Editor's Note:  Reflections is a new series that invites guest writers to contemplate their experiences within the medical experience.  The experience can range from parents, patients, staff and others.  We are pleased to have James "Hutch" Hutcheson as our first post in this series.

by James "Hutch" Hutcheson, IV, RN, MSN, CPNP-AC
Le Bonheur Critical Care

Heading into nursing as a second career at the age of 29, I never would have dreamed I would have pursued a career in pediatric nursing.

My pediatric instructor in my undergraduate program challenged me to consider pediatrics despite the fact that I hated my pediatric rotation in school. I did consider it and took a job as a nurse extern in the PICU at Le Bonheur while finishing school.   Quickly, I developed a love and passion for this patient population and vowed to continue my career as a pediatric critical care nurse.

I am frequently asked, "How can you take care of sick kids?" My explanation is simple in that I feel pursuing a career in this field was more of a calling. Children are wonderful patients; and a great thing about them is that they are so resilient, and often bounce back to good health so quickly even after being so sick.

By way of my continued passion for caring for critically-ill children and the support of my wife, I took the challenge to further my education and career by becoming a pediatric nurse practitioner. I had looked into a program at Vanderbilt, specifically for acute-care nursing and decided to apply at the very last minute.

In the meantime, I heard about a newly-created scholarship opportunity for nurses pursuing education to be a pediatric nurse practitioner. Despite the scholarship’s requirement for a 2-year commitment to Le Bonheur, I knew this was where I wanted to be so being awarded the scholarship would be a win-win situation. I was accepted to Vanderbilt and was in fact awarded the inaugural scholarship for which I am extremely grateful.

I am also forever grateful to my wife who supported me in this additional venture. She was working very hard to be the bread winner for our family as my class time and clinical requirements were such that I was not able to work very little. In the meantime, we obtained custody of 2 brothers, 2 and 8, whom we hope to adopt very soon.

The past year has been a whirlwind and now I have begun my career as an advanced practice nurse here in critical care. This is an exciting time in the life of Le Bonheur and I feel as if I am coming into this position at a pivotal, ground breaking time!

Lastly, I will say that I am also so very thankful for our Child Life partners and friends who provide second-to-none care for our kids, instilling hope, laughter, and encouragement for healing throughout all situations from the happiest to the saddest! Things would not be the same without you to say the least!