From the Commercial-News: The Commercial-News, Danville, IL - New nurses eager to begin careers

DANVILLE — The nursing profession is evolving almost as quickly as society is, and the education of today’s nurses is changing just as quickly.

Lakeview College of Nursing Alumni Association President Eunice Mumm, a retired nurse who graduated from Lakeview in 1963, envies today’s nursing students in some ways.

New education tools, like simulator bodies, allow students to treat illnesses and administer medication to “patients” suffering from a variety of chronic disorders like chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder.

Although the simulated body, which can even “die” and be revitalized through CPR, doesn’t quite match the immediacy of real-world medical care, it helps students learn the mechanics of treatment.

Mumm said she would have loved more classroom practice with situations she only encountered on the job for the first time.

Many things were nerve-wracking to do for the first time, like inserting a catheter, with a group of people watching, she said.

Two of Lakeview’s seniors, who will graduate this year, Rick Hawkins and Kriss Bigol, are about to begin their careers, although they’re not sure where they’ll be.

They’re both interested in a variety of nursing fields.

The fact that Hawkins and Bigol are guys throws another wrinkle into their stories.

Both of them chose the field when they encountered nurses on the job.

Hawkins worked a variety of jobs in his home state of Arkansas, including factory work, when he landed a position at a hospital.

After seeing the nurses at work, he decided the field was for him.

He and his wife moved to the Danville area so she could be closer to her family. Hawkins will graduate from Lakeview in December.

Bigol, originally from Naperville, comes from a family of health care providers. His dad is a doctor and his mom is a nurse.

He chose to continue the family tradition after he was treated in an emergency room after a car accident.

The level of care he received from the nurses who treated him inspired him to go into the field himself.

Like their female counterparts, both men are passionate about caring for people.

“I do get a lot of questions,” Hawkins said, about being a man in a field dominated by women.

“But I really care about people. I want to put people back together (after they’ve been hurt).”

The two worked on a senior legacy project that explored men’s role in the profession.

In their research, they discovered that the first nursing school was founded in India in 250 B.C. Nursing was dominated by men in the United States until 1901.

The two understand that statistically, they could be likely to quit.

Bigol said some 30 percent of females quit the profession in the first five years. Seventy-five percent of male nurses quit in the same time period.

Many nurses get burned out from the long, hard hours on the job.

“It’s not for the soft of heart,” Bigol said.

Dean of Nursing at Lakeview Sara Rich-Wheeler said that while nursing salaries are generally good, the money can’t be a motivator.

“You have to be passionate about it,” she said.

Bigol and Hawkins heard one inspirational story at Lakeview’s "Power and Passion of Professional Nursing" conference at Danville Area Community College Wednesday.

One veteran nurse told the story of how she treated an injured 19-year-old hockey player in a medical-surgical unit of a hospital.

He was paralyzed from the waist down from a closed-head injury.

While he was unconscious, she told him that although life might slow down for him a bit, he would walk again and recover if he stayed positive.

Months later, the hockey player walked into the hospital to personally thank her for her gentle encouragement.

The two are optimistic about their careers.

The field is changing, and more people are less shocked from the sight of a man working as a nurse, they say.

“(Nursing) is for everybody,” Bigol said.

“The opportunities are endless.”