{"id":7190,"date":"2023-08-16T17:16:52","date_gmt":"2023-08-16T17:16:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vivian.com\/community\/?p=7190"},"modified":"2023-08-21T17:46:34","modified_gmt":"2023-08-21T17:46:34","slug":"nurse-practitioner-elana-scharff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vivian.com\/community\/inspiration\/nurse-practitioner-elana-scharff\/","title":{"rendered":"Rx for Success: Elana Scharff, NP, Shares Her Exciting Career Journey to Nurse Practitioner"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introducing Vivian Health\u2019s Rx for Success: Stories of Renewed Passion in Healthcare<\/strong> series. Each week, we profile a healthcare provider from our platform, sharing their inspiring career journey and critical moments that rekindled their passion for healthcare. <\/em><\/p>\n

In the first installment of our <\/span>Rx for Success<\/i><\/b> series, Vivian Health spoke to nurse practitioner (NP) Elana Scharff via video chat against a backdrop of the crisp blue sky and adobe buildings of Sedona, Arizona.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLook, I\u2019m at a cardiology conference!\u201d she exclaimed. \u201cI’m a general surgery nurse practitioner, and I’m hanging out with two of my colleagues from NP school. It’s our little reunion. We’re learning about hearts, and we’re gonna go hike the red rocks next, where I’m going to tell them all about my healthcare service trip to Uganda.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

This snapshot of a day in Scharff\u2019s life reveals the cornucopia of options available to nurse practitioners. An Oregon-based NP, Scharff has worked with a range of patient populations, from schoolchildren to gerontology patients in surgical acute care and from those obtaining elective cosmetic injections to uninsured migrant agricultural workers seeking primary care.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A Zeal for Helping the Vulnerable and Speaking Spanish<\/b><\/h3>\n

As a student in her first of two bachelor\u2019s degree programs, Scharff knew two things: she liked helping vulnerable people and working with Hispanic populations. She double majored in Spanish and Psychology, a choice that would continuously influence her path in nursing and prompt her eventual advancement from registered nurse (RN) to NP.<\/span><\/p>\n

After college, Scharff worked with vulnerable youth as a research associate. Seeing some of the challenges her subjects faced, she began considering ways to help more directly.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI really wanted to be able to make a difference in these people’s lives, and I think that pushed me towards nursing,\u201d Scharff told Vivian.<\/span><\/p>\n

She entered nursing school, ultimately earning a <\/span>bachelor\u2019s degree in nursing<\/span><\/a>, but maintained her research position part-time for 10 years.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a longitudinal study where we got to know some of these clients from sixth grade until they were 21 and see how they progress, but also see the adversity that a lot of them face,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

As Scharff witnessed the challenges these youth could overcome, she simultaneously opted to challenge herself by pursuing cardiac care in her initial nursing career.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI remember in nursing school feeling the heart is so complex and important to every function of the body,\u201d explained Scharff. \u201cI also remember being intimidated that I wouldn\u2019t be intelligent enough to really conquer and understand it. But then I told myself, \u2018I’m going to challenge myself, and if I can learn and master the heart, then I’m going to feel really confident in going on to the next level throughout my nursing career.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

After several years of working simultaneously in cardiac care and as a <\/span>school nurse<\/span><\/a>, Scharff was inspired to move to that next level while providing care to the Spanish-speaking population she had always loved serving. She began working for Salud Services, a non-profit funded by winemakers in Oregon\u2019s Willamette Valley, to care for the migrant farm workers who tend to the region\u2019s prized grapes.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe would find the workers had hypertension and diabetes, and we would be this bridge for those without health insurance to a place where they could get healthcare,\u201d Scharff said. \u201cI finished that work and realized that I really want to be able to be a provider\u2014not just taking vitals and giving shots\u2014I wanted to be able to write the orders, make the plans and prescribe the medications for their hypertension and diabetes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Soon, she was pursuing her third major degree, this time to become a nurse practitioner.<\/span><\/p>\n

Becoming a Nurse Practitioner<\/b><\/h3>\n

Nurse practitioner jobs<\/span><\/a> offer more variety and autonomy than traditional registered nursing roles. Depending on their state of practice and specific course of training, NPs can take a patient\u2019s medical history, diagnose and treat illness, prescribe medications and perform certain procedures, including assisting surgeons in the OR and providing post-op care. Nurse practitioners\u2019 advanced training and job complexities garner them higher average salaries than RNs.<\/span><\/p>\n

While RNs can level up to NP in as little as two years with full-time schooling, Scharff chose to keep working part-time while studying over a three-and-a-half-year period.<\/span><\/p>\n

She explained, \u201cWe’re working women. We\u2019ve got to make money and pay our bills.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Getting to this life isn\u2019t easy, though, as Scharff said, \u201cIt’s a really big transition to go from RN to being a provider. You’re now the one making decisions.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

During her NP training, a conversation turned Scharff\u2019s career from a heavy focus on children to the opposite end of the demographic spectrum.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI remember working with a gerontologist, and I asked her what made her want to care for the elderly. The doctor said, \u2018Elana, if someone’s made it to age 80, they’ve done something right in their life, and they have some sort of accountability.\u2019 That really resonated with me. Old people can be difficult patients with multiple comorbidities and medications, but these people have been accountable, and that’s the reason why they’ve made it to 80-plus,\u201d she told us.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Elana<\/p>\n

In addition to her current day job as a general surgery acute care nurse specializing in gerontology, Scharff has a self-described \u201cside hustle\u201d doing aesthetic injections and supervising other nurse injectors in Portland.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy little tagline for myself is \u2018butts and guts by day and beautiful faces by night.\u2019 It’s the best of both worlds,\u201d she said with a smile.<\/span><\/p>\n

Scharff realizes that some people might ask why one would become a nurse practitioner instead of a doctor. She explained that she didn’t know she wanted to do medicine at the time. Moving from researcher to RN to NP allowed Scharff to explore her interests in phases and ultimately become a provider without locking in a pre-med track in college.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s all been different phases of wanting to learn more and be able to make a bigger difference in my patients’ lives,\u201d she elaborated.<\/span><\/p>\n

Feeling Empowered on the Vivian Health Platform<\/b><\/h3>\n

With many <\/span>professional certifications<\/span><\/a> and experiences under her belt, Scharff sees the variety of work options available to her on the Vivian Health platform.\u00a0 But it wasn\u2019t always so easy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think I went from the era where it was like you had to beg and plead to get a job in health care. You’re a new grad and you take what you can get and you hope it’s something that you end up falling in love with,\u201d Scharff recalls.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNowadays, I feel cool when going on Vivian and realize that I\u2019m an asset,\u201d Scharff told us. \u201cI feel like I have a lot that I can give. I get to see all these options regarding choosing my location or travel nursing. I can provide bilingual care, I could do surgery, I could do cardiology, and oh my gosh, here’s seven different jobs that I could take.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt actually makes you feel really empowered that all of this hard work has been worth it and that there are places that will value you, and they’re all at your fingertips with Vivian.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Find <\/span>nurse practitioner jobs<\/span><\/a> you’ll love on Vivian Health.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Explore this snapshot of one NP\u2019s success in the cornucopia of options for this exciting career.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":7195,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[18],"class_list":["post-7190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiration","tag-allhcp"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.vivian.com\/community\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/08\/Elana-Blog-Header-e1692203187943.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vivian.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vivian.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vivian.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vivian.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/50"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vivian.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7190"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vivian.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7190\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vivian.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vivian.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vivian.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vivian.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}