Rhea Dawn Goddard

My journey in healthcare began after my husband and I moved from Germany to Abilene when he was in the Air Force. I didn't want to wait to get into nursing school, so I started with paramedicine at age 35, working first as a ground paramedic for 6 years and then advancing to flight paramedic for 10 years. Even while working as a flight paramedic, I still wanted to pursue nursing, so I used a bridge program to transition and earned my nursing license in 2018 at age 45. For the past 3 years, I've been a staff RN at Hendrick Medical Center in Abilene, Texas, where I work in multiple areas including the trauma unit, triage, fast track, and general medical rooms. My day-to-day involves everything from starting IVs and general patient care to managing critically ill or injured patients, dealing with septic patients on pressors, managing blood sugar emergencies, and coordinating with incoming EMS units. During COVID, I worked as a travel nurse on the West Coast and in Maryland in high-need COVID areas. My proudest moment during that time was being able to connect patients with their families when they couldn't visit in person, spending time on the phone or using iPads for FaceTime so families could stay updated and talk to their loved ones. After years of moving around with the military and then traveling every 3 months as a travel nurse, my husband and I finally decided last year to settle down permanently in Texas.