WHERE SHE’S COMING FROM

Rudolph was an active duty Navy nurse stationed in San Diego, California, but her home will always be in Pennsylvania: she grew up in Ambler and is excited, post-military, to be back in the area. She has experience as a staff nurse in the ICU and as a sexual assault nurse examiner. She says, “My passions lie in helping those with HIV/AIDS, sex workers, and sexual assault victims.”

PRIMARY PREVENTION

Improved primary care access can be a solution for many health challenges. As an acute care nurse working in both medical-surgical and intensive care units, Rudolph often sees patients whose entire hospital stay could have been prevented with primary care. She says, “Situations like these have always left me hoping I could have done more to help the patient. I hope as a nurse practitioner, I am able to have more tools to bring about change to help these vulnerable populations.

MOMS MAKE THE DIFFERENCE

Rudolph’s mother has a lot to do with why Rudolph became a nurse: without her knowledge, her mother signed her up for the University of Pittsburgh’s “So you want to be a nurse” day, booked a hotel, and drove her across Pennsylvania to the event. After the presentations, Rudolph applied on the spot. She says, “I remember calling my mom within a few months of my first nursing job to tell her how absolutely right she was that nursing is the perfect career for me. Other than giving great career advice, my mom is a kind, peaceful person. She has patience and listening skills I could only dream of having.” It was her mother that Rudolph called immediately after finding out she’d been accepted to the Leonard A. Lauder Community Care Nurse Practitioner Program.