College of Nursing pupil Emily Fonville shortly realized the UAB household is dedicated to serving to one another obtain their function after her longtime well being points challenged her training.
Media contact: Micah Hardge
College of Alabama at BirminghamImages: UAB College of Nursing College of Nursing pupil Emily Fonville’s path to changing into a nurse has not been with out its challenges. Recognized with a extreme case of Kind 1 diabetes in 2015, Fonville has been hospitalized 37 occasions since then.
Whereas her sophisticated well being historical past has examined her in quite a few methods, it was via her therapy and well being care experiences that she discovered her calling and UAB.
Function within the ache
Quickly after Fonville started her sophomore yr of highschool in 2015, what began as chest pains progressively became flu-like signs, exhaustion and shortness of breath that continued to worsen. Regardless of a number of physician appointments, there was uncertainty round her well being.
“It went on for months,” Fonville mentioned. “It bought to the purpose the place I needed to be moved downstairs into my mother’s room as a result of I might now not go up the steps.”
Fonville’s signs continued till she handed out throughout a physician’s go to in December 2015. She was transported to a hospital in Memphis, the place she went right into a coma and was recognized with Kind 1 diabetes. As a result of severity of her situation, her possibilities of surviving had been extraordinarily low.
As soon as awake, Fonville needed to relearn tips on how to stay. Due to her autoimmune illness, she is extra weak to sicknesses, which typically lead to hospitalizations that may final for days to weeks at a time. Since her prognosis, she has had 37 hospital visits.
The care Fonville’s nurses gave her throughout her hospital keep didn’t go unnoticed. From speaking to her as they might to a traditional 15-year-old, to taking trip of their day to brush her hair, the heat and compassion they confirmed her impressed her to observe of their footsteps and change into a nurse herself.
“My nurses had been unbelievable and had been really the lights of my life throughout these occasions,” Fonville mentioned. “I knew from that day on I needed to discover a function from what occurred to me, and I discovered that I used to be meant to change into a nurse and be just like the nurses I had.”
The UAB College of Nursing’s Undergraduate Nursing landed within the prime 10 packages for the third yr in a row and climbed two spots from final yr, rating No. 7 of 656 packages within the nation, and is the highest college in Alabama, in keeping with U.S. Information & World Report. Study extra about beginning your journey to a nursing diploma right here.
What it means to be a Blazer
Fonville’s analysis on the most effective nursing colleges within the nation led her to UAB. After a campus tour go to together with her mother, she knew it was the place she could be headed subsequent to pursue a Bachelor of Science diploma in nursing.
Fonville beloved UAB instantly and appreciated that she didn’t really feel fenced in or caught in a single place.
“I felt like this was someplace I might develop not simply as a pupil in life however as a person being out alone for the primary time,” Fonville mentioned. “I fell in love with the College of Nursing, and I’ve by no means seemed again.”
In August 2022, two weeks into her first semester of nursing college, Fonville was hospitalized in UAB Hospital’s Medical Intensive Care Unit for 2 weeks after experiencing extreme COVID-19 signs.
“As soon as once more, the nurses I had within the MICU had been unbelievable,” Fonville mentioned. “They offered the most effective care that I might have requested for, that my mother might ask for, that anybody would need for a beloved one.”
Images: UAB College of NursingRegardless of her hospitalization’s inflicting her to fall behind at school, Fonville was decided to get again on monitor and never let something get in the best way of changing into a nurse. Not realizing what number of of her fellow Blazers she had in her nook, Fonville was caught up inside just some weeks of returning to high school due to the assist of College of Nursing college, employees and her cohort.
“I might not be right here as we speak if it weren’t for many of my cohort, who made certain I used to be good, providing to assist ship notes and even meet with me to go over what I missed,” Fonville mentioned.
Upon graduating this spring, Fonville will start working within the UAB Emergency Division. Her aim is to be a flight nurse, and he or she wish to return to high school to change into a nurse practitioner. UAB confirmed Fonville that something is feasible relating to nursing.
“It was exhausting to get right here, and there have been loads of days once I’ve struggled with not feeling nicely or having a nasty day; however each single time I step into this constructing, there are individuals who have my again and there are professors who wish to see me succeed,” Fonville mentioned. “It’s extremely particular to say I’m graduating from the UAB College of Nursing and that I’m going to work at UAB. I simply can’t wait.”