Nurse Aims to Improve Healthcare Access for Veterans
In high school, Jessica Green wasn’t sure about pursuing a nursing degree. Her uncle had suggested it as a possible career path because he wanted her – and all his nieces – to have job security, but she thought she might be too squeamish for clinical work.
“I knew I was good at science and I was intrigued by anatomy and physiology of the human body,” said Green. “But a medical terminology class I took made me queasy!”
Despite her apprehension, Green knew she had a knack for helping people and often found herself in a caregiver role. When her friends played basketball and someone scraped a knee, she was always there to take care of it with her first aid kit.
While in high school, several of Green’s friends and family members spent time in the hospital for various reasons. When she saw the exceptional care and support the nurses provided to her loved ones, she was inspired to become a nurse herself.
“The compassion, attentiveness, respect and care the nurses displayed made an impact on me,” said Green. “I knew nursing would be a great way to make a small difference in someone’s life.”
Green had already signed up for classes at a community college in the Dallas-Fort Worth area when she heard a Chamberlain College of Nursing radio ad about being an extraordinary nurse and felt an immediate draw to the message. That evening, she looked into Chamberlain’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree program and knew she had found the right school for her.
“The next day I reached out to Chamberlain’s new Irving campus,” said Green. “My mom and I went on a tour of the school with an admissions advisor and I loved it. My mom said, ‘If you love it, you have to do it.’ So, here I am pursuing my dream.”
Green is currently pursuing her BSN degree at the Irving campus while balancing a 30+ hour work week, but she’s not complaining.
“I have school in the morning and work in the evening,” she said. “My family and my mindset remind me to have faith and confidence in myself. I’m not going to let anything keep me from reaching the finish line.”
Green also praises Pamela Keys, MSN, RN, an associate dean of faculty at the Irving campus, for being a tremendous support system for her and her fellow BSN classmates.
“Professor Keys has been with us since we started. She extends herself by being available to us when we need her, in and outside the classroom. I know she cares about my success,” said Green. “For example, I didn’t do well on the first test in my adult health class. Professor Keys pulled me aside and suggested I work with a tutor. I took her advice, went to some tutoring sessions and did dramatically better on my next exam. I credit my professor for being so supportive of all her students. She’s like another mom, pushing us to strive for our best.”
Green has learned that if you follow your true passion and work hard, everything else will fall into place. When she graduates in 2017, she wants to work in an intensive care unit to care for hospital patients in critical need. With the support of her family and Chamberlain professors like Keys, Green will achieve her personal dream of being an extraordinary nurse and leading positive change in her community through her commitment to service and care.
