Her Story
About Nicole
I started my career in a completely different field as a cosmetologist, doing hair for a long time, but I wasn't making enough money in that industry. I saw an ad in the paper for free medical terminology classes and training at the local hospital to become a unit secretary, with guaranteed 40 hours and benefits. I went to a walk-in interview, and I always laugh because the girl said she liked my hair. I got the job and started at the very bottom with no medical background whatsoever. I worked as a unit secretary for a long time, then became a patient care assistant in the neonatal intensive care unit, doing a dual role. That's when I realized I wanted to be a nurse, so I went back to school and obtained a scholarship from PEO Sisterhood to help with my schooling. I earned my associate's degree in nursing and worked in postpartum and labor and delivery. When I moved down here to North Carolina, I had applied for a job in labor and delivery, but because I had some experience in leadership from running urgent cares back in Pennsylvania, they talked me into being a house supervisor at this hospital. I did that for a few years, and then they offered me the position over oncology, which was a brand new world for me. I had to go back and get my bachelor's for this position, which I completed in 2024. I've been managing the oncology and ambulatory medical unit now for the last four to five years, and it'll be five years in October this year. I started at the bottom and went all the way to the top, well, not all the way to the top, but I keep moving up.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Nicole
01What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say always strive for what you want, and don't give up. Don't minimize what you feel like you can do. Like, if you strive, you can do it. Don't settle. And I wish people knew how much those middle steps matter for you. You can't just skip all those middle steps and go straight to the top. All those middle steps help build you to where you need to be when you get to the top. You have to work your way to the top, you can't just start there.
02What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenges I'm seeing right now are with the new nursing graduate students, especially those who may have gone through school during COVID times. They're just not into the learning or the communication the same way. They're not grasping it like they used to. They want to be hand-fed things. For example, if they ask us a question about why we do a certain drug or why we run it a certain way, and you're trying to talk them through the clinical judgment process, they want to be hand-fed the answers. They don't want to use their resources and try to learn. They want answers now, and I kind of feel like that's a new generational thing, that instant satisfaction. There's no working for it anymore. When you go and talk to new grad nursing students and ask how many of you want to be at the bedside, none of them raise their hand. They want to go straight to the top and skip all those middle steps, but all those middle steps help build you to where you need to be when you get to the top.
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