Karen Hopkins made the decision to become a nurse when she was 11 years old after her great aunt was hit by a train.

"She was in a total body cast, and I watched my other great aunt take care of her at home," she says.

Hopkins was an animal lover as a child and loved taking care of animals, but watching her great aunt inspired her to pursue nursing and take care of people instead.

And during her 37-year career as a nurse, she’s done a little bit of everything.

"I’ve worked in emergency and medical-surgical. I’ve worn so many hats—risk management, corporate compliance, diabetic education. I even helped open two units," she says. "I stayed with one hospital for 23 years in my community before I started teaching."

Now, Hopkins is an associate professor of nursing at Southside Virginia Community College (SVCC), where she teaches students in the associate degree program.

When Melissa Arthur, dean of Nursing, Health, & Science at SVCC, approached Hopkins about joining Northern Kentucky University’s Doctor of Nursing Practice program in 2023, she was hesitant.

"I’m the second oldest of our group. I’m 60 years old. In a way, I’m backtracking," she says. "I’m not looking to be in any leadership position. I’ve done everything that can be done."

But the one thing Hopkins hadn’t done was get her doctorate degree. So, she made the decision to go back to college for herself.

"I did this for me," she says. "I wanted to make sure that I went as high as I could go in my education because of my love for nursing."

Although Hopkins has no plans to pursue a leadership position, she’s passionate about advocating for nursing and patient care.

She and her colleague, Becky Anderson, recently joined the Virginia Nurses Association and had the opportunity to meet with three delegates and one senator to discuss the future of nursing. Advocacy at the state level is something that Hopkins hopes to pursue before she retires.

In the meantime, her passion for teaching and working with students is her priority.

And she’s hoping that sharing her doctorate journey with her nursing students will inspire them to keep going.

"I love teaching, and I’m hoping this shows my students how much I care about my profession," she says. "I’ve always encouraged them to go as far as they can. So, I’m hoping this is going to show them that their professor did it, and they can too."