Alumna Gives Talk for Students Interested in Nursing

Following its recent engineering discussion, the College’s Office of Career Advisement sponsored a talk and Q&A last week for students who are considering a career in nursing. Alumna Clare Hoonhout (’08), RN —an emergency department nurse for Scripps Health in San Diego, California — spoke to a roomful of students eager for her expertise and counsel. Miss Hoonhout discussed her experience in nursing, how Thomas Aquinas College graduates can get into medicine, and why they are well-suited to do so.

Essential to being a good nurse, she explained, are critical thinking, effective communication, and the ability to work well as part of a team. “Your four years here at TAC serve as an excellent foundation for nursing for two key reasons,” she said. “First you are immersed in the intellectually rigorous life. Critical thinking? You do that every day. You know the importance of asking the right questions. Second is our Catholic faith. We recognize the dignity of human life and that every person is a child of God. It is with our faith that we are able to love and serve even the unlovable who come through our doors. We understand that suffering is not pointless, and that death is not the end.”

Stressing the need for well-educated, compassionate nurses, Miss Hoonhout urged interested students to consider the profession. “Nursing is a vocation; it is a call to service,” she said. “We serve the sick and the dying. We are there for the first breath, for those struggling to breathe, and for those who breathe their last.”