#MeetUsMonday - Meet ABSN Student BreAnn
Meet BreAnn.
Mom, roller skater, and a military wife who loves to read, travel, and play with her family’s four dogs. A first-generation college attendee, the first nurse in her family, and student of German who traveled to Belgium and the Netherlands for January Term. Part of the Distinguished Majors Program who’s studying sense of belonging and stress at the nursing school. A member of the ABSN Class of 2025.
HER PATH TO NURSING
“People would always ask us, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ My friends would say a princess, or a doctor, but I’d always say, ‘I want to be a nurse.’ I kind of always just knew.
“Growing up, my mom worked in a nursing home, so I’ve been around healthcare my whole life. First, I volunteered there doing things like painting people’s nails and playing bingo. Later, I got a job doing clerical work, which gave me a good understanding of insurance and Medicare, and all the processes of how someone comes to live in a nursing home, which is all really interesting. My mom later worked in the home’s dietary unit, so I learned from her about the various ways people can eat—foods that get pureed, for instance, or need thickening. These experiences gave me a lot of background.
"UVA has a really holistic in its approach to education, which has shaped me into a better nurse.”
ABSN student BreAnn Dishman (BSN ’25)
“My husband is a U.S. Marine. While we were stationed in North Carolina, I tried to find different colleges to complete the various prerequisites I needed to go into nursing school, first at Cape Fear Community College and, later, after we moved to Virginia, at Sgt. Reynolds Community College. We moved to Mineral, near Goochland, and I looked into UVA’s Accelerated BSN program. I liked that I could do it more quickly. I applied, and was surprised to get in.
“Being a first-generation college student, I didn’t really know a lot, but I learned as I went: I filled out FAFSA, navigated signing up for classes, that kind of thing. The School also helped me financially. My husband’s our sole provider, and the School has helped with my tuition and made it possible for me to travel abroad for J-Term, which was amazing. Reece (Meares, the School’s student finance analyst) and I email every week!”
WHAT THE ABSN PROGRAM IS LIKE
“I’ve learned a lot during clinicals, stuff I wouldn’t have seen in other places, and it’s been great to get other experiences too with things like nursing advocacy and research and political lobbying, all of which have really expanded what I understood about nursing beyond just the patient care.
"I’ve loved Dr. (Ashley) Apple’s classes. She’s very passionate about lobbying and advocacy and the political side of things, things I’ve never really thought a lot about, but talking with her over clinicals and during class I’ve now got a background knowledge of things that I really didn’t see before. It's opened me to a whole new world I didn’t know was there: changes in nursing, violence, medical errors—with everything happening now it’s even more important for people to understand how to have a way to lobby, to get changes in place and put protections in place.
"UVA has a really holistic in its approach to education, which has shaped me into a better nurse.”
BALANCING FAMILY AND SCHOOL LIFE
“It’s been hard at times, especially with my four-year-old daughter, and all the snow we’ve had this winter, but my professors are very understanding, which has really made things easier. My daughter has come to class with me quite a few times . . . she likes to be involved, and my policy professor Kim (Acquaviva) had her help during class, drawing on the whiteboard to keep her occupied. I’m also someone who is very on top of things, and someone who tries to get things done quickly and efficiently, so I’m not worrying about last minute problems. I also just have to do what I have to do.
“The community is great, too. I’ve got a lot of friends, and, because the ABSN is smaller, I know everyone in my cohort well.
“In my off time, my family and I like to go roller and ice skating together. It might be silly, and you’re going to fall, but you definitely have to keep getting right back up. My daughter’s really getting good at it.”
PLANS AFTER GRADUATION
“I’ll be working in the pediatric ICU at UVA Health, where I’ll get to care for children and their families. Being a parent myself and knowing what it’s been like when we’ve had scares with our daughter helps me understand how hard it can be and how intense those situations are. I’m really excited.”
UVA SCHOOL OF NURSING IN A WORD?
“TRANSFORMATIVE. The School has provided me with so many opportunities to grow professionally as well as personally. I’ve also learned a lot about myself, about how to advocate for change, about research, lobbying, all of it. I don’t know how much of that stuff I would’ve experienced at other places. I’m truly grateful for it.”