Nursing provides mother-daughter duo with degrees
By Emily Schmidt & Amanda Duchsherer
University Communications
studentpio@minotstateu.edu
MINOT, N.D. – Caring for others through working in the medical field runs in the Peterson family’s blood.
Leisa Peterson of Regina, Saskatchewan has been active in the nursing field for 28 years. After first earning her associate degree, she has held many different positions, including quality risk manager, health promoter, and nurse in emergency rooms, urgent cares, and clinics.
“When I was growing up, I had really bad asthma, so I was in and out of the hospital a lot, and it was always the nurses who were there," she said. “They're the ones who are at the bedside. They're the ones who were giving the meds, wiping the tears, all that kind of stuff. I wanted to be able to give back to some of the people that have supported me all along, whether it's nurses or just people in the population in general.”
Leisa’s daughter Tristen Peterson has a similar originating story in nursing.
“I grew up in Minot. I actually had a few other offers in Grand Forks and Fargo, but I’m a huge family person, so I decided to stay here,” said Tristen. “My mom was a nurse all throughout me growing up, so I was used to visiting her at the hospital. Hearing those stories that she would tell us when we were younger kind of influenced me to follow that path.”
The roles reversed, however, when Leisa followed in her daughter’s footsteps last spring when she enrolled online in Minot State’s Registered Nurse (RN) to Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program.
“I have worked as a diploma nurse (a nurse with an associate degree) and have had a lot of opportunities,” said Leisa. “But it was really hard to kind of promote that professionalism when people were like, ‘Well, do you have your degree?’ I wanted to be part of the solution to promote not only the professionalism but the education that the nursing career has. “Now we do have a voice. If we can speak up, we can advocate for our patients because we're professionals. Online may not be for a lot of people, but I would definitely encourage any associates or diploma nurses to go back and get their degree. They've earned it; they just need to do some of the necessities to get that degree.”
“I never thought she was actually going to do it,” said Tristen. “When I was younger, she worked a lot of jobs to help raise us, so I never thought she would have the time to actually go back. Then when I heard that MSU was offering the RN to BSN completion, I pushed her towards that. I said, ‘You know, the professors are really good. They work with everything.’ I was really proud to hear that she was going back to school.”
While Leisa and Tristen took different paths to get to Minot State, a close relationship with their professors is one experience they shared.
“The professors are wonderful, easy to get a hold of people and the reason why I actually chose to go to Minot State,” Leisa added. “I'm not going to lie; I didn't want to take the statistics class, and there are colleges where I could do that, but Tristen’s student advisors, the professors, anybody that encountered her, they really helped her to where she is now. They were just so awesome to do what they could to get her through.”
Some habits never change, for Tristen is now working in the emergency room like her mother as her first job in the nursing field after graduating last spring.
“When I originally started nursing school, I wanted to be in the OB or pediatrics area, and she worked in the ER my entire life. Then the first job I accepted out of school was actually in the ER, so I ended up following in her footsteps anyway,” said Tristen. “I think it was in my blood that I was supposed to be in the ER because of how I was raised.”
In the family’s blood is right, for two other children of Leisa’s also are involved in the medical field, with her younger daughter being an aspiring CNA and her oldest son a paramedic.
“It's just a very caring family,” Leisa said. “If we can help somebody, we want to.”
“We all like to help people out when they’re not able to help themselves,” Tristen added. “We like to put others before ourselves.”
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| Published: 12/04/20 |
