Then and Now

I grew up in a small town in New Mexico, 1 of 9 kids, and came to the "big city" to pursue an education at BYU. I had some help paying for education but most of it, I had to figure out. I knew I wanted to be a nurse but wasn't sure how I was going to get there. Then one day, I saw an advertisement for SLCC's Surgical Tech program and it was like a lightning-bolt moment—I knew that's what I'm going to do. I transferred my credits from BYU and began the program in 1979.

One of my top mentors in life was my instructor Bonita Robertson who taught us so much more than just technical skills, she taught us life skills, like how to stay calm in emergency or stressful situations and she shared her own professional experiences and stories which really stuck with me. She mentored me beyond graduation. 

I landed a job at LDS Hospital and saw a lot of trauma patients; it was really amazing to see them heal and get better throughout multiple surgeries. Eventually, I started on my path to becoming a nurse, and worked nights as a surgical tech.

I earned a master's degree in Healthcare Administration. My career path has taken me from patients' bedsides, into management and education, and on to executive leadership positions. I'm currently the executive nurse director of Surgical Operations at Intermountain Healthcare.

"I knew I wanted to be a nurse but wasn’t sure how I was going to get there."

Advice

If you are considering healthcare, approach it with everything you've got. Go into it with this attitude: What can I give it? It's a demanding field and not for everyone. You have to like it. For me there was magic there, and it has never left.