One Student's 'Breadcrumbs to Nursing'

Naomi Wallis , a second degree nursing student, describes her desire to work in healthcare combined with her enthusiasm to help others as the “breadcrumbs” that led her to be part of Villanova Nursing.

With her first degree in psychology from Rutgers University, she remembers a quote written on the black board on her first day of class that said, “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” This famous quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson is one that Naomi holds dear to her heart and is evident in all her endeavors. Naomi has worked for five years as a registered pharmacy technician, a field she originally planned to enter. However, after volunteering at Robert Wood Johnson University and working at New York Sports Club for seven years as a club coordinator and camp counselor for children, she felt nursing was a better fit. Naomi chose Villanova University for her second degree because she felt it had a “diverse number of instructors, exposed you to both city and suburban communities, and had endless opportunities to enhance your education.”

Despite the intense schedule of her program, Naomi sought additional opportunities within the College of Nursing that could help maximize her experience. Realizing the College had many faculty members currently conducting research, she reached out to faculty to discuss possible assistantships with some of these professors. Interested in pediatrics, she joined Clinical Assistant Professor Michelle Kelly, PhD, CRNP, who was a doctoral student at the time and was in the process of collecting data for her study that focused on neonates and life after prematurity.  

Naomi began her partnership with Dr. Kelly in the fall, inputting data and creating a research abstract that she would later submit for the College’s annual Research Symposium. The two were chosen as a faculty/student pair to present the research with their podium presentation, “Health-related Quality of Life of Children Born Prematurely Compare to Parents’ Perception of their Children’s HRQOL.”

While maintaining her position as a research assistant to Dr. Kelly, Naomi also works as a special procedures clinical care technician at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Jersey. She is also a DONA (Doulas of North America) International trained doula, providing emotional support and comfort measures during the birthing process and assists mothers in preparing for and carrying out their birthing plans. Naomi continues to work on her certification in this field. She has been a member of Student Nurses’ Association of Pennsylvania since coming to Villanova and participates in several campus activities such as club field hockey and plays piano. Naomi will soon be graduating and plans to continue her passion in pediatrics, working at one of the several city hospitals in New York.