Metchy K. Saint Julien

FIU gave a lot of opportunities, especially to students of low income who needed help financially. They supported us through scholarships and partnerships with other organizations. That was one of the reasons why I graduated from nursing school without being in debt, and that was the case for a lot of other students in my class as well. I got my scholarship from the Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation, but FIU had other partners too. I felt like, as a nurse, I could make a difference in patient care. I could see how they progressed, and they could see the fruits of my labor. That was part of making a difference. I'm a circulator nurse for the time being. I bring the patient from the holding area to the operating room, prep them, and help with intubation. If the surgeon is to need an instrument that is not open on the field, our job is to retrieve that and troubleshoot the whole thing. My mom was a nurse. I fought it for a while, not wanting the profession, but it grew on me when I was older. I interacted with nurses a lot more and understood their role in patient care. I wanted to impact patients as much as they impacted me. After we all graduated, some of the people in our cohort went back to our simulation labs and went down memory lane. We took pictures with the staff and equipment. I'm grateful for my professors, who were really knowledgeable about the subjects that they were teaching, and for the people I met along the way. FIU partnered with the hospital system I work with now. They had a program where, during the last couple of semesters of nursing school, we had the opportunity to do our last semester's practicum in a specific specialty on a floor at the hospital. I was given the opportunity to shadow in the operating room at a children's hospital. That was how I started in surgical services.