An exclusive interview

For the love of trauma: From challenging childhood to passionate peds DNP

My first goal, as a very young adult - I was a single mom, I ran away from home, dropped out of high school. Having the motherhood role assigned to me, I was like, “I need to do something that will benefit the world, as well as support me and my son.” I did this whole natural pregnancy and childbirth thing, so I decided I was going to become a nurse-midwife. That was my goal for taking high school chemistry, acing that, and rolling into a diploma program. Where I lived in Erie, Pennsylvania, St. Vincent's Health Center was a diploma program where most of the nurses - as soon as they finished school - were ready to roll and take care of patients because it's more hands-on. I was receiving assistance from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania that I was ashamed I was getting, so I really wanted to just do my part, contribute, and also raise my child. My first job was post-op cardiothoracics, where I learned a lot. When I'd interviewed for my first job at a competing hospital, they said I could be an ICU nurse or an ER nurse, and I was like, “whoa, pump the brakes a little bit. I need some experience.” For the step down unit, there's a lot of responsibilities. My patients still had PACER wires coming out of their chest and vasoactive drips, there was a lot for me to digest and get hands-on experience with. I'd relocated to Western New York, where I spent most of my nursing career and really developed a love for nursing, taking care of patients, and just learning about myself and the human spirit. I started on their med-surg unit, and it was also pediatrics, so that was my first introduction to peds. Then the ER drew me because I liked the autonomy, the excitement of not knowing what type of patients were going to come in. It was a small community ER with one attending. I love a big education facility, but being in a small community hospital is where you really grow your clinical skills and development. That's where I became a nurse in the ER, climbed the clinical ladder, got my CEN. We also had a flight program, Starflight Corporation, which had been developed by a nurse I'd worked with who is a former vet. Just seeing the nurses that worked in the ER who were the flight nurses for the team - seeing how strong they were and their knowledge base - it really inspired me to pursue that. I applied and received the position - I had never been in a helicopter before - and as I'm strapped in my first flight rotation, I thought, “what if you hate this?” The helicopter cranked and that was it, I was in love. I could fly nonstop, I would fly if they didn't pay me, I was very passionate about that. That's super important with nursing in general, and I think it’s why I’ve survived at the bedside for so long - because I do care. I am passionate about delivering the best care possible and advancing my knowledge, and also teaching. We have a whole new generation of nurses - now I'm the senior nurse.

Marijana Waite is a board certified pediatric nurse practitioner with a considerable background in flight, critical care transport, and emergency nursing. Originally from Erie, Pennsylvania, she started her nursing career in a local diploma program. In 2020 and 2021, she received her master’s of science in pediatric primary care and a doctorate in nursing from Columbia University in New York. She’s worked as a travel nurse and charge nurse in emergency departments, but particularly cherishes her time working as a flight nurse. She’s been with New York Presbyterian Hospital for almost nine years working in adult and pediatric care, and she’s on the hunt for the perfect pediatric NP position.

PLUS: Hear from Lauren Harback, LPN in a personal interview. She gets into how she navigated an above-the-knee amputation following a cancer diagnosis, and what it’s been like nursing since.

Lauren Harback has been working as a licensed practical nurse since 2013. She’s worked in doctor’s offices, hospitals, long-term care, and, most recently, corrections. Lauren has been open about her experience of being diagnosed with Sarcoma of her nerve sheath, having her right leg amputated above the knee, and living with a prosthetic. She’s a mom to an 8-year-old daughter who is her “mini me” and an 11-month-old son. Lauren is also an ambassador for Built Bar - and readers can get a discount at builtbar.com with the code: laurenh.

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