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Registered Nurse In Detroit Shares The Secret To Her Career Success

Registered Nurse and Geriatric Care Manager Angil Tarach-Ritchey was born and raised in Detroit and worked in a nursing home back in 1977 when she was merely a 17-year-old girl. There she found a box of love letters written many generations ago that sparked a passion inside of her to forever advocate and strive for the rights of elders in our communities. Tarach-Ritchey is a registered nurse, geriatric care manager, national eldercare expert, best-selling and award-winning author of "Behind the Old Face: Aging in America and the Coming Elder Boom," speaker, consultant and educator.

Registered Nurse & Geriatric Care Manager Angil Tarach-Ritchey (photo courtesy of Angil Tarach-Ritchey
Registered Nurse & Geriatric Care Manager Angil Tarach-Ritchey (photo courtesy of Angil Tarach-Ritchey

Tarach-Ritchey still lives and works in the Metro Detroit area and has written over 70 articles and been featured and quoted in CNBC, Reuters, Women Entrepreneur, Life Goes Strong, Case in Point magazine and many other websites, magazines and newspapers across the country and internationally. She is a highly respected advocate for the elderly. To contact Tarach-Ritchey or learn more about her work, visit www.elderboom.org.

What is the most relevant aspect of your education that applies to your day-to-day job?

"Clinical experience in the hospital is absolutely the most relevant to any nursing position because you're actually doing the work you will be doing post graduation and once you pass the state licensure exam. I learned to be flexible and to expect change. This is critical to nursing and health care in general, because nothing is constant."

How important is a solid education within your field?

"Education is extremely important in nursing and health care. Employers like to see advanced degrees in nursing, but experience also plays a significant role. Specializing in an area of choice and becoming certified in that specialty will always stand out if you are seeking employment in that area."

After graduation, how hard was it to transition to the working world? 

"I didn't have any difficulty transitioning or finding employment in the nursing field, but I excelled in college with high honors, several awards and felt I was well trained by my nursing instructors. Nursing is a wide field with many opportunities in which to find suitable work, but it's becoming more competitive, so the more you can bring to the table, the better chance you'll have to secure your preferred area of work."

Do you have any advice for someone just starting out?

"I suggest new nurses focus on the areas they love to work in rather than on what department appears to be more impressive. You will only excel in work you enjoy and every bit of experience you gain in that area will benefit you in the future."

Michael Ferro is freelance writer and a graduate of Michigan State University where he majored in Creative Writing and received the Jim Cash Creative Writing Award. Born and bred in Detroit, he currently resides in Ypsilanti Township. Additional writing can be found at Examiner.com.

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