#MeetUsMonday - Meet RN to BSN Student Bong An
Meet Bong.
A former sponsored roller-blader, bartender, and restaurant manager fluent in both English and Korean who adores photography, working on cars, his three-year-old daughter, wife, and two dogs. A Northern Virginia transplant, Richmonder, and Reynolds Community College graduate. A first-generation college attendee and former pre-med student who discovered nursing through being a hospital care tech. Currently an RN to BSN student in the Richmond cohort and a Conway Scholar who works full-time at VCU Medical Center in interventional radiology.
HIS PATH TO NURSING
“I moved to the States from Seoul, South Korea, when I was four; we lived in Annandale, in Northern Virginia. When I was little, my parents worked at a liquor store in Washington, D.C., where I spent a good chunk of my childhood behind bullet-proof glass, where I’d do my homework.
"I realized that I loved it. I got to work with people on their worst day. If I could give them just a moment to forget their situation and interact with them in a way where they’re not just my sick patient, they’re my person, that’s an incredible reward for me—and that’s on top of getting them to the right path to become as healthy and independent as they can be.”
RN to BSN student and interventional radiology nurse Bong An
“In high school, I took AP biology and chemistry courses, but really wanted to do photography, but was told by my parents that it’d be more stable to go the medical route. Fast-forward to junior year of college and I realized it just wasn’t for me, and it was really expensive, too. I looked at my peers, thought about medical school and then residency, and could just not see myself 10 years into the future.
“I then became a bartender and managed restaurants for six or seven years. Once I met my wife, though, and had a 9-5 at a survey and engineering firm, she put a bug in my ear: a lot of my college credits would transfer over to a nursing degree. I took nursing courses at Reynolds Community College, and, while I was in school, became a patient care tech at VCU Medical Center. I really liked that. I graduated, passed the NCLEX, worked in a step-down unit for about 2 1/2 years, and, recently, switched to interventional radiology at VCU Medical Center.”
“I’d been a care tech for a little more than a year, and wondered to myself, ‘Is this really the big career move that I’d been putting off for a decade?’ And while every nurse will say there are a lot of issues with the healthcare system, I realized that I loved it. I got to work with people on their worst day. If I could give them just a moment to forget their situation and interact with them in a way where they’re not just my sick patient, they’re a person, that’s an incredible reward for me—and that’s on top of getting them to the right path to become as healthy and independent as they can be.”
WHY EARN A BSN?
“The big reason I went for the bachelor’s is that it’s a requirement for Magnet hospitals. Also, having an associates degree limits our opportunities as nurses in hospital systems. I wanted to see what’s out there.
“Also, as I worked through a lot of COVID, becoming a charge nurse about nine months into my nursing career, it dawned on me that I was capable of doing things like IVs, lab draws, critical thinking, and helping advocate for patients with the medical team to get more optimal results.”
WHAT THE PROGRAM IS LIKE
“Honestly, after working on the floor, school isn’t that difficult. The hybrid program is really great. We’re all busy, and, yeah, sometimes it’s hard to be in class that one day a month, but on the flip side, I don’t want to regurgitate what I read and do discussion boards all the time {as is the case with most online-only programs]. Being in-person once a month, having discussions with your peers, hearing someone talk about the area where they work, what their life experiences are, is a perk you won’t get in an online-only program. We pick each other’s brains, talk about how things go down, and it’s always helpful to tell my peers about programs and systems we use on our unit, to get their perspectives.”
“Also, meeting once a month kind of puts a face to your classmates. [Lead RN to BSN faculty member assistant professor] Dr. [Crystal] Toll is also amazing, the best professor I’ve ever had, with all her empathy, teaching skills, and enthusiasm for nursing.”
HOW THE PROGRAM’S CHANGED HIS CARE IN REAL TIME
“I knew I’d learn about leadership in this program, but didn’t really realize that I’d be so interested in it. I’ve seen a lot even just in the few years I’ve been doing this and have an appreciation for all the things good leaders can do. I had a nurse who trained me and gave me some really great lessons on how to be a nurse, and how to keep my cool. I want to give that back to those I work with now.
“I have a lot of issues with how healthcare works in this country, and how we treat our most vulnerable and sickest people. Instead of kind of stewing on the situation, the program is helping me learn why it is and how as a nurse I can implement small changes and push to better it.
“Here’s an example: we did a week-long dive into evidence-based decision-making. How my brain usually operates is to lead with a little more emotion and passion for my patients, and sometimes not gather first all the information I need. I can be too confrontational at times. After the reading, and completing the emotional intelligence quiz, I did some reflection about how I need to think things through a little more before jumping the gun.”
WHY UVA?
“If nursing is really your passion, what you want to do, UVA’s quality beats out any online-only program. It also helped me greatly in my financial aid; the Conway Scholarship has helped alleviate any bills I would’ve had for nursing school and gain financial independence from loans and becoming over-reliant on educational assistance which ties me to my job.
“UVA has definitely helped me look outside of my day-to-day, shows me the bigger picture, and it gives me a different perspective on how I can apply myself to be a nurse, and the changes I can make.”
UVA SCHOOL OF NURSING IN A WORD?
"INVIGORATING. "When you're in the trenches of nursing, it's hard to take a macro view of things. And UVA has definitely helped me look outside of what I see day to day and shows me the bigger picture, giving me a different perspective on how I can apply myself as a nurse and make changes."
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