Graduate Spotlight - Jackie Davis
posted on Friday, September 1, 2023 in
Alumni Profiles
Jackie Davis had a full-ride scholarship to pursue a teaching degree at a four-year university, but after one semester she knew it wasn't the right path for her. She switched majors to social work, and while on an internship at a local nursing home, they suggested she'd make a great nurse aid. The idea appealed to her.
Jackie left the university and became a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA). Her employer saw potential, and sent her next to become a Certified Medication Aide (CMA). Things started to fall into place.
"I did that and I was like, 'you know, I think that this is kind of my calling'," she said.
In February 2020 she was accepted into Hawkeye's Nursing program, around the same time she found out she was expecting. She worried about the stress of managing nursing school while pregnant, but the instructors and advisors at Hawkeye helped her feel at ease.
"I had instructors emailing me on the weekends and they’d be like, 'Hey, do you need any help with this? Do you want to do a test review? Do you want to do this?'" Jackie recalls.
Thanks to her strong support network at home and on campus, Jackie persevered. She passed both her Practical Nursing and Registered Nurse boards on the first try, and now works at MercyOne in Waterloo with cardiac and kidney patients.
"I never expected to have hearts and kidneys become my passion," she said. "I cannot wait to see where I go in the next three years, next 30 years."
Tags
- Alumni
- Associate Degree Nursing
- Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA)
- Nursing
- Practical Nursing