Meet the Expert: Latrina Walden MHA, MSN, FNP-C, FNP-BC

A seasoned healthcare administrator and family nurse practitioner, Latrina Walden discovered her passion was in training nurse practitioner students for their certification exams. Founder and CEO of Latrina Walden Exam Solutions, Walden draws upon her highly developed research skills and professional expertise to implement strategies with targeted lesson planning and extensive teaching experience. She shares valuable skills with students to help them provide the highest standards of hospitality and services to patients. In our interview, we were able to get the backstory from a frontline perspective on the critical issues currently impacting administrators and medical service personnel.

After nearly 20 years as an administrator, RN and nurse practitioner, what was the motivation to start a test preparation company?

Rather than being participants in our professions, both my husband and I wanted to take some risks. While we didn’t know what our respective choices would look like, we agreed to go for them and see what happened. That, combined with our belief to ‘just jump because it’s only up from here,’ was the inspiration to start Latrina Walden Exam Solutions. I threw myself into my company and it just blossomed. I realized that when you walk in your purpose, it becomes clear that your choice is what you should be doing.

What is it about training that fueled your passion for establishing Latrina Walden Exam Solutions?

As a nurse practitioner, I noticed gaps between what the university teaches—mechanics and how things work—and the real-world application of the education. The board exams test on that application piece, which is critical to understand, because every patient is a puzzle. I wanted to take these huge complex problems and simplify them into nice, digestible pieces. Because of how I put the training together, students are able to recall the disease process faster when they are in front of the patient.

Please give us a brief overview of your program from the time a prospective student says “Yes,” to the time they say, “I passed.”

We typically recommend about four to six weeks after they say ‘yes’ prior to when they anticipate taking the certification exam. Most products are delivered on demand to use at their leisure. This way, we’re able to meet the student exactly where they are, which no one else is doing. It really works well because most NP students are still working RNs without many breaks, especially with COVID. They need a system compatible with their schedule. There is a plan in place, they work it and when they’re ready, they take and pass their exams.

What programs are offered?

In the generalist nurse practitioner arena, we cater to all three exams: (AANP), (ANCC) and (AGNP). There are also different tracts such as Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) that see all patients and AGNP that only sees adult gerontology patients. If an NP decides to obtain another certification, it’s usually a specialty such as psychiatric or acute which requires returning to school and passing another set of boards before obtaining the required NP certification. All of this is on top of their RN education and qualifying exams, which often people do not realize an NP has to complete. Typically NPs have eight to 10 years of nursing background before choosing to become an NP. By then, they know what they’re passionate about and pursue that particular NP training.

What are the critical thinking skills that you claim are necessary for nurses to achieve an exemplary record of caring and providing through medical service?

Critical thinking skills are not something that you can teach. It’s important to have a sense of drilling down to get at the issue. It’s necessary to ask questions to get to the answer rather than to repeat a generic response. What I offer are tools to help students think through that critical process. For example, medical terms need to be broken down. If you’re researching, it’s important to break down the research and question the data. I give folks tips and tricks to activate their own thinking skills.

In the past 15 years, what do you think has most impacted the nursing profession?

The increased pace at which healthcare moves, that it’s a numbers game and it’s definitely a business—no money, no mission. However, I feel we have forgotten the people and what it takes to care for someone as well as respecting those who are caring for the patient. Older nurses complain they can no longer rub their patients’ feet and give back massages. Instead, they ask themselves, ‘Did I document the required five times and in the right spot? Did I scan the product that I gave to the patient to capture that revenue?’ It’s so money driven we’re neglecting the caring part. Also, nurses are trained to use the desired patient response language on HCAP surveys to prompt patients to answer accordingly. Better patient reviews of provided services translates into more reimbursement money. There’s no monetary reward for neutral responses. Department hours quotas are determined by the numbers and may not accurately reflect the real needs, causing morale to suffer if personnel are stressed.

Your coursework includes strategies to avoid burnout. With COVID, how will it be managed going forward?

First, there has to be ownness, self-checking. Asking oneself, ‘Do I feel this? Yes. Am I having headaches? Yes. Am I having physiological symptoms?’ Because the healthcare worker knows themselves the best, they need to act when necessary. The hospital administration also needs to have ownness. There was a time when “life balance” was popular. Paid time off increased, people took vacations and hospitals implemented wellness programs. Fitbits were given to promote more walking to reduce stress. Now, it’s difficult to watch because no one wants to address the exacerbated burnout that is showing up because of COVID. Until we, as an organization, truly come to grips with and address it, nurses will continue to leave in droves.

What concerns do you see for the future of long-term care?

Long-term care is where I got my start as a nursing home administrator for eight to 10 years before becoming a nurse. It was a concern back then, in part, because of reimbursement rates. No matter how a patient comes in, whether through Medicare coverage or not, it gets converted to Medicaid, which notoriously pays low. Nursing facilities by nature will eat costs just to take care of patients. Medications and other operational costs are also expensive. Yet CNA’s taking care of patients are still being paid $9-$10 an hour. Without getting paid fair value, they won’t care about the job or work the long hours. I don’t think that’s the way we want to take care of people who need the help. People who do this kind of work love what they do and just want to get paid more so they can support their families. Other issues affecting long-term health care are cost of long-term care in general, staffing shortages and that now people want to age in place. We have to figure out what that model will look like and do more to educate younger people about planning for long-term health care.

On a personal note, you are a mom, wife, professor, family nurse practitioner, entrepreneur, speaker, and athlete. After a 10-year hiatus, what motivated you to recently train for and complete a triathlon?

Prior to the birth of my son, who is almost 10, I was always active. After he was born, I did the usual things moms do—I lost myself in him and stopped doing activities that I enjoyed. In the past couple of years, I voiced how I missed racing and not just for exercise. I like getting a medal at the end. I also like getting into those dark spaces that occur during monumental events that most people don’t think about. So, on a whim, I signed up to “go big or go home.” I trained through COVID; some days harder than others. When race day came, I put it all together and it was a great feeling to cross the finish line. And those dark spaces? At nine miles they showed up and I got past them.