms as part of a local women鈥檚 breast and heart initiative. She has also been offered a position with Florida Atlantic University to teach an undergraduate managed care course, which she plans to pursue.
She has some advice for students going back to school: make sure you look into the program best suited to your needs and look at the cost of the program and the funding you may be able to get; and most importantly, make sure your program is the right fit for you: 鈥淚t鈥檚 just making sure your program is going to give you all that you鈥檙e looking for,鈥� Bernard says. Based on how busy she is, it looks like Bernard pursued exactly the right program for her.
