Second life

Second careers

What's in a life? Gone are the days of a one-career life. In the search for a meaningful and secure job, people increasingly are choosing nursing.

Nationwide, nursing schools with accelerated baccalaureate programs saw a 21% increase in second-degree students from 2005 to 2007, according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (Though it does not have an accelerated baccalaureate program, the School of Nursing, attracts many second-degree students. They make up about 60% of the applicant pool.)

They come from all kinds of first careers, and bring a variety of skills and life experience with them, all of which serve them well in the classroom and clinical settings. The following pages showcase just a few of past and present students and their stories of transition.

Robert Angstadt
 

Who:

Robert Angstadt 08N

Then:

He earned an MBA from Emory in 1989, worked for Citicorp, Ford, and Mercedes-Benz in the United States and United Kingdom for five years, traveling four days a week on business.

Transition:

Near-fatal collision with a semi-truck led Angstadt to make a U-turn in life. The accident, though traumatic, became his “proverbial 50-foot Jesus,” he says, a sign that he had been given a second chance for a new life. “My dad died when he was 40, and I was 41 at the time of the accident. I realized that if you’re going to spend 10 hours a day working, you darned well better be able to enjoy it. There was a nagging voice inside me that wouldn’t let up, and I decided to pursue something service-oriented. I really had to start my education from scratch, and it was a tough couple of years. But there are very few worthwhile things in life that are easy.”

Now:

A neonatal intensive care nurse at Northside Hospital. “One day early on in my job it was very busy, and one particular baby was crying. I couldn’t just let him cry until I could get to him. I gave him a pacifier and calmed him down. The next day I got a card from the baby’s grandmother that said: ‘Thank you for taking such good care of my grandchild.’ Her gratitude meant the world to me.”

 
     



Richard Bennevendo
 

Who:

Richard Bennevendo 09N

Then:

He worked as a grounds supervisor at Emory for 18 years, during which he earned a BS in biology from Georgia State University. He joined the Naval Reserves after 9/11 and will serve until November.

Transition:

He got married a few years ago, and his wife encouraged him to go back to school. He chose nursing because he felt a calling from God to “share his heart with the world. I saw a video on the School of Nursing website, and that was it. I knew what I was meant to do with my life. It was as if from that moment on, every obstacle, including tuition, was removed."

A poignant moment in his Emory training was learning the importance of foot care, a task symbolic of humility and service. “I had this aversion to feet when I started. I realized that foot care is overlooked, even though it’s critical for diabetics. The washing of feet is significant in my faith, so I consciously overcame my aversion. It made me realize how much the little things can give comfort to someone who is sick or in pain.”

Now:

Age 43, graduating in May. His full scholarship requires him to work in an underserved community for two years, and he’s chosen West Georgia Health System in LaGrange, Ga.

 
     


Ivey Milton
 

Who:

Ivey Milton 10N

Then:

Graphic designer at Emory University. “When I was at Furman University, my professors made graphic design sound exciting. Once I got into the real world, I found it to be eight hours of sitting in front of a computer with little interaction with my colleagues.

Transition:

“Halfway through my first pregnancy, I had complications. My health care providers did everything to calm my fears and educate me as to what life with a preemie would be like. Once Noah was born, I felt prepared to handle watching and waiting for him to stabilize. I realized that not all women are fortunate enough to have the wonderful care I experienced. Maybe I could care and comfort patients who found themselves in uncertain situations.

I looked into my options for medical degrees, but I focused on nursing because of the quality and quantity of patient interaction. I have to admit that while I am convinced that nursing is for me, I’ve had moments when I was afraid I was in way over my head. My first rotation was working on a long-term acute care wing, where many patients had tracheotomies. My second week on the wing, I was assessing my patient when she started waving her hand frantically. I immediately thought the worst. I tracked down her nurse and explained that my patient was having a major problem. We found out she was simply hot and wanted the fan on, something I could have done in two seconds. I’ve since learned to calm down and recognize that I am there after all to act as their nurse.”

Now:

Age 28. An Emory Healthcare scholarship recipient, she will work at one of its hospitals after graduation.

 
     


Camille Pereira
 

Who:

Camille Pereira 09N

Then:

In the early 1980s, she emigrated from Guyana to New York. With an accounting degree, she became a foreign exchange clerk for Mitsubishi Bank. “The man who interviewed me at Mitsubishi was so impressed by my ability to do mental math, he offered me a full-time position on the spot. I learned the world of finance from the bottom up.” For 20 years, she worked on Wall Street as a currency trader, for Chemical Bank and other companies. After witnessing 9/11, she moved her family to Georgia.

Transition:

Her father had a stroke in 2004. “I had just moved to Georgia, so I rushed back to New York to be with him. I had originally booked my airline  ticket for three days, but when I saw my dad in the ICU, I was devastated. I knew I couldn’t leave. He couldn’t speak and was very agitated. It was horrible to see my father like that. I stayed in the hospital 24/7 for 10 days. The nurses trained me how to do everything.”

She returned home resolved to become a nurse. “I had made all this money on Wall Street, yet had never felt so fulfilled and content as I did taking care of people.” She resigned as a financial analyst and took her core classes. “My dad is the sole motivator for my career change. I learned through his experience that taking care of people is what I am meant to do.”

Now:

Age 47 and plans to work in geriatric nursing. “I tell my children that when I die you will say that your mother was not just about making money. She was about caring for other people.”

 
     



Thomas Tucker
 

Who:

Thomas Tucker 05N

Then:

Commercial sales for McDonnell Douglas. His final sales deal was for the entire Boeing 717 fleet, a billion-dollar order, operated by AirTran (formerly ValuJet) today.

Transition:

Tucker’s inclination toward nursing began in the early 1980s, when he was hospitalized for five months at a California hospital for depression. “I have not hidden this fact. I even had my former psychiatrist write a letter of recommendation for my application to the BSN program. With psychotherapy following my hospitalization, my life moved from darkness into brilliance. I wanted to help other people have the same degree of recovery that I experienced.”

It wasn’t until much later that he was prompted to make a change. Boeing merged with McDonnell Douglas in 1997 and wanted Tucker to move to its Seattle headquarters. “It made me reevaluate my priorities. Sales had felt ho-hum a lot of the time, and the thought of working for Boeing seemed mundane. I also had taken care of my mother in her final battle with breast cancer. I looked closely in the mirror one day while I was shaving, and it hit me—if I waited much longer, it would be too late.” He was 53 when he graduated.

Now:

RN II at Wesley Woods Geriatric Hospital’s long-term acute care unit. “Nursing has been everything I dreamed it would be,” he says. “My only regret
is that I didn’t do it sooner.”

 
     



Lorraine Withers
 

Who:

Lorraine Withers 03N

Then:

Among the first women to graduate from West Point (she holds the hat of the cadet uniform above), Withers spent five years in the Army. “Once you jump out of an airplane, you can do anything,” she says. “I was responsible for 40 to 60 soldiers. Time and crisis management are my strongest skills that I’ve transferred to nursing. I don’t get flustered, and I’m not intimidated by anybody.”

Transition:

After working as an engineer for Proctor & Gamble, she decided to go back to school at 34. “I liked the process of engineering, but I find the process of the human body so much more interesting. Engineering was missing a human element. Nursing is a really good fit for me. I thought about medical school, but at the time I had young kids. There are so many paths to choose from in nursing. I could easily change my focus within the field.”

Now:

Now 45, she is a nurse practitioner in pulmonary and critical care at an Albany, Ga., hospital. “I like the multiple problem-solving in critical care. It’s like following a story—you watch it unfold as the patient responds to treatment.” Withers became the charter president of the Albany Nurse Practitioners Chapter. “I always say, don’t whine unless you’re willing to do something about it. I learned a lot about organizing and politics at West Point, and I’ve put that knowledge to good use in nursing.” 

 
     

Table of Contents




spring cover 2009