For Christina Graves, Choosing Nursing Is Like Coming Home
"I'm the oldest of seven kids, so I've always been the second-mom/caregiver type - that's my personality," explains Graves, whose mother and sister are both nurses. But like many youngsters, she ignored the parental advice, wanting to do her own thing.
After graduating from Castleton State College in Vermont with a degree in literature and business, Graves started a career in sporting goods sales. But before long, she had a change of heart. "Sales just wasn't satisfying to me; I wanted to help people," she says. "My sister graduated from nursing school at Castleton in 2008, and through conversations with her it finally just clicked. I wanted to become a nurse."
Graves got certified as an LNA, began working at a local hospital and a nursing home, and was enrolled in Castleton's nursing program that same year. She had her eye on Dartmouth-Hitchcock (D-H) from the get-go. "I knew about Dartmouth from growing up in the area (Vermont) and I wanted to work in academic medicine, but it was a long process to get hired here," says Graves who eventually landed a job as an LNA on the Medical Hematology/Oncology unit on 1 West.
The experience proved invaluable when, after earning her RN degree in May, she had to decide which area of nursing to focus on. "Without a doubt, it was oncology and 1 West - I'm thrilled that they wanted me there," she says. "I like oncology nursing because cancer patients are admitted for long periods of time so you really get to know the whole person and you get to establish a close relationship with them. I love taking care of our patients."
"And there's something special about 1 West," adds Graves. "I enjoy working with everybody on my unit; they are an outstanding group of nurses and they really care about the patients and their families."
Graves has found the orientation phase of D-H's year-long Nurse Residency Program to be beneficial and supportive. "The program is awesome; we're learning so much," she says. "For example, yesterday we did respiratory distress simulations in the sim lab. The simulations are very realistic and high-tech; it's amazing. Having that kind of preparation is so valuable before you go on the floor with actual patients."
In July, she completed her second Prouty, riding with Kayla Burrows and Ally Sedgewick, who are both nurses on 1 West. "I did the 100 miles last year and the 50 miles this year," says Graves, who enjoys cycling and golf when she can fit them in. "It's a great event that raises a lot of money for cancer research; I was really happy to be part of it again. One of the cool things about the event is that 1 West also does an inpatient Prouty on the unit. They have music, games, and treats set up for the patients so they can go around the pods and celebrate the event, and everybody wears a Prouty T-shirt. After we finished riding, Kayla, Ally, and I went onto the unit to see how the nurses did with it. They said it was a huge success and the patients really enjoyed it."
When asked about her future goals, Graves says she plans on getting her BSN or MSN at some point and to become chemo and oncology certified. "But for right now, I'd like to focus on my first year of nursing," she says. "Dartmouth is where I want to stay. I'm married and we have a 2-year old son who we want to bring up in this area. I'm so glad that I chose to go into nursing and that I'm here. I don't know why I never listened to my mom. It's just one of those things, I guess - sometimes the best advice doesn't sink in until later on."
