Nursing was her original passion, but ‘life happened’
Stacy Longoria, B.S.N., R.N., is doing what she calls “life 3.0.”
She earned her first degree in biology, with an eye towards medical school or nursing school. But “life happened” and she ended up working in human resources at Electronic Data Systems Corp. off and on for 10 years.
Her second career: She was a stay-at-home mom and raised three children for 12 years.
“I wouldn’t trade it for the world,” she said. “I was so blessed to be able to be there with my kids.”
But as they got older, she started looking at rejoining the workforce and decided to return to her original passion — and a third career. “I decided I was just going to do what I really wanted to do,” she said, so she enrolled in nursing school.
She wanted to work at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Plano from the beginning.
“I had my last two children at Texas Health Presbyterian. It. has been our hospital of choice since my last son was born in 2000. I spent a good amount of time in the ER with the boys — stitches, broken bones. My experience there had been so great that when I started looking for a job that was where I wanted to work.”
She signed on as a patient care technician on the medical-surgical-telemetry floor at Texas Health Plano while she was still in school and has continued there as a nurse for the last four years. Stacy, 53, earned both her associate’s and bachelor’s degrees while working and still raising the kids.
“It’s kind of weird being the newbie in your late 40s. But in nursing that kind of works out because the patients look at you and don’t assume you’re as green as you really are.”
“When I interviewed Stacy for the PCT position and she told me her goals of becoming an R.N., I knew she would be a great addition to the team,” said Andrea Ansley, B.S.N., R.N., CCRN, manager of the medical-surgical unit and Stacy’s supervisor. “Having nursing as her second career I believe did add to her ability to be successful as an R.N. She was able to expand on her previous job and life experiences and incorporate them into her new career.”
Life 3.0 is “everything I was hoping for and more,” Stacy said. “I love nursing for multiple reasons— I love the science of it, and I also love the flexibility. The schedules are a little more flexible than an 9 to 5 job. And you don’t have to stay at bedside, you don’t have to stay in the classroom. You can do multiple things.”
And multitasking seems to be in Stacy’s DNA. Now she’s working on her master’s.
“Nine to five sitting behind a desk was definitely not my thing,” she said. “I like being on my feet. I like being on the go. I stay on the go 24-7. This is a good career for my personality.”
By Judy Wiley • Posted December 17, 2019
