Nurse of the Week: Mark Casanova Set to Become First Latino Male Nursing Graduate at IU-Bloomington

Our Nurse of the Week is Mark Casanova, a senior in the Indiana University (IU) Bloomington School of Nursing, who is set to become the school’s first Latino male nursing graduate. He is set to graduate this May and hopes his story will help inspire other people of color to not let anything stop their dreams.

Casanova tells IDSNews.com that he will never forget when he first realized the meaning of being a nurse. He was in nursing school, observing a cesarean section during his junior year, where he saw the doctor deliver two babies. He still remembers the mother’s face when she held her twin girls for the first time and it opened his eyes to the effect he could have on patients. Thanks to his clinical experience in nursing school, Casanova has decided to start in a medical-surgical unit after graduation.

According to Casanova, he has known he wanted to do something medical since he was a kid, but discovered in high school that he really wanted to pursue a nursing career. Working in hospitals as a nursing student has only strengthened his desire to become one. Casanova says he is attracted to nursing because it allows him to get to know people and gain medical knowledge.

Being the first Latino male nurse to graduate from the IU School of Nursing is a story Casanova will share with his kids one day and he hopes that his story will also help inspire other people of color to not let anything stop their dreams.