After studying neuroscience and immunohistochemistry at UCLA, Starks apparently realized that she was a definite Type N and decided to become a nurse. Already bursting at the seams with undergraduate degrees, she flew to the East Coast to pursue her studies in nursing. In New York, she went for an accelerated bachelor’s degree program for non-nurses (APNN) at the University of Rochester School of Nursing. Upon graduation, Strong Memorial Hospital snapped her up before she had a chance to go west again and installed her in the adult operating room, where she now works as a skilled vascular surgery nurse and preceptor.
However, Starks does not spend all of her time lollygagging about the OR or burying her nose in a textbook; she wants to effect change and has already created a place for herself among the new generation of upcoming nurse leaders. She is an active member in her local National Black Nurses Association chapter, the Rochester Black Nurses Association (RBNA), a founding member of the local chapter, and the chapter’s first vice president.
But that isn’t all. Stark is paying it forward as the founder and chair of the RBNA mentoring program in partnership with the URSON’s APNN program, where she and other Black nurses mentor nursing students of color. In true Type N fashion, she also manages to make time to participate as a member of the NPA’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee.
After she earns her degree, Starks plans to work as an FNP in primary care. Her passion is caring for those with chronic diseases, especially African American patients. She plans to continue her advocacy for Black patients and students through her continued work in RBNA and other organizations and mentoring programs.
Unlike many students during the pandemic, Starks has been very fortunate with regard to clinicals, and told a reporter that “Luckily, within my program, they didn’t stop us from doing any type of clinical rotation or any type of classes.” In her acceptance speech, the charismatic FNP-to-be graciously thanked everyone who made the award possible and declared her dedication to helping to further NPs’ scope of practice in New York State.
To see an interview with Starks at a local Rochester station, click here. Her acceptance speech is below.
*There are two NPA winners, actually, and we congratulate the Region 7 winner Margaret O’Donnell, DNP, FNP-BC, ANP-BC, FAANP, who will have a post of her own shortly.
We have another indefatigable and seemingly unstoppable Nurse of the Week on the verge of earning a BSN! The Nurse of the Week this time is Sabrina Bertsch, whose path to a Rutgers University–Camden nursing degree wound across the United States and included struggles with illness and financial insecurity.
Bertsch became interested in health care in her early 20s after the birth of her first child. She worked as a professional skateboard photographer in Philadelphia, utilizing her first bachelor’s degree in photography.
While she always planned to pursue a career in midwifery, life circumstances forced her to put her plans on hold for nearly 20 years.
After moving to Albuquerque, where she worked as a bartender and was pregnant with her second child, Bertsch was motivated to work in emergency medicine after witnessing customers at the tavern become sick from high alcohol consumption. “It pushed me to do something immediate to help save lives,” says Bertsch.
Bertsch was an emergency medical technician in Albuquerque and then in New Jersey, until she was diagnosed with idiopathic cardiomyopathy during her third pregnancy. A subsequent divorce and another move back to her hometown in Tennessee required putting off a nursing education for another 10 years.
After earning a master of arts in teaching degree from Liberty University in 2015, she briefly worked as a substitute teacher. “My heart was truly in nursing, specifically nurse-midwifery, so I decided I had put it off long enough and began my earnest path toward that goal,” she says.
Financial issues and caring for a sick child at home made the journey difficult but did not deter her from pursuing her dream career.
While working full-time as a server at a restaurant, Bertsch began taking prerequisites for a nursing degree, paying cash for the classes.
In early 2020, Bertsch faced some of the most challenging times in her life. While raising her four children, Bertsch began the 15-month Rutgers–Camden ABSN program for students who hold a degree in a non-nursing major.
Just a few weeks into the Rutgers School of Nursing–Camden program, Bertsch suffered a medical crisis that required hospitalization, nearly derailing her plans to pursue the degree.
Then the pandemic hit New Jersey.
Her partner’s acupuncture business shut down, and the family had no income for several weeks. Her children suffered anxiety from the lockdown and having to take classes online.
By drawing on her experience in conquering hurdles, Bertsch persevered with support from her partner and her children.
Bertsch’s 20-year-old son, a sophomore at Rutgers, was living at his grandparents’ home. Her 17-year-old son was taking virtual classes at home, and she was homeschooling her 15-year-old son, and caring for her four-year-old daughter.
“It wasn’t perfect,” says Bertsch. “Probably too much screen time and boxed mac-n-cheese, but we have all come together as a team and as a family.”
For Bertsch, a positive outcome of taking classes online during the pandemic has been a greater appreciation of opportunities to learn. “I think that being online has pushed me to not take a moment, an opportunity, or a lesson for granted,” says Bertsch. “I became a hyper-alert student, taking in everything I could; every question I had, I asked without hesitation.”
Bertsch will be working as a birth assistant for a homebirth practice in Pennington.
In August, she will begin a Georgetown University online dual-graduate program for certified nurse-midwife and women’s health nurse practitioner.
