Alumni in Action: Chris Connors

Lifelong Learning from Music to Nursing

by Ava Huelskamp

Chris Connors, DNP, (’23) APRN-CNP, FNP-C, EBP-C, didn’t start out desiring nursing credentials after his name. Even though Connors came from a medical family – his parents are both physicians – he originally chose music.

Connors spent his free time in middle and high school practicing oboe and playing in the Cleveland Youth Orchestra. At the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, he spent seven hours a day practicing.

Even after years of musical training, including a master’s degree in oboe performance and an instrument repair apprenticeship, Connors still hadn’t found career fulfillment. For Connors, nursing was the answer.

Meet Chris Connors, DNP (‘23), APRN-CNP, FNP-C, and hear about his experience in the Ohio State BSN to DNP program. Learn more about our BSN to DNP program and apply here.

“I like helping people. Obviously on the musical stage you’re connecting with people in an emotional way,” he said, but he wanted more. His family also helped influence his decision to pursue nursing. “I saw the impact that my parents were able to make with their patients,” Connors said. “I realized that I wanted to take a more direct approach with helping people.”

Connors, who received the Florence Nightingale scholarship from Ohio State, also chose nursing because it offered flexibility in career opportunities. “In nursing, you can really do anything, from being in a cardiac unit to an outpatient clinic ... there are not many professions where you can switch around like that,” he said. “Being an oboist, there was no way I could say, ‘Next week I’m going to become a clarinetist.’ ”

Connors believes the “creative muscle” he built as a musician prepared him well for being a nurse. He feels nursing is a creative art, like music, even if most nurses don’t think of it that way.

Connors looked to Ohio State for his most recent degree, choosing the BSN-DNP program in the College of Nursing with a family nurse practitioner specialty. He ambitiously followed two DNP tracks, clinical expert and nurse executive, and noted that the ability to complete the program in three years really “maximizes the return on investment.” He has recently accepted a nurse practitioner position in the urgent care specialty at MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland.

To help other students assimilate and transition smoothly into the BSN-DNP program, Connors created a mentorship program with colleague Daniel Martin, MS, RN, and mentor Todd Tussing, DNP, RN, CENP, NEA-BC, that follows a peer-to-peer model. “As each semester goes along, everyone I’ve mentored has gained the confidence and support needed to excel in the program,” Connors said.

Connors credits the faculty and staff in the BSN-DNP program with helping him achieve his dream. “That’s why I chose The Ohio State University College of Nursing – the culture of this thirst for knowledge: dreaming, discovering and delivering all of these different ideas on how to inspire change, inspire yourself to go beyond where you think you can go. This is why I believe if you can dream it, you can really do it.”