Her Story
About Tina
I wanted to be a nurse right out of high school, but life took me in a different direction first. I started working, got a new car, got married, and spent 17 years doing computerized drafting. When the plant where I worked was closing and they wanted us to move to Wisconsin, Iowa, or Texas, my husband encouraged me to finally pursue my dream of nursing. I would get financial assistance because there were so many workers being displaced, so I went back to school at the College of Southern Idaho, where I'm now a graduate from. I started working as a nurse doing geriatric rehab, performing MDSs (assessments that determine how businesses get paid from the government), doing assessments on patients every 7 days, updating their care plans, and checking to see how they were doing. I worked there for 17 years, and while working, I got my bachelor's degree through Idaho State University in Pocatello, going up one day a month to campus but mostly online. My husband saw that CSI was needing an instructor and said 'this is just made for you' because I would teach new nurses about the legal things they needed to know for charting to make it legal if they had to go to court, and I was a BLS instructor at Bridgeview. When I came to the college and applied, the head of the nursing department was the lovely lady who was my clinical instructor when I was at the college in first semester, so it just seemed like it was meant to be. Because of the state of Idaho requirements, you have to have your master's within 3 years, so I started in February and in the fall I started my master's degree with ISU. I graduated with high honors and became part of Sigma Theta Tau International. I worked full-time teaching and took 13 credits a semester. Now I teach mental health nursing and med-surg, and I'm building a course for next semester to teach students how to do head-to-toe assessments correctly. I was in charge of the Student Nurse Association for 2 years here at the college, and we got the Organization of the Year both years I was their advisor. I'm also an advisor for Phi Theta Kappa, and it's fun to see this younger generation because I went back to school when I was older. When I graduated from the nursing program, my daughter graduated from high school, so I would tag my books with me everywhere because she was in band and too young to drive at night. I got to where I could study in the football bleachers, basketball games, volleyball games - I got really good at studying in noisy situations.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Tina
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to my husband. He pushed when I didn't think I was up to it. When the plant where I worked was closing, he wanted me to go back to school because I'd always wanted to be a nurse. Later, he noticed that CSI was needing an instructor and said 'this is just made for you.' My husband has always been very supportive throughout my entire journey, from going back to school while raising our daughter to working full-time while taking 13 credits a semester for my master's degree. He saw opportunities for me even when I doubted myself, and that support made all the difference in helping me achieve my dreams.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
No matter what field you go into, you have to be true to yourself. I went back to school when I was older, after spending 17 years in a completely different career, because nursing was always my dream. I studied in football bleachers, at basketball games, and volleyball games while supporting my daughter's activities. I got really good at studying in noisy situations. The key is staying true to what you really want and not giving up on your dreams, even if life takes you on a different path first.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I think we've lost some of the personal touch that nursing used to always have. And I don't know if it's because they give nurses too many patients or what, but I try to address this with my students. The students in our class, we have them know that they can come into my office and talk, or share, or ask questions at any time. And I think it's important for our students to know that nurses need somebody to talk to, and if they learn how to do that when they're a student, they will be able to do it when they're practicing nursing. We need to bring back that personal connection and teach the next generation of nurses how to maintain it.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values most important to me are to be truthful, to be consistent, and to be reliable. These principles guide everything I do, whether I'm teaching nursing students, advising honor society members, or in my personal relationships. I believe that if you maintain these core values, you build trust and create meaningful connections with others, which is essential both in nursing and in life.
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