Imagine living down the street from someone whose professional life has mirrored yours, but you’ve never met, like two boats pulled by the same current, yet never crossing paths.
So it was for Tracie Koehne and Vanessa Vonich, registered nurses who met while working at the same Phoenix-area hospital. As they got to know each other, they found out they had lived parallel professional lives.
Both graduated from Grand Canyon University with their bachelor’s and master's degrees.
And now, after conversations about their professional goals, they decided to pursue their doctoral degrees together, though this time, they cross paths regularly.
Only about 3% of the nursing workforce in the United States holds a doctoral degree, or some 56,000 nurses nationwide, according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.
But reaching that pinnacle of academia is something the GCU alumnae have been focused on achieving ever since entering the Doctor of Nursing Practice program in January 2025.
“With the roles that we were in, we had the opportunity to go to some conferences together, to present at some conferences and (helm) poster presentations, and it (earning a doctorate) just felt like the next step in our career,” Koehne said.
“It just seemed better to have a buddy to do it with.”
Koehne and Vonich no longer work in direct patient care: Koehne is a nurse educator, and Vonich a program coordinator.
As such, both play a role in bringing up the next generation of nurses.
“Being able to connect with nurses and help them grow professionally is a big part of my role,” Koehne said. “So there’s a big piece of feeling that I also need to grow myself professionally if I’m in a role as an educator and promoting that for others.”
Vonich feels the same way as a program coordinator, a position in which she also educates staff.
“I think we are both really interested in and passionate about quality improvement and to understand more of that on a larger scale,” Vonich said. It’s about having the tools and skills to make meaningful change.
“I think that was kind of what we’re both interested in,” she said.
Doing better by your patient is what inspired Koehne to become a nurse in the first place.
Her family is from the Philippines, and she didn’t always have the best experience when her father would visit the doctor. English was his second language, and he didn’t always understand what the doctors or nurses were telling him.
“There was an experience where one of the nurses was trying to explain this diagnosis and the care plan for my dad,” Koehne said. “And it didn’t go well.
“I think that was the piece of like, yeah, we can do better. I want to get into that (nursing field) so that patients who have a hard time, helping them understand what’s going on with their care.
“That experience led me to say, I want to educate my patients. I want to support those who really can’t advocate for themselves or have certain barriers to care.”
The true is same for her today. It’s the why behind why she became a nurse. As she pursues her doctorate, the passion she has for stepping up for patients is still what drives her: education, improved care and advocating for the patient.
Advocacy is something she’s learning, alongside Vonich, as they’re deep into the second year of their program.
The two recently had a chance to see policymaking in action at the state level.
As part of their DNP Leadership for Advanced Nursing Practice course, and through a connection with a clinical nurse specialist who serves on the Arizona State Board of Nursing Scope of Practice Committee, they were invited to attend an in-person committee meeting.
The committee is made up of, not just nurses, but administrators and others from health care settings across the state. Committee members volunteer their time to serve on the board, which reviews questions related to nursing scope of practice, revises opinions and develops new guidance that shapes nursing practice across the state.
“It was a neat opportunity,” Koehne said. “It speaks to how the (DNP) program is well-rounded, and we’re able to get a lot of different opportunities and experiences and see exactly what the DNP leader role looks like.
“It was good to be able to … hear the impact that these DNP nurses can have in their roles, just like the future impact we can have.”
But advocacy on the state level seems like something far away from them, at least at this time in their lives.
“For now, I’m just trying to focus on the task at hand,” said Vonich of earning that doctoral degree, something she didn’t always envision for herself, though she knew she wanted to be a nurse.
“I know it sounds cliché,” she said, “but I just always felt a calling. I naturally fell into it. I’m a caretaker at heart.”
Vonich took career advancement programs in high school and “was really lucky where I didn’t have uncertainty (about a career) when I was in high school. I got into nursing school … and started working right away. No looking back.”
And there’s no looking back for the two friends as they continue on their doctoral path, supporting each other in their latest journey.
“I feel our student personalities are really similar,” Vonich said. “We like things laid out a certain way, and I can bounce (things off Koehne), ‘Am I reading this right?' 'Is my perspective right?' She can validate what I’m thinking.”
“We don’t do our homework together,” added Koehne. “But we collaborate a lot and share ideas. … I feel like there’s just times where Vanessa provides encouragement to me, especially when the program’s getting tough, and vice versa.
“It’s just nice to have that support system. Working full-time and being in the program is a lot. So having someone that understands that is really helpful.”
Manager of internal communications Lana Sweeten-Shults can be reached at [email protected].
***
Related content:
GCU News: Program passes test in helping students excel on national nursing exam
GCU News: Nursing family takes a shot at master’s program together
