Nurse Practitioner Starts CPR Certification Business
Tiffany Barber, a Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) from Florida, became a nurse after the loss of her mother. Barber overcame many obstacles on her journey to becoming a nurse, from learning English, and taking multiple per diem jobs, to now teaching BLS, ACLS, and PALS to nurses. In fact, Barber has started her own company certifying and recertifying healthcare professionals.
The pandemic has propelled the desire for nurses to find alternative jobs beyond the bedside, for a variety of reasons. Like most nurses, Barber loves to work, travel, but also educate. When not traveling or spending time with her husband who is in the Army, Barber found teaching as an outlet.
And CPR Florida was born. Barber found that teaching was easy because “when I am traveling to different states because I can always teach.”
A Long Journey
Barber, 29, was originally born and raised in the Philippines. She lost her mother to epilepsy in 2005. “I went into nursing because I could not save my mother,” she said. Barber was never taught what to do to help her mother during or after a seizure, and so led to a desire to become a nurse. After being adopted in 2007, Barber moved to the United States and the journey started.
After graduating from LPN school in 2014, Barber immediately started working towards becoming an RN. There was one small hiccup. Her English language skills were less than ideal. “I kept reading books and kept pushing through.” Her determination prevailed and she started nursing school full time while also working full time. In 2016, Barber graduated with an ADN and then immediately started working in the Emergency Department and after gaining a year of bedside experience, started travel nursing.
While traveling to every state in the US, Barber continued working towards her BSN, finally graduating in 2016 from the University of Central Florida. But that wasn’t enough. “In 2016, a month after graduating from my BSN, I got accepted to my MSN program to pursue my FNP,” said Barber. In 2020, she graduated from Florida Southern College and earned her FNP.
Barber continues to pursue her passion for nursing despite having her FNP. She still practices as an RN, taking travel nursing contracts, to keep up with her bedside skills. In fact, she feels like it makes her a better NP.
Becoming an AHA Instructor
Barber took courses to become an instructor through the American Heart Association (AHA). After completing the course, she had to pass an extensive written exam and a hands-on portion, and also teach several classes in front of a class and preceptor.
Teaching courses have been refreshing for Barber and a change from the everyday stress of bedside nursing. She hopes one day to be a training center for other AHA instructors.
“Then, more people can offer the classes and students will have options and not have to wait weeks, months to be able to get into one of these classes,” she says.
The process of becoming certified or recertified through Barber is easy. (In fact, I personally have done it myself for ACLS recertification and it was extremely easy and very helpful.)
Follow these easy steps to become (re)certified.
- Message Barber via Instagram or email (cpr.florida@yahoo.com)
- Send information including name, location, certification needed, and expiration date
Barber will instruct you about upcoming online course options and send study guide materials - Fees can be sent via Venmo or Zelle
- Most of Barber’s clients are obtained via word of mouth but “when I am working in different states and interviewing for a new assignment, I usually tell my interviewing managers what I do.”
Barber’s courses are straightforward and the study guide material is extremely informative and well done. Despite hospitals restarting in-person recertification courses, classes are becoming full very quickly and nurses are finding their certifications lapsing.
Despite Barber focusing on healthcare professionals, she also can certify anyone wanting to learn First Aid, CPR, or AED. “I can certify people who are not in healthcare and wanting to learn how to do CPR, especially new parents who want that piece of mind on how to learn first aid,” she says. Essentially, Barber can recertify any healthcare profession including physicians and respiratory therapists.
Barber feels like she is filling a void because “sometimes ACLS/ PALS are only once a month and sometimes nurses are working on those days and hospitals do not train traveler nurses too because “they’re not staff”.
To find out more, check out Tiffany Barber’s Instagram or email her at cpr.florida@yahoo.com.
