After 21 years as a nurse on the night shift, Deborah Anderson was in a comfortable routine. “As far as I was concerned, I could have kept doing that for years and retired from the night shift,” she recalls.

Then a physical ailment kept her from doing her work as a nurse.

“I started spending time on the day shift,” she explains, “and then I became the manager of my former department on the night shift.”

Her new position, however, required something she didn’t have: a Bachelor’s Degree. She had finished only two years of college.

Even more, Deb began to realize that she was poised to experience real growth in her professional life.

“In a Bible study group at church, people kept saying, ‘You need to be in a leadership role. You are a leader. Stop hiding on the night shift.’

“I had never wanted to go back to college,” Deb says. “But when I was no longer able to do my old job, I remember praying, ‘Lord, I don’t want to, but I’m willing.’”

Her first steps were unsuccessful.

“I remember sitting in the lobby of a local state college trying to read the catalog. I kept asking questions, but it just didn’t make sense to me.”

Then one of her friends at church told her about the programs for adult learners at Northwest University.

“I went to an information session,” Deb remembers, “and it made sense. I knew that was what I needed to do.”

This program is often referred to as LEAP – Leadership Education for Adult Professionals. The curriculum is formatted for working adults, with classes on evenings and weekends.

“This was exactly what I needed,” she notes. “After all, I had a full-time job, a husband, and two children.”

Deb could have pursued a nursing degree, but she realized that she really needed to learn more about business.

“After all, I was now a manager, but I didn’t understand anything about budgets, human resources, or organization,” she says. “I was as green as they come.”

Her classes quickly made an impact.

“From the beginning, I discovered that the things I was learning in class were very applicable at work – and it seemed that way almost every day.”

Her arduous schedule didn’t dampen her enthusiasm. In fact, by the time she had earned her B.A. in 2002, Deb realized she wanted to go on and earn a Masters in Business Administration.

“By then I realized that I needed to do more in my career, that I was able to do more,” she states. “I began to serve in a role that bridges the areas of nursing and finance.”

As soon as Deb finished her B.A., she began work on her M.B.A.

“I discovered that my M.B.A. classes added on to what I had learned in my B.A. program,” she says. “In your undergrad studies you are getting an introduction. But in the M.B.A. you’re getting meat – the full foundation.”

At the end of 2004, Deb assumed her newly created position, Director of Nursing Business Systems, at Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia, Washington.

“My focus is to make sure we have consistent financial practices,” she states. “So far, I’ve helped coordinate budgets for 21 different departments, plus establish schedule matrices and centralize our payroll processes.”

Her career is no longer routine.

“It’s always interesting and often challenging,” Deb states. “Above all, it is incredibly rewarding.”