Nursing Scholarship Awarded

Yonis Mudey is enrolled in the MSN program at San Francisco State University and will graduate in December 2007.

Mudey's uncle led him to career in nursing. Mudey says his uncle was home alone when he had an asthma attack. Even though he called 911 by the time the paramedics got there he was brain dead. Mudey stayed with his uncle the entire time he was in ICU and had an opportunity to talk with the nurses about his uncle's brain activity. It piqued his interest

Mudey got to choose where he wanted to do his rotation�he chose Kaiser Permanente. It was at the Oakland facility in ER where he met his mentor, Robert Sloan. "He gave me confidence telling me I could do it," says Mudey. "He was right there over my shoulder, but gave me an opportunity to do things by myself."

ER is a very active department and one evening when Mudey was doing his ER rotation, patients were steadily coming in. Mudey worked a 12 hour shift from 7 pm to 7 am non stop. He said he wasn't even able to take a break because of all the patients. "It's amazing what nurses do...they do all the work," says Mudey.

His instructors told him the program would be hard, there would be no time for family, and above all don't work. Married and a father of three children, Mudey works weekends, goes to school full time, studies, and still finds time to interact with his children. Not an easy task and sometimes overwhelming. However, he says he has a very supportive wife.

In addition to a busy schedule, Mudey is active with the Bay Area Black Nurses Association, a nationwide organization. He says when they meet in Oakland they set up tables monthly at Samuel Merritt College to check blood pressure, blood sugar, and do cholesterol and prostate screenings.

He advises nursing students to be persistent, exercise discipline and not get discouraged.

Mudey's immediate goal is to work in ER or ICU. His long term goal is to become a Public Health nurse and educator.

Mudey has already interviewed for a job at Kaiser Permanente in Oakland and it looks promising he says.

He will use his scholarship money toward tuition and books.

Congratulations Yonis!

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