inPractice - Spring 2020 - 12

PA COLLEGE / FEATURE

SOLVING PROBLEMS
AND BUILDING TRUST:
The third time's the charm for Nick Globig.
His first career - civil engineering - was,
for him, more interesting in theory than in
practice. After a year with an engineering
firm, he left, enlisted, and then earned a
commission in the U.S. Army. As a field artillery
officer, he was stationed in the U.S. and
Afghanistan (and met his wife, who is a labor
and delivery nurse, during active duty).

" Engineering has definitely
helped with math [in nursing
classes] and honed my
problem-solving ability."

Nick Globig, BSN '22


- Nick Globig

"My wife and I settled in the Lancaster area
after I retired from the Army in 2018, so I
defaulted to engineering and applied for jobs,"
Globig says. He hadn't worked in the field in a
decade, so when he didn't get any call backs,
he took it as a sign to try something new.

"My wife suggested nursing, and I thought
about it for five seconds," he says, chuckling. "I've
always liked helping people and am not a
desk person, so I applied to PA College." He
first completed basic courses at Harrisburg
Area Community College in Lancaster before
enrolling full time in the three-year BSN
program last August.
Globig's previous careers prepared him well
for nursing school and nursing. "Engineering
has definitely helped with math [in nursing
classes] and honed my problem-solving ability.
No patient will have the exact same problem,
and, as an engineer, I am trained to determine
what factors are important and what is
secondary," he says.
His Army experience also honed his
leadership and interpersonal skills. Globig,
who is considering neonatal nursing and
cardiac care nursing, explains, "A lot of the
military is built on relationships and trust.
When I tell patients that I am going to take
care of them, they can trust that I will."

MAKING AN IMPACT:
When Allison Brenneman decided to return
full time to the workforce after raising two
children, she shadowed with professionals in
various health care careers before deciding on
the "family business." Brenneman's mother is
a retired RN, and her daughter is a freshman
in Duquesne University's nursing program.
"If I was going to return to school to start a new
career, I wanted a career that allowed me to
positively impact people's lives," Brenneman says.
Before taking time to stay home to raise
her children, Brenneman, who holds a B.S.
in exercise science and master's in health
administration, worked as an admissions
director for a continuing care retirement
community, a job she found unfulfilling.

12

PACOLLEGE.EDU

It's been a tough but worthwhile
transition to "school mom," says Brenneman,
who also has a son in high school. "Nursing
school is, by far, the hardest thing I have
ever done academically. My daughter told
me that I am her role model and wants to
work as hard as I do. That was an awesome
moment," she says.
After earning her ASN degree this spring,
Brenneman plans to begin the online RNBSN program at PA College in the fall.
From her clinical rotations, she's interested
in labor and delivery, NICU nursing, and
hospice nursing but something keeps drawing
her to oncology. "I have had several personal
experiences with cancer and the nurses that
care for oncology clients. The relationships
these nurses form with their patients and the
supportive role they play throughout their
treatment is a great example of why I chose
this field."

Allison Brenneman, ASN '20
" The relationships these nurses
form with their patients and the
supportive role they play throughout
their treatment is a great example
of why I chose this field."
- Allison Brenneman
http://www.PACOLLEGE.EDU
inPractice - Spring 2020

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