Tasha Beck

As a native of rural Nebraska, Miss Beck is well aware of the unique obstacles to health care that rural Nebraskans endure. In fact, these obstacles have brought Beck to Johns Hopkins University to pursue a Masters of Public Health and a Masters of Science in Nursing with the Family Nurse Practitioner option so that she may return to a rural setting, prepared to tackle such obstacles.

Although her career has started in intensive care nursing, Beck's passion remains in public health nursing. Beck's membership in the American Public Health Association and it's Legislative Advocacy Network furthered her interest in nursing and public health advocacy and were complimented by a senate internship with Senator Ben Nelson (D-Nebraska). This experience allowed Beck a first-hand view of policy-making and how legislative advocacy works. Before working with the Senator, Beck was selected to serve on the newly established Two Rivers Public Health Department's executive board. Two Rivers is a seven county health department with unique challenges. For example, the seven county area is predominately rural with high concentrations of indigent, elderly, and immigrant populations. Two Rivers works to eliminate geographical, financial, and cultural barriers to quality health care. With Two Rivers, Beck participated in the Nebraska Small Pox Response Team and was introduced to the sometimes-challenging aspects of elected service.

Beck is pursuing a MSN-NP and MPH in order to apply advanced nursing theory and practice with a population focus. As a Family Nurse Practitioner, Beck will be qualified to handle basic health needs for the entire family. Plus as a Family Nurse Practitioner, Beck will see firsthand the needs of the population. In addition, primary care providers in rural settings are responsible for the care of the entire population, but at the individual level. Beck hopes to gain methods to integrate primary care into the population level and visa versa. At the same time, Beck will continue her work in legislative advocacy and policy development. Ideally, these qualifications will allow Beck to maintain patient contact, while acting as a patient and nursing advocate at the population level with participation in sound policy development.

Following graduation, Beck is considering a post-masters certification in Nurse Midwifery and ultimately, a doctorate in nursing and a career in academia. Beck continues to work at Johns Hopkins Hospital in critical care and cardiovascular diagnostic labs.