Gerontological nursing never gets old for Maureen S. Beck, DNP, GNP-BC.

Beck earned her Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) from UTHealth Houston in 1992 as one of the first graduates from what was then the geriatric nurse practitioner program. She later came back for a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree and a post-master’s certificate in nursing education.

Today, Beck wears several hats as an assistant professor at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, a health care provider with UT Physicians, and a committed preceptor to Cizik School of Nursing at UTHealth Houston students.

As a teenager, Beck wanted to be a cardiothoracic surgeon, but a hospitalization at age 16 changed her mind.

“I got to experience being a patient in the hospital,” she said. “I decided I didn’t want to be a physician. I wanted to be a nurse because they spend more time with their patients.”

The New Jersey native received her undergraduate nursing degree at Duke University and moved to Houston in the early 1980s after her husband accepted a job here. At the time, the UTHealth Houston nursing school offered geriatric, pediatric, and nurse anesthesia tracks in its nurse practitioner program. When she decided to go back to school, gerontological nursing seemed a natural choice.

“My parents were 45 and 55 when I was born, so all of the adults I was ever around were older than everybody else’s parents,” she said. “I felt more comfortable with that population than I would have with pediatrics.”

Her first nurse practitioner job after earning her MSN involved making house calls to older adults in several counties. She recalls driving an ambulance-sized truck with no mirrors all over the Greater Houston area for the grant-funded project.

When Beck earned her first graduate degree, nurse practitioner programs were offered at the MSN level. However, a few years after UTHealth Houston launched the state’s first DNP program, Beck chose to further her education. By that time, she already served as an adjunct clinical faculty for both the medical and nursing schools at UTHealth Houston.

“My career is an example how far a DNP can take you,” said Beck. “Having the DNP assisted me as I pursued advancement at the medical school as an assistant professor and in leading quality for my division.”

Nurse practitioner programs at Cizik School of Nursing across the nation are now transitioning from MSN to DNP degrees. 

Today, Beck spends most of her time seeing patients in the clinic, teaching fellows, and serving as the quality officer for McGovern’s division of geriatric and palliative medicine. One day a week, she visits patients in their homes as part of the House Call program operated out of the UTHealth Houston Center for Healthy Aging at Bellaire. Thankfully, she can now navigate Houston traffic in her own car rather than a giant truck.

The House Call program is just one of the many comprehensive services offered at the Center on Healthy Aging. The Bellaire clinic was the first in the state designated as an Age-Friendly Health System. An interdisciplinary team of health care providers and social workers care for patients in a space specially designed for and accessible to older adults.

Providers see most patients in the clinic, but for older adults unable to come to the office, telemedicine visits and house calls can help keep them out of the emergency department.

“Telemedicine is great, but a hands-on assessment gives us more information,” she said. “When you walk into someone’s home, you see the real person. You see how much laundry they have to do, how little space they have to move around with the medical equipment. You see them taking care of someone with challenges. You see their wedding pictures.”

Beck enjoyed “fantastic” clinical rotations in hospitals, clinics, and homes during her nurse practitioner program, and she pays it forward nearly every semester by precepting students from Cizik School of Nursing.

“As an alumna, it’s a great way to give back to the school,” she said. “I can offer a student a really excellent geriatric experience that leaves them better prepared when they graduate to take care of older adults.”

She feels that nursing students often overlook gerontological nursing as a career path and encourages them to consider this rewarding field.

“If you are looking for a career that is only going to grow, our patient population is getting bigger every day,” Beck said. “There is so much variety and so much need for people who are willing to care and willing to learn.”