As the daughter of a missionary, Igng Vildor was inspired by her mother from a young age.
“My mom was a nurse who worked primarily with older patients and often went on medical mission trips to impoverished countries,” she recalls. “She brought my four siblings and I with her on those trips, and although we didn’t have much, that showed us how fortunate we were compared to so many.”
That early influence made Igng want to follow in her mother’s footsteps, so after graduating high school in Miami, Florida, she enrolled at a community college and started taking prerequisites for nursing school. However, her excitement grew into nerves. “I doubted myself and worried whether nursing was for me,” Igng says. She switched into a surgical technologist program and became a certified surgical technologist in 2001.
A Start in the Operating Room
Igng joined Orlando Regional Medical Center, where she assisted in surgeries on patients with a range of conditions—from neurological disorders to car accident wounds to orthopedic disorders. She grew fascinated by the world of cardiology, and as her confidence and knowledge increased, her dream of nursing school came to mind again. To save money to pay for it, Igng became a travel surgical tech, which allowed her to expand her skills by working in facilities ranging from level I to level IV throughout the East Coast. By 2012, Igng was ready. She finished a contract in New York and applied to an Associate Degree of Nursing program at Saint Paul’s School of Nursing.
A Winding Road to Becoming a Nurse
Nursing school was anything but easy for Igng. It took her two attempts to pass the entrance exam, and just before she started classes, her mother passed away. “I thought about quitting as I coped with everything, but my brother encouraged me not to give up,” she says. For the next two years, Igng worked as a surgical tech at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City and took the train directly to school to attend her evening classes.
Her hard work paid off. The cardiac surgeons she worked with on a contract were impressed by Igng and helped her get hired by the hospital full time. After graduating and becoming a Registered Nurse in 2014, she transitioned into a nursing position in the same area: cardiology/cardiovascular. To ensure she wouldn’t be held back as her career went forward, she also pursued a Bachelor of Science in Nursing online, finishing in fall 2015.
Open Doors and Inspiration
Having the BSN opened doors for Igng. She spent two years as a cardiac/interventional nurse at Lenox Hill Hospital—where she had previously worked as a surgical tech—then returned to travel nursing in 2018. That led her to California, where she worked at California Hospital, Ronald Reagan University of California Los Angeles Medical Center, and Kaiser Permanente, focusing on cardiac services, pediatrics, interventional cardiology, shock trauma, intensive care and organ transplants.
“These experiences were excellent, but I’d been thinking about becoming a Nurse Practitioner so I could practice independently and manage my own patients,” Igng says. She started a program in 2018, but her unpredictable schedule forced her to put school on pause after just a few classes.
Finding Post University
Like other travel nurses, Igng found herself overwhelmed with work during the pandemic and the years that followed, taking contracts at California hospitals with a dire need for healthcare professionals. Once life slowed down, she started researching online Nurse Practitioner programs and came across American Sentinel College of Nursing and Health Sciences at Post University.
The curriculum of the Master of Science in Nursing – Family Nurse Practitioner (MSN-FNP) was the first thing that stood out to Igng. “I liked the structure of the program, where students take one course at a time and complete the corresponding clinical hours within that course,” says Igng, who started the MSN in spring 2023. “But the other thing I liked right away about Post was the people I spoke to. Everyone was welcoming and responsive, from the admissions people to the student success advisors.”
A Goal to Serve the Underserved
Much like her mother, Igng has a heart for helping people—especially those from impoverished backgrounds. “I want to work in a medically underserved area because I think I could make a real difference to people who lack an understanding of how to manage certain diseases or health issues and face other barriers,” she says. Igng expects to complete the MSN Family Nurse Practitioner at Post University in fall 2024. She will then look for opportunities in such an area. Long term, she wants to open her own private practice.
Igng has another goal in mind: teaching. “I would love to teach nursing students and help them understand the importance of their roles,” she says. “I am considering getting a Doctor of Nursing Practice with an Educational Leadership Specialization at Post because it’s been a great experience. The university wants students to succeed, so as I think about options, Post is definitely on top.”