Nurse of the Week: Cody Forsberg, Recent DNP Graduate, Follows in Grandfather’s Footsteps

Our Nurse of the Week is Cody Forsberg, a recent graduate of the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program at Wichita State University (WSU), who decided to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps by pursuing a career in nursing. His grandfather passed away when Forsberg was just five years old, but they have a lot in common: nursing degrees from WSU and a passion to care for others.

Forsberg’s grandfather, Frank Hopkins, earned his bachelor’s and master’s degree in nursing from WSU in the 1970s after retiring from the Air Force. He later became a bedside nurse for the US Department of Veterans Affairs and taught nursing classes at a community college in Fayetteville, NC. Although his grandfather died when he was young, Forsberg grew up hearing stories of how compassionate his grandfather was and how much he cared about helping others in any way that he could.

Forsberg decided at an early age to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps of caring for people at their most vulnerable. He was also inspired by his grandmother, a retired nurse who spent her career working in labor and delivery. When he finished his bachelor’s degree in 2010, Forsberg’s grandmother passed down his grandfather’s nursing pin.

Forsberg tells Kansas.com, “Nursing for me is being there for people when they’re at their most vulnerable point in life. When they’re sick and unable to care for themselves, and their families are unable to care for them. And regardless of the healthcare discipline that you’re in, nurses are at the bedside 100 percent of the time.”

Now a nurse at Via Christi St. Francis Hospital, Forsberg graduated from WSU’s doctor of nursing practice program in December with a specialization as a family nurse practitioner. With a wife and young daughter at home, completing his DNP degree has shown Forsberg the strength that it takes to be a nurse.