When Molly came to Nebraska as a first-year student, she didn't really know what she wanted to do. She did, however, have a hunch that if she took advantage of all the University had to offer— new friends, involvements, ideas and experiences—she’d eventually discover her path.
Looking back, it's clear that Molly’s open-mindedness paid off for her. It’s certainly paid off for the many families that receive critical care from her in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Children’s Nebraska in Omaha.
“I was considering a lot of different careers when I came to college. I was at that age in your teens when you feel like you’re having a midlife crisis,” Molly laughs. “Being at the university lets you lean into your interests and puts you in more vulnerable, open-minded situations. It was such a huge opportunity for growth that I really needed.”
That growth has led to life-changing impacts for families from around Nebraska and beyond who come to Children’s Nebraska for world-class intensive medical care for their newborns. It’s work that Molly takes time to appreciate day after day.
What I get to do is pretty special. There’s nothing more fulfilling to me than serving people, and I never want to take that privilege for granted. I get to see the difference I’m making at work every single day, and it’s really beautiful.
In hindsight, it’s natural that the best parts of Molly’s job come from working with families. Being around people is what fuels Molly, and is what fueled her path toward becoming a nurse.
Molly spent her time at UNL immersing herself in new communities: she got involved in student government, joined a sorority, tried out different clubs and made a host of new friends she still talks to all the time. She studied biosystems engineering for much of her career. That major felt close to what she wanted for her future, until one day she realized it wasn’t quite close enough.
“I realized I needed a career where I was working directly with people all the time, because those were the environments on campus where I was really thriving. Through some friends and advisors, I got the chance to shadow some nurses,” she explains. “That’s when I realized I needed to go to nursing school.”
Already late into her junior career, Molly needed help making a quick pivot. Her advisors helped her figure out how to make the credits she’d already earned work for her newfound direction.
“My advisors were totally the brains of the operation. They got into the nitty gritty with me and helped me figure out how I could graduate on the timeline I wanted with the credits I needed to get into nursing school.”
Molly was accepted into the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s accelerated one-year nursing program. There, she started to develop another hunch about her future: she'd always loved working with kids, and maybe that could translate to a career in pediatric care.
When she was offered a role in the NICU at Children’s Nebraska, she figured she’d try it out for a bit and transfer to another unit if it wasn’t a good fit. This time, Molly didn’t need to pivot.
“I really can't imagine doing anything else; I just feel really lucky,” she says. “I love that I get to work with patients on a continuum of care, which essentially just means I get to work with them from the critical early stages all the way through recovery. Developing those relationships over time—sometimes for months and months—is so meaningful to me.”
It’s the exact type of people-focused work that Molly always knew she needed, even if she wasn’t sure at first what it would look like. And even though she didn’t plan to be a healthcare professional for most of college, she feels the growth she experienced as a Husker student shine through in her work every day.
“College was so foundational. I feel like no degree can teach you all the ins and outs of the job you’re ultimately going to do, but my time at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln helped me build up who I am as a person, decide what my beliefs are, hone my critical thinking skills and understand how to interact with the world around me. These are things I use every day in the NICU.”
