Linda Pellico, PhD, APRN  AJN, American Journal of Nursing
January 2006
Volume 106 Number 1 - Supplement: Career Guide 2006
Pages 32 - 33

Pellico, Linda PhD, APRN
Linda Pellico is an assistant professor of nursing at Yale University School of Nursing, New Haven, CT.
Let me tell you the stories of a fisherman, a Peace Corps worker, and a first-generation American.
The human touch.
The fisherman’s name is David. He graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in environmental education from Hobart College in Geneva, New York, and planned to become an Outward Bound instructor. He moved back home to the Connecticut shoreline, where he’d spent summers working on lobster boats during high school and college.
Second-guessing his choice of an Outward Bound career, he decided to get a job on a fishing boat while figuring out what to do with his life. You may not be surprised to hear that David spent the next 10-plus years working on lobster boats. He dreamed of becoming the captain of his own boat, but a moratorium on fishing licenses forced him to reconsider. David’s mom is a nurse, and she encouraged him to consider the profession. He became a certified nursing assistant in order to get a sense of what the nursing profession was really like. It just so happened that a friend’s father, whom David had known as a child, developed Alzheimer disease at age 59. David spent the next two years caring for him. Six months after the man had been placed in a nursing facility, he died while holding David’s hand. David realized he wanted to pursue a career in which he could care for people at the end of their lives. And this is what brought him to the Yale School of Nursing. He is now entering his final year of the gerontological nurse practitioner program. David still loves the sea air, but when asked about his new career as a nurse, he quickly remarks that he “wouldn’t trade his RN license even for a captain’s license.”
A better fit.
Unlike David, Misae was interested in the health care field from an early age. She attended the University of California at San Diego, majoring in physiology and neuroscience with the intention of going on to medical school. Immediately after graduation, she decided she needed a hiatus from academia, so she joined the Peace Corps and went to Bolivia, where she was trained as a health educator. During her two years in South America, Misae developed a passion for public health; she decided to pursue a master’s degree in that area, with a concentration in international health, at Johns Hopkins University. Upon graduation, off she went for a one-year fellowship at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta. She revisited her original dreams of pursuing a medical degree and began to apply to medical schools. But Misae reconsidered what it meant to provide health care and realized that what she envisioned for her career—not just providing diagnosis and treatment but also empowering patients through health education, advocacy, health promotion, and counseling—fit nicely within the field of nursing. Drawn to the philosophy of nursing, the idea of treating the person as a whole (in mind, body, and spirit), she immediately withdrew her medical school applications and soon thereafter found herself at Yale pursuing a career as a family nurse practitioner. Misae notes of her studies at Yale that “at every moment along the way, I am thankful and excited about the decision I have made.” She imagines that her nursing career is one that will provide “continual learning and growth and options that are endless.”
Meaningful relationships.
Finally, a few words about Enyo. She received a bachelor of science degree in human development and psychological services at Northwestern University near Chicago, but the field of health care had always been in the back of her mind. Her family is from Ghana in western Africa, and her mother was a lay midwife. Her mother later continued her education in the United States, worked as a nurse in labor and delivery, and then resumed her work as a certified nurse midwife. At a young age, Enyo would accompany her mother to births and home visits, witnessing up close the process of caring for patients while also developing close relationships with them. Like Misae, for a time Enyo considered becoming a physician. But after various internships, volunteer experiences, and in-depth conversations with health professionals, she realized that she wanted her life’s work to combine her interest in health care with her desire to develop meaningful relationships. She discovered that her true home was nursing. Enyo is currently finishing her first year at the Yale School of Nursing, learning the basics before she continues her education in advanced practice nursing.
EDUCATIONAL ALTERNATIVES
What do a fisherman, a Peace Corps worker, and a first-generation American have in common? Each came to nursing through an indirect educational route. I was sold on nursing at the age of four, while these adults dreamed different futures, only to find those plans either wanting in some way or in need of refinement over time. In 16 years I have taught nursing to more than 500 students, a good percentage of whom either fleetingly or never considered this profession during their formative years. That experience has given me some beliefs about these “alternative” nursing students that I would like to share with you.