Curtis Grubbs was an aerospace munitions maintenance tech, working on bombs and missiles. Dianna Butler-Lang was a hair stylist. Renee Stronks worked for American Airlines for 29 years. David Candelario was a software engineer.
Despite the differences in their first professional journeys, they all landed in the same spot: right here at Texas Health Resources.
“Our employees who chose health care as a second career bring different experiences and perspectives that enrich our workforce – we can learn from them,” said Michelle Kirby, executive vice president and chief people officer.
While it’s not surprising that so many people would go into health care — it’s one of the fastest-growing fields in the U.S. and expected to keep growing as the population ages — most of the people interviewed for this series had a different reason: They said it was a calling.
They were going about their first careers with the distinct sense that something was missing. They found it in helping others.
Today’s story about Dianna Lang kicks off a series that will publish periodically through the end of the year.
Dianna Butler-Lang: The Mane Attraction
Dianna Butler-Lang, B.S.N., R.N., has gone from helping people look better to helping them feel better.
Though she had always dreamed of being a nurse, Dianna began her career as a hairstylist.
“Whenever the teacher asked us to stand up and say what we wanted to be, I would always say a nurse,” Dianna said. “But to me, back then, it was like asking to be a rocket scientist.”
Dianna enjoyed doing her own hair, and she knew she was good at it. When she learned that it would take only nine months of education, she made her choice. She worked in three salons before running her own salon for 12 years, but something was missing.
“I still had this emptiness inside, and I needed to figure out what it was,” she said.
Family history
Dianna was surrounded by nurses in her family. Her great-grandmother was a midwife in rural Mississippi. The nurses in her family include a great-aunt, a sister, two cousins and two sisters-in-law, including one who is a nurse practitioner. Another sister is a certified nursing assistant who owns a group home.
“I always wanted to help people and be a caregiver,” she said. “I’ve just always had that in me. Looking back, maybe it’s in my genes.”
Dianna decided to pursue an associate’s degree in nursing (A.D.N.).
“I prayed about it,” she said. “I told God, ‘OK, if this meant for me, I’m going to give it one semester. If I don’t make it, at least I tried.'”
Dianna not only finished that first semester, she earned her A.D.N. and went to work at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas. She went on to get her bachelor’s degree, as well.
“I was a bedside nurse, and then I moved to the Emergency Room (ER),” she said. “I worked with a lot of nurses who were still furthering their education. They always say you’re a product of your environment, and my environment made me.”
Higher education
Though a bachelor’s of science in nursing (BSN) wasn’t required when she started here, she decided to pursue it anyway.
“I knew I had to stop being afraid,” said Dianna, who is now a care transitions manager at Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital.
Dianna said her previous career helped build her people skills and toughen her up.
“I had to learn that if someone came into the salon with an attitude, it wasn’t about me,” she said. “I had to stop being soft and build a thicker skin if I was going to run a business.”
Kevin Blackburn, M.S.N., R.N., CCM, RN-BC, director of Care Transitions, said he’s grateful that Dianna decided to leave cosmetology for nursing, but he also appreciates her previous experience.
“It certainly has shaped her nursing practice,” Kevin said. “Her attitude and social skills are top-notch, and you can tell she truly loves visiting with patients and their families. She has truly been an asset to Texas Health Arlington Memorial.”
Now Dianna has a new goal.
“Something is nagging at me to get my master’s in nursing,” she said. “I feel a little empty. But a couple of months ago, my husband was diagnosed with prostate cancer, so right now I’m trying to focus a little more on his needs and less on what I want.”
By Judy Wiley and Robin P. Loveman • Posted August 6, 2019
