From labor and delivery to hospice, nursing honors the full cycle of life

by Mary McHugh, Brand Ave. Studios contributing writer

“It’s the full gamut, with a lot of critical thinking thrown in there,” said Dawn Warren, Rapid City’s academic site director for the University of South Dakota’s nursing program, where she teaches and oversees the education of nearly 68 students enrolled in the four nursing cohort semesters.

“From birth to death, we are right there. Whether it’s helping with the birth of a newborn or holding the hand of a 100-year-old patient who is dying, nursing is so very multi-dimensional. It’s life — the good, the bad and everything in between.”

According to Warren, she is in her dream job and loving every minute of it. Though the recipient of multiple awards throughout the years, she said her greatest accomplishment is knowing that the hundreds of students she has taught continue to pay it forward by touching the lives of thousands of patients and helping them through their own medical crises. 

A growing demand

From her perspective, nursing has evolved dramatically in the last three decades, becoming extremely complex and highly essential. It’s more complex in that many patients who lack insurance often delay treatment, arriving at the hospital in a more dire condition.

In addition, we are seeing more people suffer with addiction, the opioid crisis and mental health issues. This creates a greater demand for skilled, compassionate and caring nurses.

The pandemic has certainly increased demands on nurses and the healthcare team. Warren said there were weeks this past year when bed shortages were critical and staff were reimagining space to accommodate an influx of patients that reached an unprecedented high.

“The pandemic made this year exponentially difficult for nurses on many levels,” Warren said. “But as a result, I believe the whole world realizes how important we are and what it is we do.”

An advocate for the profession

In addition to teaching the fourth-semester students prior to their graduation, Warren spends time talking to middle and high school students about the joys of nursing, encouraging them to consider the field. Her own desire to become one was ever-present growing up, including wearing a nurse costume on Halloween during grade school.

After receiving a bachelor and master’s degrees in nursing — with specialty areas of emergency and critical care — Warren received her doctorate in Adult Education, a feat she is most proud of because it gave her the necessary skills to work with adults. As a testament to her skills, nearly a third of her staff is comprised of former students.  

Warren attributes the strength of the program to the fact it is part of USD’s School of Health Sciences, which allows the students to collaborate on teams with med students and other health practitioners during frequently held inter-disciplinary training sessions, providing critical experience for all of the participants.  

"It’s an exciting time for nurses," Warren said — with endless options available. Many are becoming traveling nurses, accepting well-paid three-month stints in hospitals throughout the country. Still others opt to work on cruise ships, in hospice care, with the homeless or as home health care nurses, just to name a few.

For Warren, it’s been a rewarding 30 years and she wouldn’t change it for the world. And, yes, sad days do intersect with good days; but on the extremely good days?

“We’re saving lives. And what’s better than that?”