Tim Rausch ‘08 Growing up, I was always interested in science and medicine. Entering high school, there was no doubt in my mind that I wanted to become a doctor. It wasn’t until I spent a few shifts shadowing nurses and physicians when I saw firsthand just how awesome nursing is! Day in and day out physicians spend mere minutes with countless numbers of patients, assessing and treating their various health problems. While providing these important medical treatments, nurses however, are able to make memorable and meaningful relationships with their patients and families each and every day. At Boston College, our professors referred to this as the science and art of nursing, and it’s because of this combination that nursing is one of the most interesting careers available. What is the science of nursing? Every day I walk into work and receive a report on a critically ill patient that requires complex medical therapies combined with the today’s newest technologies to keep them alive and allow them to get better. Everyday I still get a huge rush when I walk into my patient’s room and know that I’m the one in charge of all their life-­‐saving IV pumps, machines, drains, and monitors! During my four years of undergraduate study at Boston College, I was provided with the foundation of knowledge that prepared me to comfortably and confidently care for these patients by being trained in downtown Boston at some of the best and most advanced medical centers in the world. What about the art of nursing? One of the many benefits of receiving a bachelor’s degree in nursing at BC is that the curriculum allowed for time to focus on the non-­‐scientific part of nursing, which to our patients is often the most important part. In my daily practice, I’ve come to notice that patients and families don’t worry so much about what type of IV fluids they are receiving or what their latest white blood cell count is. Instead, they want to have a nurse that sets goals for them that day, or comforts them while receiving difficult news, or even just sits and chat with them. At BC, my professors really focused with me on developing the art of nursing in my practice. If I had to attend nursing school all over again I wouldn’t change a thing. Boston College provided me with an extensive and comprehensive curriculum, while also offering a fun and exciting student life. In my four years I took classes ranging from Advanced Pathophysiological Processes to An Introduction to Philosophy to The History of Rock & Roll. It was not an unusual day for me to wake up and go to the hospital for clinical, come back and head to swim practice, and finish the day by walking to the gym and cheering on the Eagles in a primetime ACC basketball game. BC provided me with an awesome education from the classroom, to the playing field, to the bedside. Even now, working all the way on the west coast in a Trauma Intensive Care Unit at UCLA Medical Center, administrators, co-­‐workers, and patients are always impressed when they find out I attended Boston College. Now that I’m looking to further my practice and become a nurse practitioner, professors from top-­‐ranked graduate schools like UCLA and UCSF have verbalized to me just how valuable a nursing degree from Boston College is. Thanks to BC, I could not have asked for a more rewarding, exciting, and flexible career. After all, how many professions allow you to grab your surfboard and catch some waves at 7am after saving a life the night before?