By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant
UB nurse Christopher Palumbo always wanted to make a difference in others’ lives through healthcare. While attending college, he learned more about nursing and realized that was the right path for him.
“What drew me to it is the holistic approach,” he said. “We don’t just take care of the pathology of the disease, but mind, body, soul and spirit to give patients the best total care.”
The North Tonawanda resident started nursing school in 2018 at UB and passed the board examinations in 2022. He started working in the cardiac ICU at Mercy Hospital as a bachelor’s trained nurse that summer. But Palumbo isn’t done with school yet. He started the nurse practitioner program at UB in August 2022.
What has surprised him the most during the transition from student to full-time nurse is the amount of autonomy nurses possess in certain settings. Nurses are far more than pillow fluffers and temperature takers (although providing comfort and checking vitals are both important).
“You are not just there to do busy work,” Palumbo said. “You have to know the devices and medication and equipment. You have to make a lot of decisions on your own. A lot of providers give you orders to make the decision as you see fit. In a lot of cases, you’re the one making the decisions with orders given.”
He has also felt surprised at the amount of information he had to know, both to become a nurse and to stay up to date while working as a nurse.
“There’s so much to learn,” Palumbo said. “You have to put in the work outside of your three days a week at the hospital to research and the things you’re working with. Things are constantly changing, and new research comes out that shows something is not the best way to do things. You really have to be willing to go with that change and learn. Even with the technology and charting systems we have change.”
One very positive change has been the shift away from stigmatizing men in a female-dominated field. Palumbo said that he feels honored to work in an industry largely populated by women, but still encounters unusual reactions from patients.
“I’ll walk into a room and they’ll think I’m the doctor but I’m with a female doctor,” he said. “They think she’s the nurse. It’s awesome to change that and educate the patients that females aren’t only nurses; they’re also doctors.”
As a new nurse, one of his biggest day-to-day challenges has been feeling confident at work, yet humble enough to realize that he can learn from mistakes and move forward, because “you want to do everything right, but you won’t get everything right,” he said.
The part of nursing he most enjoys is interacting with patients and families from different cultures and backgrounds. He likes learning more about others and why people do different things.
After he finishes his four years at UB, he wants to work as a nurse practitioner in critical care and eventually help educate new nurse practitioners.
“It’s an amazing field,” Palumbo said “The more nurses we can get into it, the more voices to go to legislators to make changes and get laws passed for staffing and protection for nurses. And the more people who receive excellent care.”