USD Magazine Summer 2015

aspect of my job. It’s important to know what goes on at the bedside. It also builds a little bit of respect. I’m not the fastest out there anymore, but I can go take care of a patient. And there are very sick kids here.” It’s Ost’s job to hire and train the Hem/ Onc nurses. She also oversees licensing and supervises the nursing staff in the hospital’s partnership in the Scripps Proton Center, the only pediatric proton center on the West Coast. “It’s very exciting. It was a huge learning curve for me.” It’s no surprise that it takes a special kind of person to care for the sickest of children. But over and over, these nurses demonstrate a huge level of commitment to caring for sick kids. There are many heart-wrenching moments, but there are also many rewards. “I could not be an adult nurse. Pediatrics is a passion, a calling. I just gravitated toward them. Kids are resilient. Even though it’s a sad place, sometimes we also have a lot of fun.” There’s real warmth in Ost’s voice. “We make it the best experi- ence for them, to relieve their suffering. We have an amazing team of nurses here.” The nurses “advocate hard” for the patients and really work on treating the whole family, she says, including making the most of their time if there is a terminal diagnosis. This all means she’s constantly calling upon her University of San Diego undergrad psychology degree. “I got a great education at USD.” nurses. She’s enrolled in the PhD nursing program and is expecting to graduate in December 2015. “The real reason I got interested is that we wanted to grow our nursing research program,” Fagan says. “USD has broad- ened my perspective and helped me really understand the role of the nurse scientist.” She’s finding it to be the best way to connect with other nurse researchers in the community and con- nect with those researchers who want to help the pediatrics patients. Rebecca Reynolds ‘07 (MA) appears to have a permanent smile. One-on-one, Reynolds is effusive; her cheer isn’t over- the-top, but it is contagious. Yet in her T he university is also helping Children’s Chief Nursing Officer Mary Fagan with her goals for the hospital’s

Top to bottom: Benjamin Brenners ’10 (MSN); nurse practitioner Lani Yeh-Nayre ’07 (MSN) works in pediatric oncology; Megan (Hickey) Barbosa ’10 (MSN) had a specific plan to work in the Hematology/ Oncology unit at Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego, which helped her earn a rare slot there as a new graduate.