Hi everyone, my name is Maurkesha Young! I am just about a year in as a nurse on the Geriatric Med-Surg floor at OSU. I’m from Steubenville, Ohio where I worked at an assisted living facility for 3 years before becoming a nurse. I originally thought I wanted to work as a postpartum nurse, but thankfully I got a job on the geriatric floor and it is a great fit for me.
I really enjoy having the opportunity to care for older adults, especially those with dementia. It has been a hard year for many older people as they were unable to see family due to COVID-19, so it is very rewarding to be able to personally connect with them when I have them as patients. Starting as a new nurse during the pandemic was stressful, but my coworkers are amazing and have been such a great resource throughout my first year. I am so grateful to have a great team supporting me, and I really think the environment they create has helped me to transition into nursing well.
In the future, I hope to become a nurse educator. I really enjoy being able to teach people and combining nursing and teaching has been something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. I hope to eventually precept new nurses on my unit, and then apply to a nursing education program so that I can teach students in the classroom. Med-surg nursing is very interesting to me, so I think it would be really rewarding to one day teach a med-surg class. But for now, I’m enjoying learning every day as a new grad and continuing to grow as a nurse!
Maurkesha Young is a 2020 graduate of The Ohio State University College of Nursing.