Driving Change and Advancing Equity in Healthcare
For Re’Jahnique Matthews, nursing is more than a career—it’s a calling rooted in a deep commitment to equity, education, and community health. As a licensed nurse practitioner and graduate of Loyola’s Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program, Matthews is leveraging her education and expertise to build a career dedicated to breaking barriers and driving meaningful change in healthcare systems.
Pursuing a DNP
Matthews always knew she wanted to work in healthcare, and she was particularly drawn to nursing’s holistic approach to patient care. After completing a bachelor’s degree at Howard University and an MS in Nursing at Vanderbilt University, she was determined to continue her education and earn a DNP degree. “Once I got into nursing, I immediately loved it. I told myself I would go to the highest level and get my doctorate,” she said. “I was the first person in my family to do this, so I was putting a lot of pressure on myself.”
Matthews was initially drawn to Loyola because of the affordability of its DNP program and the opportunity to return home to Chicago after earning her first two degrees out of state. However, she soon realized that it was Loyola’s values that resonated with her most. “I had heard about Loyola from colleagues and friends who went there, and I really liked their values; social justice and ethics are so important to me,” she reflected. “My goal has always been to give back to my community through education and healthcare. The values aligned so perfectly.”
Unlocking new opportunities
Matthews quickly discovered that Loyola’s inclusive culture and supportive faculty offered the perfect environment to enhance her expertise and strengthen her commitment to equity in healthcare. Through advanced courses in areas such as quality and safety, health policy, and health care economics, as well as a DNP project focused on postpartum depression screenings in a pediatric setting, Matthews built on her previous experience and developed a deeper understanding of nursing at the systems level.
As a DNP student, one of Matthews’ most transformative experiences was serving on the Policy and Systems Change subcommittee for the Healing-Centered Illinois Task Force, where she contributed to statewide efforts to implement trauma-informed practices in public services. The opportunity arose after a class discussion about the importance of nurse representation in policymaking inspired her to apply. “It was such a great experience that literally came from me being in a doctoral course at Loyola,” she reflected. “It really changed my outlook on what I wanted to do in healthcare.”
Looking to the future
After completing her DNP degree, Matthews sought a role that would allow her to affect change on a larger scale. “When I first started, I wanted to be a nurse that could help people at a personal level, but now I also want to affect systems,” she said. “Right now, I’m working at the Office of Correctional Medicine at Southern Illinois University Medicine to improve health outcomes in our state prisons. I feel like it’s way more impactful, and I still get to work as a nurse practitioner once a week.”
Looking ahead, Matthews has big goals for the future. She hopes to one day open her own community health center, offering a range of services to underserved populations and building on her lifelong commitment to addressing healthcare inequities. She also recently began teaching as a part-time instructor at Loyola, a role she plans to expand on in the years ahead. “I want to teach as a means to give back to nursing students and to instill those core values that my education instilled in me,” she said.
To learn more about Loyola’s DNP program, visit our website or contact Loyola’s Graduate & Professional Admissions team with questions.