The Advanced Practice Initiatives & Certification Outreach Team
Celebrating Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month
Featuring the Story of Felice Chang, DNP, APRN, AGCNS-BC, CHPN Honoring Chinese Culture
Dr. Felice Chang believes that each generation inherits culture through its own unique lens while carrying forward the values of those who came before. As a first-generation American of Asian descent, she views herself as writing the first American chapter of her family’s story, which spans generations marked by war, famine, migration, and resilience. Although the language and surroundings have changed over time, the central theme of her family’s story has remained constant: serving the greater good. Her passion for service began in childhood through bedtime stories about Chinese generals who sacrificed for others.
These lessons were further reinforced by stories of relatives who served as spies, helped strangers flee danger, and contributed to her family’s long history of military service. While her path was not destined to lead her into battle on horseback, Felice discovered her own calling through teaching and healthcare. Inspired by these values, she became the first nurse in her family and now proudly serves at the Veteran’s Health Administration.
Felice is passionate about meaningful work that creates a positive impact. Early in her nursing career, a fellow nurse’s plea to “remove these barriers from my work” left a lasting impression and continues to inspire her commitment to identifying and addressing barriers faced by frontline staff in every project she leads. Earning her ANCC board certification as an Adult-Gerontology Clinical Nurse Specialist (AGCNS-BC) provided professional recognition for her expertise and leadership while creating opportunities to contribute to initiatives across the healthcare system. The certification also helped validate her expertise and overcome feelings of self-doubt, often referred to as “imposter syndrome,” giving her the confidence to use her voice and contribute meaningfully within the broader healthcare community.
Achieving professional and academic recognition is a way to honor her grandmother’s dreams. At sixteen, Felice's grandmother entered an arranged marriage that limited nearly all of her choices, including access to formal education. Despite those constraints, she envisioned a future where her daughters could live independently and choose their own paths, and she ensured they all attended college. Felice represents the second generation of women in her family to work outside the home and to attend college.
Felice deeply values the opportunity to achieve what her grandmother once only imagined and carries her grandmother’s legacy into every accomplishment. To her, being first-generation means existing between two worlds while sometimes feeling not fully rooted in either. Felice often refers to the Spanish phrase “ni de aquí, ni de allá” (“not from here, nor from there”) to describe this experience of cultural imposter syndrome, occasionally questioning where one fits or feels most understood.
As a member of the National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists (NACNS), an ANCC collaborative organization, Felice values its commitment to fostering a sense of belonging, reflected in both its mission and educational programming. She also appreciates how NACNS content has expanded her understanding of how professionals collaborate and learn within an evolving healthcare environment.
Felice’s most important communication skill in practice is asking patients whether they understand. Having grown up in a multilingual environment, with Chinese as her first language, she experienced language barriers as a child and at times felt lost and unable to rely on her parents for clarification, whether due to missing context or the challenges they faced as immigrants.
She recognizes that this same dynamic occurs daily in hospitals and clinics, where patients and families are asked to make decisions about diagnoses and treatment plans they may not fully understand in context. She has witnessed family meetings in which a daughter is asked to choose between extubation, the removal of a breathing tube, and a tracheostomy, a surgical airway used for longer-term breathing support.
Felice understands that relying on medical jargon alone, without pausing to explain implications, can leave families overwhelmed and confused. For her, intentionally slowing conversations and asking, “Does everyone understand what this means?” has strengthened her practice. She believes that with the privilege of participating in healthcare conversations comes the responsibility to ensure no patient or family member is left behind. Through her commitment to patients and families, she consistently goes above and beyond, drawing on her cultural experiences as a framework for providing support and understanding.
Featuring the Story of Sagar Patel, MSN, MS, APRN, FNP-BC Honoring Indian Culture & National Osteoporosis Awareness and Prevention Month
Sagar Patel 's motivation to become a nurse stems from his passion for helping others and making a meaningful difference in people’s lives through compassionate, patient-centered care. Growing up in an Indian family, he was taught the values of service, respect for elders, empathy, resilience, and supporting the community during times of need. These cultural values strongly influenced his decision to pursue a career in healthcare centered on healing, education, and advocacy. From an early stage in his education, Sagar developed a strong interest in science, biology, and healthcare.
Over time, he came to see nursing as a way to blend scientific knowledge with compassion and leadership while making a direct impact on patients’ lives. His experience has reinforced that healthcare goes beyond treating illness to include building trust with patients and their families, and advancing long-term community health outcomes.
Throughout his career, Sagar has cared for diverse patient populations across long-term care, rehabilitation, infection prevention, outpatient family medicine, and research settings. These experiences have strengthened his commitment to patient advocacy, evidence-based practice, and culturally responsive care.
Previously, Sagar served as an Infection Control and Research Coordinator in long-term care and rehabilitation, where he supported infection surveillance, staff education, interdisciplinary collaboration, and quality improvement initiatives. He now works in family medicine, where he most enjoys teaching patients and helping them better understand their conditions, care plans, and treatments. A key focus of his clinical practice is osteoporosis care. In this role, Sagar promotes osteoporosis awareness and prevention through:
Patient education, preventive care, early risk assessment, and lifestyle counseling
Emphasis on bone health, nutrition, mobility, and fall prevention, especially in older adults and those with chronic conditions
Education on calcium and vitamin D intake, weight-bearing exercise, smoking cessation, medication adherence, and follow-up care
Promotion of early screening for patients with risk factors
His professional background has enhanced his awareness of how osteoporosis-related fractures can significantly impact quality of life, independence, and overall health outcomes. Through health promotion and patient-centered care, Sagar strives to promote healthy aging and improve long-term wellness among the populations he serves.
In addition to his clinical experience, Sagar is actively involved in professional development, research, and leadership activities, including participation in the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) Foundation Community of Leaders program, which focuses on developing leadership in infectious diseases and public health.
Sagar also participates in abstract review for professional conferences, contributing to the evaluation of scholarly work and the advancement of healthcare education. These opportunities have deepened his engagement in improving healthcare systems.
Becoming an ANCC board certified Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP-BC) supported Sagar’s goals in clinical practice and research. Certification enhanced his clinical knowledge, confidence, and ability to deliver research-informed, high-quality care across the lifespan. To Sagar, ANCC certification reflects professionalism, perseverance, leadership, and lifelong learning. As an internationally educated healthcare professional, earning certification was a meaningful milestone that represents his commitment to professional growth and excellence in patient care. It also motivates him to continue contributing to nursing practice while supporting the growth and development of future nurses.
Alongside his commitment to mentoring, collaboration, and ongoing learning through practice, Sagar also prioritizes meaningful patient connections and culturally respectful care. Being multilingual in English, Hindi, and Gujarati has enhanced his ability to communicate with patients and families from diverse backgrounds. He recognizes that effective communication is essential in healthcare.
Being able to communicate in a patient’s preferred language can reduce anxiety while fostering comfort and understanding throughout a care plan. Sagar has found that patients are often more confident discussing sensitive health concerns in their native language. He believes that culturally competent communication is essential to delivering compassionate care, strengthening patient–provider relationships, and improving patient satisfaction.
Behind Sagar’s professional growth and achievements is the unwavering support of his wife, Bhoomi Patel, whose encouragement and belief in education, resilience, and family-centered values inspired him throughout his journey balancing work, research, and academics. Her support played a meaningful role in helping him achieve his goals as an FNP and researcher.
Rooted in shared values of compassion, hard work, and service to others, Sagar and Bhoomi support one another while giving back to their community. Sagar considers Bhoomi both his life partner and a source of inspiration whose encouragement and sacrifices have helped shape his success and continue to motivate his work in patient care, leadership, research, and healthcare education.
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Meet Katelyn Bern who manages customer engagement through social media and at ANCC tradeshows. She is committed to delivering engaging and meaningful content to keep you informed about important updates, including celebrations of certified nurses, inspirational stories, newsletters, upcoming webinars, and more!
Stories of Inspiration from ANCC Certified Nurses began in May of 2024. You can view all previous stories by visiting our Meet the Team. Please let us know if you are interested in sharing your story with us by completing the below survey:
