September 19, 2023

Ryan McDermott enjoyed a career in sales and marketing but recently he decided a second career was in order, and because he saw himself as a caretaker, chose nursing. “I always wanted to help people but never considered nursing until I started to have people close to me get sick,” McDermott shared. “And I saw what an amazing job nurses have.”

He chose Drexel University’s Accelerated Career Entry (ACE) program, a full-time program that grants a Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 11 months. McDermott said he knew about Drexel and its good reputation. And being able to start in a fall cohort helped him make his decision.

McDermott plans to go into the ICU or cardiac step down when he finishes in September 2023. With CNHP’s ACE program being one of the shortest in the country, students find a strong support system critical. His includes his family, classmates and faculty. “It’s been more challenging than I expected but never too much to handle,” claimed McDermott. “My kids are 12, 14 and 16 so they are more self-sufficient, and my wife and I have a solid relationship, so it’s been ok. The support I get from them keeps me going and is a nice balance to the intensity of the program.”

“Faculty are amazing.” McDermott stated that ACE professors want them to be successful. “They make themselves available. They know their stuff and understand what we’re going through. They are very supportive.” He’s experienced a lot of camaraderie within the cohort. He loves what he’s learning and explained that he’s energized by his younger classmates. “It’s inspiring to see so many smart, motivated classmates who want to do good in the world.

In the beginning of the program, students are asked to think about bias. McDermott shared that he confronted his “privilege” during his clinical experience at St. Francis Hospital. “St. Francis afforded me the opportunity to experience a "neighborhood" hospital caring for an underserved community,” he said. In one of his classes, McDermott recalled talking about a tense c-section he witnessed. “I see so much cultural pressure on pregnant women to have a "perfect" baby and a perfect delivery and the gender reveal and the push piece, etc. I think of the moms who do not have the resources to get a "night nurse" or someone to pick up their kids from day care. Or the mom who has a child born with a disability who knows life will be even harder than it already is. Seeing first-hand the struggles and tough choices that patients must make is something I'll always carry with me.”

St. Francis was a great place for him to discover the mom who is doing her best to get through each day, quietly and anonymously. “Health equity and social justice have always been part of my DNA. My clinical experiences have actually allowed me to see first-hand how my interactions with a patient can promote health equity and social justice on a very individualized scale.”

Written by: Roberta S. Perry