above: JD fishing in Alaska

Alumni Spotlight

Meet JD Rawlings

- BSN '04

"What in the world am I going to do with my life?"

Like many other students, this was the question I asked myself even before I first set foot on the University of Wyoming campus... I do think I am on the right path, and if I am not, I am sure on one big adventure and loving every minute of it!

Scroll down to read the rest of the story about JD's experience at the Mayo Clinic and as a Travel Nurse

"What in the world am I going to do with my life?"...  Honestly, almost eight years [after first setting foot on the University of Wyoming campus], I am still asking myself the same question!  No doubt I have found the right direction in which to head, but I have not yet found my exact and perfect niche. 

My first step down the wandering and exciting road I am on started with the Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing.  I graduated in 2004 equipped with a BSN and the knowledge, skills and confidence to back it up.   But never in my wildest dreams did I realize how this degree would change my life!   The first life changing event happened when I accepted a job at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota on an Orthopedic Trauma floor.  My experience on this unit added to the strong foundation that the UW School of Nursing helped me create.  I was a full fledged nurse!  I dove head first into committees and floor activities.  I became the Co-chair of our Orthopedic Practice Committee, where we reviewed research articles to determine the best evidence based practice.   I was on the Continuous Improvement Committee where we reviewed incident reports and created initiatives to improve practice.   I was charge nurse and I was on the floor volleyball team. I was busy and very involved and loved it.  I bought a house and a truck; I had wonderful friends.  It seemed like taking the risk of moving to a totally new state alone was paying off!  Still, I found myself asking if I was in the place I was supposed to be, or if there was more. 

I struggled with the idea of going back to school.  I didn’t know if I was ready yet, but I felt like something had to change in my life come that particular fall; I would have been an RN for only two years.  I applied and was accepted into a graduate program for nurse practitioner in Minnesota.  I thought I was all set.  However, one night when I was out talking with another nurse who happened to be a traveling nurse in the past. “Seriously, you should do it!” She said.  After a few hours of talking out details, I was convinced that this was to be the next step.  Come the fall, I was going to get an education, but it wasn’t going to be in the classroom.  So, I took my BSN degree on the road and became a traveling nurse.  I felt like I was ready to push myself outside my comfort zone and see what I could do with it! I spent the next few months setting my affairs straight.  I left for Charleston, SC in August 2006.  I was officially a Travel Nurse.

I wanted to fully take advantage of being a traveling nurse so I moved every three to four months.  I wanted to get as much experience in as many different areas as I could.  I wanted to work in big and small hospitals, medical and surgical floors, and private and teaching facilities.  I wanted to experience different cities and cultures.  I was in search of my niche.  

In Charleston, I worked on a Surgical Oncology floor for a large teaching facility.  I felt the similarities to the Mayo Clinic so it was an easy adjustment.  However, I was surprised that there was no limit to the type of surgery that could be seen on this floor.  Our patients were so diverse because there is seemingly no limit to where cancer can grow.  We also had several ICU step-down beds that I was oriented too.  My knowledge and skills base were growing.   

I moved to San Antonio, Texas after Charleston.  I worked on a strictly Medical floor in a private hospital.  All of my experience up to this point has been surgical. I can’t say that medical floors are my favorite area of nursing, but I gained some good experience managing medical conditions so that I can confidently identify and treat co-morbidities that come with most surgical patients.

I was soon off to Soldotna, Alaska. This was a small hospital with only one medical/surgical floor.  I was accustomed to taking care of adults, but on this floor we had to take care of everyone, from neonate to geriatric.  We were the only hospital in the area, so we had to be ready for anything. 

I am currently in Phoenix, AZ working in another teaching facility on a Neuro-surgical floor.  This has been amazing and very eye opening.  Although the facility is very nice, it is smack in the middle of downtown, and there are many gangs in the area.  My floor is particularly effected by this because of all the trauma (like gun shot wounds, stab wounds, and closed head trauma).        

For all that can be said about my nursing experience, I have had an equal (if not greater!) amount of life experience.  I have learned to navigate new towns, explore the communities, and learned about and adapt to new cultures.  I have gotten to live like I am constantly on vacation.  I jokingly call myself a professional tourist.  Because of becoming a traveling nurse, I have sailed in the Bahamas, I have ridden horses through magnolia plantations of the deep south, I have hunted quail on a North Georgia plantation, I had Spring Break all over again in South Padre Island, I have gotten to meet celebrities, go back stage at some concerts, I have fished the Kenai river for Sockeye and King salmon, I have camped on the Homer Spit, I have sea kayaked Kachemak Bay, I have seen Montezuma’s Castle, I have climbed Camelback Mountain, I have been a high roller in Vegas and on a private yacht in San Diego.  I have fallen in love with the unique history of each place. I can truly say that it has been a phenomenal adventure.  I have friends across the country and I count my blessings daily.

When I graduated from UW, I never dreamed that my life would head down this path. I have had a pretty well rounded career so far, and I have accomplished the goals that I had set forth when I started traveling.  I was planning on traveling for about a year, and then heading back to Mayo, but I am well past that now.  I can’t seem to stop!  I have had some amazing experiences that I would not have had if I didn’t take the initial risks.  Nursing is hard, some of the lessons are hard, but the payoff is incredible… in the hospital and out; from the spoken and unspoken thanks of helping someone who can’t help themselves to expanding personal horizons in new places.  There is no limit to where you can go as a nurse, the jobs are everywhere.  There is always a need somewhere, so there is no reason put a cap on the possibilities!  

All this adventure started because the University Of Wyoming School Of Nursing gave me the opportunity to earn my BSN.  I took hold and have since seized every opportunity I could.  My goal remains to get as much experience as I can as I continue to search for my niche. I seek out new experiences to add to the diversity of my nursing knowledge.  I think I might like to go back to school for my master’s degree and push the envelope once again.  If I can go this far with a BSN, I can just imagine what a Master’s Degree could do!

On a daily basis, I still ask myself, “What in the world am I going to do with my life?”  And I continue to not have the answer, but like I said, I do think I am on the right path… and if I am not, I am sure on one big adventure and loving every minute of it.