Roxanne Johnson

Touching a human spirit beyond the diagnosed disease, causing a heartfelt smile in a failing heart, are the results of an act of service that reaches far beyond the logical reason of time. Nursing touches the essence of charity, compassion and care. It is layered with strength, and selflessness. These ringing concrete undertones provide layers of an advocates heart straddled with protective courage of those who are preciously fragile and unable to find their voice.
A bustling ward, with beeps of monitors and a radiant baby warmer, an unusual place for normal person. An eight-pound baby lies asleep with cords extending to different machines. A kind, gentle lady checking the tubes, she gracefully glides over the machines and sweeps her hands across a few buttons. She turns and smiles and explains that everything will be okay. Thirteen days passed and she explains with cautious excitement, he is all yours, he is good and you are ready and so is he to go home!
That was eight years ago when my newborn suffered a critical medical condition. As a new mother, helpless and alone, I was forced to trust someone else to take care of my boy. It was scary and terrifying. My nurse, my son’s nurse was the star in my day, and all emotions rested on her words and her actions. She was my voice when no question could come to mind about foreign procedures that I only heard of until the moment in time. The ability to care for a mother and child is an enormous responsibility, which she did. Leaving that hospital, I was convinced I wanted to be just like her. I wanted to be taking care of sick babies and their families. I wanted to encourage a scared first time mother to be strong and help find her voice. I wanted to be a baby nurse.
The Robert Wood Johnson Scholarship has given me the opportunity to make this dream come through. Leaving behind everything that I knew as normal, I began my journey in nursing. Getting this scholarship gave me the opportunity to pay my tuition and support my family on a part-time wage in order to fully dedicate my time to the nursing program. This, I strongly believe, has resulted in my success thus far in completing my classes.