Nurse of the Week: US Marine Veteran Tori Levine Aims to Become Nurse Anesthetist for Doctors Without Borders

Our Nurse of the Week is Tori Levine, 22, a US Marine veteran and current nursing student at Stony Brook University who wants to become a nurse anesthetist for Doctors Without Borders.

Levine is from Dix Hills, NY, and says she knew she wanted to enlist in the military when she was nine years old. When her senior year in high school rolled around, Levine decided to defer college to enroll in the Marine Corps. She soon found herself serving as a collateral duty inspector for combat jets while deployed to the Middle East.

Levine tells news.stonybrook.edu, “I had trouble sleeping thinking about the maintenance I oversaw and imagining the worst possible cases: ‘What if something wasn’t connected right? What if the wire we repaired doesn’t hold? What if someone gets hurt? Did I make sure all of the tools were accounted for?’ With time I was able to gain confidence in myself and quit second-guessing when I know I had triple-checked it multiple times.”

Her military training eventually taught her discipline and provided her with mental jet fuel: “Being a nurse also appealed to me but I never thought I could do that because I struggled in the sciences. The military made me realize that what they say about mind over matter is true. I know now I can do it.”

After finishing her undergraduate degree, Levine eventually wants to become a nurse anesthetist and work for Doctors Without Borders. She feels she is aptly equipped to provide care and training to victims of war in the Middle East once she’s received the proper nursing training. She’s also trying to learn Russian and French, the two languages required to be accepted into Doctors Without Borders.