{"id":5581,"date":"2019-03-25T08:00:52","date_gmt":"2019-03-25T13:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.osfhealthcare.org\/blog\/?p=5581"},"modified":"2019-03-20T15:24:31","modified_gmt":"2019-03-20T20:24:31","slug":"how-a-firefighter-became-an-osf-nurse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/how-a-firefighter-became-an-osf-nurse\/","title":{"rendered":"How a firefighter became an OSF nurse"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: left;\">A desire to help people drove Brian Woolard into a second career as a nurse. An \u201cunderutilized\u201d OSF HealthCare program helped equip him to provide patients with even greater care.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Brian is an orthopedics nurse at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.osfhealthcare.org\/saint-francis\/\">OSF HealthCare Saint Francis Medical Center<\/a> in Peoria. After 14 months of online courses, he earned his Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree in January 2018. He accomplished the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.osfhealthcare.org\/sfmccon\/academics\/undergraduate\/rn-bsn\/\">RN-to-BSN<\/a> journey with tuition assistance and other support available to OSF HealthCare Mission Partners.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201cIt\u2019s priceless,\u201d Brian said of the program. \u201cI was able to cut down a third to a half of my loan. I think a lot of people just don\u2019t realize the assistance is there. I think it\u2019s way underutilized.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: left;\">Inspired by paramedics<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-5759 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/RN-to-BSN-sd1.jpg\" alt=\"Fire truck and firefighter outfit. \" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/RN-to-BSN-sd1.jpg 300w, https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/RN-to-BSN-sd1-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/RN-to-BSN-sd1-200x200.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>Brian knew from a young age he wanted to help people.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">When he was a teenager, a paramedic ambulance crew often hung out near his home. He would watch them interact, and his interest was piqued.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">For 20 years, Brian served as a fireman and paramedic. During that time, though, he increasingly felt himself being called into nursing.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201cBut I knew I couldn\u2019t go to school on a fireman\u2019s schedule,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">In 2013, Brian took early retirement and joined OSF Saint Francis as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=iicus-INKJ4&amp;feature=youtu.be\">patient care technician<\/a>, intent on becoming a nurse.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.osfhealthcare.org\/blog\/start-working-but-never-stop-learning\/\">OSF HealthCare offered the means<\/a> for him to work full-time, become an RN by pursuing an associate degree in nursing, then get his BSN.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The support for Brian\u2019s quest was more than financial. Early on, he sat down with his manager, Nancy McCabe, and mapped out a plan. His supervisor, Jena Slotter, was also supportive. Over five years, they accommodated his class schedules and encouraged him as he went from technician to RN to BSN.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201cI don\u2019t think I could have worked full time and gone through either of the programs, associate or bachelor\u2019s, without that support. No way,\u201d Brian said. \u201cWith that and the educational assistance, it\u2019s just a fantastic program.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: left;\">Improving patient care<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Brian had used the program to earn his associate degree and become an RN, but it was always his goal to pursue the bachelor\u2019s as well.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The benefits of a BSN extend far beyond the individual nursing student.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thelancet.com\/journals\/lancet\/article\/PIIS0140-6736(13)62631-8\/fulltext\">Better-educated nurses lead to better patient outcomes<\/a>, research shows. In that spirit, educational assistance to Mission Partners is part of the OSF HealthCare commitment to increase knowledge and enhance patient care.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Brian quickly saw how his advanced education improved his confidence serving patients.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201cWhen you\u2019re first starting out as a nurse, especially without that bachelor-level knowledge, you\u2019re worried about task-oriented stuff,\u201d he said. \u201cBeing task-oriented, there are some things you don\u2019t think about. You\u2019re busy checking off tasks, like giving medication or doing a dressing change.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">With his advanced studies, Brian gained experience in evidence-based research that helps him understand why patients present certain symptoms and better serve their needs. He also built management skills.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201cI think some people don\u2019t go for a BSN because they don\u2019t see themselves working in management,\u201d he said. \u201cBut it\u2019s not all about that. The things I learned, it\u2019s truly about managing that patient in front of you and better managing a group of patients.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/careers.osfhealthcare.org\/pages\/nursing\">Learn more about the benefits<\/a> of being an OSF nurse.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A desire to help people drove Brian Woolard into a second career as a nurse. An \u201cunderutilized\u201d OSF HealthCare program helped equip him to provide patients with even greater care. Brian is an orthopedics nurse at OSF HealthCare Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria. After 14 months of online courses, he earned his Bachelor of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":85,"featured_media":5758,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[176],"tags":[485,336,372,913],"coauthors":[912],"class_list":["post-5581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-careers","tag-education","tag-nursing","tag-osf-saint-francis","tag-saint-francis-medical-center-college-of-nursing"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How a firefighter became an OSF nurse | OSF HealthCare<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Tuition reimbursement, supervisor support help OSF HealthCare RNs earn their BSN and gain knowledge to help reduce patient mortality rates.\" \/>\n<meta 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