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Alumni Profile
Nathan Hansen didn’t plan on becoming a nurse when he started college. His plan was to become a dentist, but after finishing his bachelor’s degree in biomedical science, he didn’t get into dental school right away, so he took a job working in an operating room (OR) at Lakewood Ranch Medical Center. While working in the operating room, he fell in love with nursing. “I didn’t know what nurses did until I was working at the hospital,” Hansen said. “I knew I had a passion for it. I paid attention to what the nurses did in the OR and asked questions when possible.” His passion led him to nursing school at SCF, and his time at the College led him to being named Blake Medical Center’s New Nurse of the Year for 2017. Before enrolling at SCF, Hansen got a job in the OR at Blake Medical
Center where the staff there helped him get into nursing school in 2013. He had already been out of college for seven years, so going back to school wasn’t easy. “The people there are awesome; they encouraged me to come back to school, and they offered me advice,” he said. “My social life took a hit. All I did was study and work.” And even though he acknowledges that it was a tough program, he calls going back to school “a good experience.” “The instructors were great,” he added. “But it’s a tough experience. You can’t fall behind. I had a good background and knew what to expect.” He said the program helped him build a solid foundation, helped him see the whole picture—beyond the OR —at the hospital, and helped him with managing priorities, something he has to do every day at Blake Medical Center. It also got him interested in bone marrow donation and eventually helping to save a teenager’s life.
A Nurse Who Cares…
As a student at SCF, Hansen watched YouTube videos to help him study for his courses. That’s when he saw a video of a guy who had donated bone marrow. Hansen had been a blood donor for more than 10 years, so he decided to sign up for the bone marrow registry. He said he didn’t really think about it after he sent in his kit with his DNA, but last year was notified that he was a potential match for someone. After more testing, including three rounds of labs and a physical, he found out he would be donating bone marrow to a teenage boy with leukemia. The program flew him to Washington, D.C., in June 2017, where he checked into the hospital and went through more consultations before being taken into a procedure room where he donated 1.5 liters of bone marrow the next day. He woke up in a recovery room and stayed at the hospital for a 24-hour observation period. He said the procedure wasn’t “too painful” and that he was mostly sore and tired from the anesthesia. He never met the teenager and wouldn’t be able to unless both parties agree. There’s a minimum one-year wait.
Hansen was named Blake Medical Center’s New Nurse of the Year over the summer, just three years out of the nursing program at SCF. He doesn’t know who nominated him for the award, and he didn’t expect to win, because six others also were nominated. He said he was glad he could help the teenager and loves what he does, so the award was an acknowledgment that he made the right choice in going into nursing. For more information about SCF’s nursing program, visit SCF.edu/Nursing.
