To say that choosing a path in college is easy would be a lie that most current students could attest to.
While many students today continue to search for their calling, three University of Central Florida women have found their passion in nursing. The field of nursing has been known to be challenging, but that has not stopped Carolyn Hair, Brittany Reid, and Andria Dansby from furthering their education.
Current UCF junior, Carolyn Hair, is no stranger to working hard for what she wants. Being only twenty years old, she has already begun to see the rewards that come with putting in the extra hours of studying.
“ I think back to all the hours of studying I put in to make sure I had the right GPA to even get into the program. As you watch your friends have fun and settle for the “C’s get degrees” motto,” Hair said. “It is easy to wonder why you chose a program that demands for all “A’s.” Then you get into the program and realize that the workload just tripled in size and that everything you learn could affect the life of another human.”
Hair spends anywhere from 2 to 5 hours a day, either studying or doing homework depending on her workload that week. During a very busy week, Hair will spend up to 35 hours looking over her course material.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in the year 2014, the number of jobs for registered nurses was more than 2.7 million. With that many registered nurses nation wide, it is no surprise that nursing has become one of the largest healthcare professions today.
Senior, Brittany Reid, was lucky enough to experience just what nursing had to offer early on thanks to an OB clinical that would leave a memory forever engraved in her mind.
Reid was able to use the knowledge she had acquired from her previous nursing classes, as well as her Spanish speaking minor and put the both to use at work. Reid began studying Spanish in the 6th grade; learning early on that in Florida there would be a high population of Spanish speakers.
To Reid, being able to understand as many of her patients as possible was extremely important.
“There was a time when I was assisting with a woman’s birth, and she spoke only Spanish. I was able to assist the woman at the beginning of her birth. She was so incredibly thankful that someone in the room was able to understand her—her fears, her joy.”
Nursing is a career path that not only requires an individual to have the right training to take care of sick patients, but also a heart big enough to care for patients.
During the same clinical rotation, Reid, had the opportunity to visit the NICU for a day.
“I spent the entire day, one-on-one, with a baby experiencing drug withdrawals due to his mother’s illicit drug use while pregnant. This tiny, precious baby had no visitor the entire 12 hours I was there.”
The child was shaking violently and crying intensely throughout her time there.
“Holding that baby and caring for him all day—it was like my embrace was the only thing keeping him from shaking apart. I sang to him, rocked him, and fed him. I showed him the love I would want someone to show my own family member,” Reid said. “Looking into his sleepy eyes after I had calmed him down was the most rewarding moment of my life.”
As a result of that experience, Reid, realized that her calling was working with babies in the NICU.
Similar to Reid, Andria Dansby, had a story during her clinical hours that made her certain that nursing was the right career path for her.
During her clinical, Dansby found herself caring for a patient on the oncology floor who had stage 4 ovarian cancer. The patient was very ill and was not expected to have many more days left.
“I stayed with her all day while I was at clinical and advocated for her when she was feeling pain or discomfort. She asked my teacher if our entire clinical group could come in her room at the end of the day, which we all did,” Dansby said. “She told the group how I was an amazing student nurse and that I listened to what she had to say instead of just following orders. She told me she loved me and that I was an angel.”
Dansby is currently a senior who after graduation is hoping to move out of state and work for a cardiac unit.
Nursing may not be every college students’ career calling, but for those who do choose nursing there is no doubt that it is a career path filled with life changing moments.