“It was challenging to go through school while having medical issues, and to go from being a patient to being the nurse. But it made me want to be a nurse even more, and I found it helpful to know what the patient wants to hear.”

Abby Coderre is a dedicated pediatric nurse at the James & Connie Maynard Children’s Hospital. Her own experience as a patient receiving treatment for cancer influenced her decision to become a nurse and now helps her to better understand her patients’ needs.

In her own words

“I’m from Wilmington, North Carolina, and I graduated from East Carolina University in December of 2022. I always knew I wanted to work in health care. I spent time in the hospital when I was younger, and my nurses were the best. I knew that’s what I wanted to do. I also love kids, so I knew I wanted to work in pediatrics.

In college, I was diagnosed with lymphoma and had surgery and treatment while I was in school. It was challenging to go through school while having medical issues, and to go from being a patient to being the nurse. But it made me want to be a nurse even more, and I found it helpful to know what patients want to hear.

I came to ECU Health because I did many of my clinical rotations here and I loved all the floors I worked on. ECU Health is also where I had my cancer treatment and I saw how amazing the hospital was. I like that ECU Health serves rural communities who don’t have easy access to health care. I wouldn’t get that if I worked in, say, Raleigh. I also like that it’s a teaching hospital, with proximity to the Brody School of Medicine and ECU’s College of Nursing. Everyone supports each other and learns from each other.

As a new graduate nurse, I have had access to a lot of educational opportunities. We take classes for skills specific to our unit, and even though we were taught those skills in school, it’s great to have that refresher and be able to ask questions. They have continuing education classes; next month I’m taking an oncology class so I can administer chemotherapy. We also have coordinators who check in with us and help us find ways to practice skills with different patient populations.

As a new graduate, what I was most worried about was the transition from being a student to a nurse. I worried people might not be willing to help me. But that wasn’t the case at all. Everyone was amazing, because everyone has been a new graduate at some point.

Because of my work here, I’ve learned that this is 100 percent what I was meant to do. I’ve been able to demonstrate and grow my skills. I absolutely love it, and I’m thankful for the floor I work on.”