{"id":136501,"date":"2023-08-02T09:30:32","date_gmt":"2023-08-02T13:30:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=136501"},"modified":"2023-08-01T15:21:51","modified_gmt":"2023-08-01T19:21:51","slug":"after-lifes-unexpected-turns-graduating-nursing-student-finds-calling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/after-lifes-unexpected-turns-graduating-nursing-student-finds-calling\/","title":{"rendered":"After Life\u2019s Unexpected Turns, Graduating Nursing Student Finds Calling"},"content":{"rendered":"
Kristen \u201cKris\u201d Hysler is not your typical nursing student. At the age of 38, she\u2019s nearly the oldest in her accelerated second degree bachelor\u2019s in nursing (BSN)<\/a> cohort \u2014 a program that fast-tracks career changers<\/a> to a bachelor\u2019s degree in nursing in 15 months.<\/p>\n When she walks across the stage at Addition Financial Arena this Saturday, she already has a job waiting. After she takes the national registered nurse (RN) licensure exam, Hysler will begin the RN transition-to-practice residency at the Orlando VA. She hopes to eventually practice in critical care, but says, \u201cwherever they put me, I\u2019ll be happy.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf you had asked me at 22 where I would be and what I would be doing now, I guarantee that nursing school would not have been how I answered,\u201d Hysler says.<\/p>\n Hysler had been performing since 4 and graduated with a musical theatre degree from Point Park University in Pittsburgh. But life had other plans. She lost most of her hearing in her 20s, and after bartending in Chicago and New York, returned to Central Florida in her mid-30s to care for her father.<\/p>\n \u201cI was not expecting to be here long,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n But one year after returning home, in March 2020, her dad fell and was admitted to the ICU. For four days and nights, Hysler stayed in the ICU to help care for him.<\/p>\n \u201cThe nurses tried to talk me into going to nursing school,\u201d she says. \u201cMy response was, \u2018Who would want a 35-year-old who is hard of hearing and wears hearing aids?\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n \u201cApparently, they did and pointed out several nurses who started their careers even in their 40s and 50s,\u201d Hysler says.<\/p>\n Then, the pandemic began and she lost her job.<\/p>\n \u201c(If that didn\u2019t happen), I wouldn\u2019t have had time to stop and really think about making a change to nursing,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n The time allowed Hysler to jump right into the new career, which would allow her to still take care of others but offer greater job security and benefits. She took prerequisites at Valencia College, applied to UCF and began her studies in Summer 2022.<\/p>\n \u201cI like that (the program) is so focused,\u201d says Hysler, who made the most of her time in the program and participated in a study abroad trip to the Bahamas<\/a>. \u201cYou are going 100 miles per hour, and by the time you stop, it\u2019s time to graduate.\u201d<\/p>\n