Nurse of the Week: After Gaining Her LPN From a Homeless Shelter, Felicia Shaner Joins the Frontlines

As a single mother with a four-year-old daughter and another baby on the way, Felicia Shaner was already in a difficult position, but even after becoming homeless, this Nurse of the Week doggedly pursued her nursing studies.

Now 26 years old, Felicia began her healthcare career as a housekeeper on the staff of Easton Hospital in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, but the experience quickly fired her ambition to become a nurse. After becoming a CNA, she was determined to make nursing her career: “I was a CNA for five years, and I was seeing the nurses and thought, I don’t want to be a CNA, I want to be a nurse.”

Felicia found herself homeless just as she was preparing to take the next step and study for an LPN. Pregnant with her second child, she and her toddler moved into a shelter, then stayed at a transitional housing program for residents taking part in educational or vocational programs while she studied for her degree. Now a mother of two children, for the next 18 months Felicia combined day shifts as a CNA with night classes at the Penn State Lehigh Valley LPN program, ferrying her young ones from daycare to evening care in between.

It was hard, but she had powerful reasons for driving on: “My motivation was my kids and how much better we were going to live after this. I cried so many times during school, but the only thing I could think of was the outcome.” She adds, “I want them to know that even when you’re down, there’s always a way up. Education is crucial.”

Now living in Section 8 housing with her little family, Felicia is on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic as she works in an assisted-living facility as a nursing supervisor. Having attained her LPN, she’s set her sights on her next goal: in 2021, she will begin studies for an RN degree. For those struggling with similar situations, Felicia offers encouragement and advice: “If you want to [go back to school] but you’re thinking about how hard it’s going to be, you can do it. There is a way. It’s going to be stressful, but the outcome will be worth it.”

For more details on Felicia Shaner, see her story on Lehigh Valley Live.

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Koren Thomas

Associate Editor at DailyNurse

Koren Thomas (pictured with Assistant) was the associate editor of DailyNurse from late 2019 through July, 2022—and she was not joking about the "issue postage stamps saluting US nurses" idea. Send your article ideas, submissions, Nurse of the Week suggestions, comments, and corrections to the current Editor in Chief at [email protected].