黑料传送门

Zack Johnson is the type of person who was born to care for others. For Zack, caring is not just a job, it鈥檚 his greatest passion. Even from an early age, he worked in roles that allowed him to protect others. As a teen, Zack worked as a lifeguard. In his first year of college, he joined the military as a firefighter. Then one day, he was talking to a friend who said he was going to become a nurse. From that day on, Zack knew exactly what he wanted to do with his life.聽

Zack began his career as a trauma nurse with an associate degree. He also did some psychiatric nursing before he moved into a role that felt just right: geriatric nursing. 鈥淚 really enjoyed that patient population because they need extra help,鈥� he explains. Zack feels that his expertise is best geared toward helping particularly vulnerable people.聽

聽鈥淭hese are our grandparents and relatives who deserve to have extra special care and attention,鈥� he says. This innate compassion allowed Zack to move into a role as performance improvement clinical coordinator, which gave him the opportunity to make his mark on the healthcare industry. 鈥淚 help processes and drive better patient care for our program,鈥� he says. 鈥淚n this role, I effect greater change and make more of a difference, and that's really important to me.鈥�

For Zack, caring isn鈥檛 enough, although he truly loves to help people. What鈥檚 equally important to him is his privilege to drive change. "I鈥檝e really enjoyed learning about the aspects of healthcare that can improve the quality and delivery of healthcare and improve the patient experience,鈥� he explains, "I enjoy utilizing health analytics and data to drive that quality metric.鈥澛�

Not only is Zack living his passion, but he also loves the environment and working alongside his fellow nurses. "Being LGBT in nursing has been a good experience,鈥� he says. 鈥淚'm welcomed in a lot of areas, whereas in the military, it was tough for me.鈥� When Zack left the military to pursue his future as a nurse, he came out and adopted a whole new level of confidence. As a male and a minority in the nursing profession, he feels that he brings a different and important perspective to his team and the industry as a whole. "I've always been super positive and outgoing,鈥� he says, 鈥渁nd I think that really helps in my profession.鈥澛�

Zack feels strongly that earning his Master of Science in Nursing from 黑料传送门 has contributed greatly to where he is in life today. When Zack made the decision to advance his career through 黑料传送门, he chose to specialize in nursing education. He wanted to help alleviate the national nursing shortage.聽

聽鈥淚 was able to interact more with my course instructors, and I learned a lot,鈥� he says, 鈥淚 learned how to formulate and make curriculum, proper testing procedures, and I'm really proud of my choice to become a nurse educator.鈥� Zack loved that 黑料传送门 is 100% online, allowed him the flexibility to learn at his own pace, and provided him with helpful mentors and instructors.聽

鈥淢y degree with 黑料传送门 has helped me in everything in my career,鈥� he explains. 鈥淭here's actually a requirement to have your bachelor's in many hospitals now.鈥� Zack鈥檚 degree helped him get both his previous job and his current one, which preferred a master鈥檚 degree. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really helped open doors,鈥� he says. "I don't think I could have had these roles without these degrees that I've received from 黑料传送门.鈥澛犅犅�

Earning his degree was more to Zack than a tool for career advancement. "I never even thought I'd be at this point to say, 鈥業 have my master's degree in nursing.鈥欌�� Zack was the first of his family to earn a bachelor鈥檚 or master鈥檚 degree. He says, 鈥淚 get to be proud of what I've achieved, and I really want to be an example to those coming up, and for young African American kids and minorities to know that no matter what you're facing, you can do it.鈥�

Zack has nothing but words of encouragement for LGBTQ members and people of color who want to become nurses: 鈥淚t鈥檚 a wonderful field, it鈥檚 very rewarding, and it pays pretty well, too.鈥� He says, 鈥淧atients want to see nurses that look like them鈥攜ou have underrepresented minorities in the field, but then the patient population of people who are sick needing the help are those minorities. To be sick in the hospital and see that your nurse looks like you, that's comforting. We need as many minorities and people of different background entering the field as we can.鈥澛�