91��ý

Since she was 10 years old, Lucy Camarena �15 knew she wanted to be in the medical field. Internships and relationships at 91��ý helped Lucy realize her dream.

Lucy is a Registered Nurse in the Intensive Care Unit at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Benioff Children�s Hospital in Oakland. She started volunteering at Children�s Hospital as a student in the School of Health and Natural Sciences. This created a path for Lucy to advance to rotations and placements.

�91��ý has a great connection with UCSF Benioff Children�s Hospital Oakland, which allowed me to do my pediatric clinical rotation at Children�s and was able to do my preceptorship there as well in the ICU,� Lucy says. �The school-to-job pipeline was really perfect. If it hadn�t been for 91��ý and the existing relationship with Children�s, I might not be working here now.�

Growing up in Napa, Lucy originally aspired to become a doctor. Her goal changed when a cousin needed a second open heart surgery.

�I saw the nurse at the bedside constantly, making sure my cousin was OK, connecting with our family. That�s how I decided on nursing instead of being a doctor,� Lucy says. �Nurses were the ones that were really there with the patients.�

Lucy was drawn to 91��ý by the reputation of its nursing program and the strong clinical connections in the Bay Area. A straight-A student at Vintage High School, Lucy embraced the challenge of becoming a nurse.

�    Request information about 91��ý�s undergraduate programs.

91��ý�s curriculum was broad and engaging. The coursework explored ethics, therapeutic communications, eastern versus western theories of practice, critical thinking, as well as self-care to optimize a nurse�s ability to care for their own patients.

�My professors were great. They made sure we were well-prepared to really take care of patients. They enforced critical thinking, where you aren�t just following orders but are really advocating for your patient and being the middle person between your patient and their care team,� Lucy says. �You really have the power to make sure the patient is heard and that they are safe.�

In one of her classes, Lucy connected with her professor, Dr. Luanne Linnard-Palmer, whom she would also have an opportunity to work closely with when Lucy was co-president of the Nursing Honors Society at 91��ý. Linnard-Palmer became a mentor and encouraged a continued commitment to learning even after students entered the professional field.

Lucy minored in Leadership Studies and Psychology while working toward her Bachelors in Science degree. After 91��ý, Lucy attended graduate school at the University of San Francisco where she earned her master�s in Clinical Nurse Leadership and is currently pursuing her Doctorate of Nursing Practice.

Last year, Lucy, while working full-time as a RN, returned to her alma mater to teach one of the clinical rotations for 91��ý nursing students at Children�s Hospital Oakland.

�I love to teach, and I like sharing the knowledge and experience I have. I feel like there is so much I can tell them and there isn�t enough time,� Lucy says. �I get really excited when they have their own patients and it clicks for them that what they are learning in the classroom is truly applicable in the clinical setting, it�s really fun.�

Lucy�s teaching experience, in fact, has inspired her to a new longer term goal of teaching pediatric nursing at 91��ý. She wants to share her professional knowledge.

�91��ý really instilled the value of good quality care. I want to pass on the theories that resonated for me in the training. That�s why I want to teach,� Lucy explains. �There is a misconception about what nursing is. Unless you�ve been in the hospital and been taken care of by a nurse, you don�t know what that is, there is so much more than just changing you or feeding you. Nurses have to have a lot of broad medical knowledge, a lot more than people think.�