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DARREL

"It’s more than just a job. People’s lives are at stake and nurses need to be there 100%"

For many adults returning to school seeking second careers can be a daunting task, but 51 year old Darrel Wright is fulfilling a childhood dream. He has his sights set on becoming a nurse.

A professional dancer for the past 30 years, he has all but retired his dancing shoes. Now semi-retired, Darrel has decided to dedicate himself to what he calls the “altruistic” profession.

After seven years of going to school part-time and slowly chipping away at completing his prerequisites at various schools, he is now enrolled in the Rio Hondo nursing program in Whittier, California, where he has completed his first semester. “This past semester was difficult for me,” he says, “but I am armed and ready for my second semester.” He pointed out that he found disparities in the required prerequisites from the various schools he attended because they all required something different.

As a child growing up with asthma Darrel spent a lot of time in the ER and was always impressed with its activity, but it was his mother, who worked as a nurse’s aide, who inspired him. When he visited her at work, he was impressed with the care and compassion she gave to her patients.

Darrel says his first teacher and mentor, Mary Blaebaum, possessed the same capacity for compassion that his mother showed her patients. “I am so moved by her life, her nursing experiences and the joy she has for her patients that I want to have that same level of love and desire for nursing,” he points out. The last time he and Mary spoke, she related a story to him on how to advocate and care for his patients. She also told him to always talk to his patients--even those in a coma. She had one such patient that she would talk to regularly and tucked in every night. A few years later she had an opportunity to introduce herself to him. Amazingly, the patient knew who she was. He shared with her how meaningful it was to have her talk to him and tuck him in at night. For Darrel, Mary has not been the only teacher that left an impact on him.

Darrel says his instructors for the most part have been compassionate. However, Darrel says Kathleen Hannah, who taught med/surg clinical thought he wasn’t serious enough in the beginning. Darrel then set about proving himself to her. “She encouraged me to study, showed me how to study, suggested that I find a study partner, and gave me test taking strategies,” he beams. “I have an incredible depth of gratitude and respect for her. Today I’m her hero, and she’s mine.”

There are a number of mature adults seeking nursing as a second career and for this audience, Darrel offers this observation: “A lot of mature students are failing their first semester because they are trying to work. My experience is that it is next to impossible to work and go to nursing school because the work load is not only heavy, but difficult. When I asked one of my instructors about the heavy workload, she responded, “It is a tool to weed out the weak.” Moreover, “We need to make it financially feasible,” says Darrel.

In Darrel’s class, there are approximately 30 males in a class of 140 students. How many will graduate is anybody’s guess, but his hope is that those who choose a nursing career go into it for the right reason. He recognizes there is a real shortage and a great demand for nursing. He believes you must have the heart and the drive for caring for human life and not be motivated by money. “It’s more than just a job,” he explains. “People’s lives are at stake and nurses need to be there 100%,” he says adamantly.

As for the future, Darrel says he likes the quick pace of working in the ER and working with trauma patients. He plans on continuing his education and obtaining his MSN degree. His dream one day is to work with the organization, Nurses without Borders. “They are welcomed in any country because they are not politically associated with anyone. I would be traveling with a purpose,” he says.

Darrel looks forward to graduating in May 2007.