CU Nursing - Commencement Spring 2020 - 2

BY THE NUMBERS
190 Undergraduate
Nursing Students
80 Master's

G R A D U AT I O N &
C O N V O C AT I O N 2 0 2 0

9 Post-Graduate
Certificates
2 DNP
4 PhD

C O M M E M O R AT I V E E D I T I O N

Second or Third
Career, but
Who's Counting?

By Dana Brandorff

or 15 years, Bill Martchenke was a high school
and middle school teacher. A devoted teacher,
he regularly worked 12-14 hour days. When
his wife became pregnant with their first son,
he couldn't justify the hours any longer and
got a job working for Kaiser Permanente
in their electronic medical record (EMR)
department training nurses on the system. After supporting
the hospital for five months, "I recognized nurses had the
greatest job in the world and why wasn't I doing this?"
In 2010, he started accumulating prerequisites to enroll
in a nursing program. "It took a lot longer to get them done
than I intended," said Martchenke. With two children and a
third on the way, it was challenging to make the time. "Life
doesn't just go according to plan. As John Lennon wrote,
'Life is what happens to you while you're busy making
other plans,'" said Martchenke. He managed to get his
prerequisites and enrolled in CU's nursing program. "I'm
nowhere near the youngest in my class, but I bring life
experience to the job."
During his immersion at Rose Hospital in the postpartum unit, Martchenke solidified his calling. "It was
fantastic," he said. Even though it is a rare occurrence
for male nurses to be in labor and delivery, the practice is

CU College of Nursing | May Commencement 2020

becoming more accepted. He carries
the advice to "listen more" that a
male Nurse Practitioner gave him.
"He told me, 'You have an advantage
especially in OB/GYN. You have no
frame of reference and because of
that, you can't assume what your
patients are going through. That sets
you up to be a better caregiver.'" Still
teaching EMR to this day, he is awed
by what nurses - especially NPs in
Labor and Delivery - do and intends
to pursue that area of nursing.

Bill Martchenke and family.

CU Nursing - Commencement Spring 2020

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