The person I interviewed was Mercedes Duncan. She is an RN (registered nurse) working in the Progressive Care Unit at Reston Hospital Center. She received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing from Old Dominion University. She has her RN licensure along with certifications in CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation), ALS (Advanced Life Support), and BLS (Basic Life Support). Mercedes was inspired to get into nursing from her grandfather. He had cancer eight different times. Seeing him go through chemo and other medical treatments inspired her to go into nursing. Even though Mercedes wanted to take a gap year after everything that happened, her grandmother told her she should go ahead and attend Old Dominion University right after high school. The path to her career includes schooling and networking. The path she followed was nursing school, applying and interviewing for jobs, and taking the NCLEX exam. Before her current career, she was a CNA (certified nursing assistant). During her time at Old Dominion University, she was part of the SNA (Student Nurses Association).

Some basic responsibilities of her job include patient care, being an advocate and educator to patients, and making sure there is communication to charge nurses and supervisors. Mercedes included a few rewarding aspects of her job. Getting to see patients go from worse to better and seeing them grow and get better is very rewarding. She also said it is very rewarding when families say how grateful they are for what the nurses have done to get their loved ones better. The most surprising aspect of her career is how she applies a lot of information she learned in school than she thought she would. Being a new graduate is one of the most challenging aspects of her career. Mercedes also mentioned that dealing with her personal emotions when handling the death of patients is also challenging. Our interview ended with her listing some helpful advice to someone getting into the health field. She does not recommend anyone to go into the health field blind without any experience. She said shadowing is a great experience to do in order to be prepared for what you are getting into as a health professional. One important thing I learned from my interview with Mercedes is how important it is to make sure that the medical field is something you want to do for the right reasons and that you are prepared for it.