Please tell us who you are and what you’re studying.

My name is Sadra Steven and I’m in the Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing [program] at Saint Joe’s.

Tell is a little about your professional background prior to starting the Saint Joseph’s hybrid ABSN program.

I have a bachelor's degree in biology from UMass Dartmouth, and I've worked in the healthcare industry for 14 years. I started working in a hospital acute care setting for the first 10, and then concurrently working in safe patient handling and medical devices.

What inspired you to become a nurse? Do you have a personal story to share?

My mom has always been my inspiration. She's an RN, she works in acute care setting. Healthcare has been in my family this whole time. But working in safe patient handling devices in the industry, [I] have the happiness and the joys of indirect patient care, but the job satisfaction that you have with direct patient care is missing. And so that's why I, earlier this year [thought], "Oh, I need something more, because I can do a lot more.”

Why did you choose Saint Joseph's College of Maine?

I was looking for an accelerated program that was a hundred percent online, [with] a mix of the immersion week [and] clinical settings. I wanted something that I can balance life, family, everything together, it's just the self-paced aspect of it. And so, looking at Saint Joseph's, it is one of the few colleges are around here that has [that], and I didn't want to move away from New England.  

Walk us through how you're feeling about the Saint Joseph hybrid ABSN on-campus immersion. Have any moments stood out for you?

I like my classmates. They’re wonderful. The professors are awesome. Overall experience is great. It's a Catholic school, which is very nice because I am Catholic, and when you walk in, you have a statue of Mother Mary right in the entrance and that makes... a difference.

Tell us about your experience through the Saint Joe’s admissions process. How did working with your enrollment advisor, Megan, impact your experience?

Megan was awesome. I decided to do this program in mid-July, and to start in this cohort, I had to finish my pre-reqs. I had to get my transcripts, I had to get it in a matter of a month and it was tough, but she was always on point. She was responsive. If I had questions, she was always there. She was instrumental, for sure.

Tell us about Saint Joe’s hybrid ABSN virtual courses. What are some of the features that you find to be the most engaging?

Everything's laid out appropriately, in my opinion. You have the content, you have your syllabus, you have expectations. It's easy to use. It's maneuverable. I'm happy about that, because when something's online one hundred percent, that's one of your fears.  

There’s also a simulated program where you are assessing a patient, and you're testing your skills as if you are in a room with the patient, and you have to ask the right questions [for] the person to respond back appropriately. And if you said something differently, the person asks you, "Can you rephrase? I don't understand what you're saying." It teaches you how to be thorough and checks off all your skill sets.

What excites you most about your nursing journey?

This is a little intense, but earlier in the year I had started questioning what is the purpose of what everyone does, or what I do? A career is something you can get with any industry, a job which pays well, it's great. But … you need to find something that makes you happy. And that job satisfaction is something that I lacked before. So, I'm actually looking forward to that purpose, because I used to have it when I worked in the hospitals and now, I want to get it back.