Susanah Maria Owens

FIU Nursing offered an accelerated program, and I was interested in the school because of the small class sizes. FIU Nursing was close to where I lived. The program was rigorous, but I became a registered nurse within a year. I was happy with my professors at FIU Nursing. I loved math and science, so school was easy for me. I took five or six classes at a time. I was in a hospital almost every day except for Sunday. The assistant dean stood out to me while I was there. The professors were transparent, enthusiastic, supportive, and compassionate. I was an older student; I started my education at FIU Nursing when I was 41 years old. I knew I wanted to work bedside in a hospital setting. I applied to Jackson Memorial Hospital for my internship. I did quite a few rotations there and at other hospitals. I felt like I was doing what I was meant to do. During my internship, I had to have 250 hours working bedside. One night the power went out, and the nurses were panicking. The director of the floor asked me several questions about what was going on. I told him where the charge nurse was and informed him about the status of the patients. I answered his questions quickly and accurately. He said, 'Thank you so much. I appreciate your help.' He went on to say, 'What do you want to do when you graduate?' I said, 'I'm going to work for you.' That was exactly what I did. I went to work in pediatric home healthcare. While working at that hospital, I had the luxury of taking care of my patients the way I wanted to.