Registered Nurse

Rosa, MSN | Registered Nurse
College Attended: Erskine College (undergrad), Rush University (grad school)

What inspires you?
My inspiration is my family. I want to make them happy and proud of me. Additionally seeing patients come full circle from being sick to better and able to go home, inspires me to keep doing my job. 

Tell me about your job. What attracted you to this career?
I’m a Nurse on an inpatient medical/surgical/telemetry unit in the hospital. I have always known I wanted to do something in the medical field and it came down to just narrowing down what exactly. I enjoy helping others and putting others first before myself. Nursing is direct, front line patient care and that is what drew me to it.

What obstacles did you overcome to get to this point in your career?
Obstacles en route to becoming a nurse were the final decision of what school to choose (whether I should stay close to home or move away), bachelor vs master’s degree, additionally nurse or another medical profession. Nursing school itself was difficult and then passing the NCLEX was a difficult task. The COVID pandemic also has been a huge obstacle for nursing and personally working on a COVID unit was a difficult task that school could not prepare you for. 

How does a person progress in your field?
There are many opportunities for advancement in Nursing. You can work bedside in a hospital. There are management opportunities, education/teaching, outpatient facilities, home health, public health, and many other subsets of the field. The field of nursing is quite vast with endless opportunities for either undergraduate, graduate or doctoral degrees. 

Do you have any advice you would like to give future and current college students? 
Do not think you have to know exactly what you want to do when you start college. There are many avenues that can be taken, be patient and make sure you find the right one for you!