Nursing graduate Doris Dlouhy helps Cecily Gonzales with homework for her Anatomy and Physiology ... Nursing graduate Doris Dlouhy helps Cecily Gonzales with homework for her Anatomy and Physiology class.As a student in the “Bridging” program Temple College offers for vocational nurses who want to become registered nurses, Doris Dlouhy recalls the instructors telling her classmates that this was just the first step in their nursing careers.

Dlouhy has taken that advice to heart. This summer, she will finish her bachelor’s degree in nursing through Western Governor’s University and she plans to complete her master’s degree next year. Her goal is to become a clinical instructor in one of the Temple College nursing programs and help other students fulfill their dreams to become a nurse – just like she did.

Dlouhy already is getting a taste of teaching by working as a tutor for Dr. Sudeep Mujamdar’s Anatomy and Physiology classes – classes she once sat in as a student.

“I love every minute of it,” she says of the tutoring.

Dlouhy also is passionate about taking care of patients. In February, she received the 2019 Excellence in Nursing Award from St. David’s Georgetown Hospital, where she works as a nurse on the Medical-Surgical Unit. The award recognized her for delivering compassionate care.

Dlouhy had worked at the hospital for almost 13 years as a unit secretary, switchboard operator and patient care technician before deciding to go back to school and fulfill her lifelong dream of becoming a nurse. A friend of hers had gone to Temple College, so she applied for the Vocational Nursing program offered in Taylor.

“The first step was the hardest,” Dlouhy recalls of her decision to go back to school after raising her children. “Once I took that first step, everything was OK.”

Dlouhy credits the advising staff in Taylor and faculty members such as Dr. Majumdar with helping her stay on track and reach her goals. She completed the Vocational Nursing program in 2015 and then graduated with honors from the LVN-RN Bridging program.

Dlouhy says the idea to become an instructor herself came to her while she was sitting in class one day. “I was listening to the instructor and I just had this moment where I realized that this is what I want to do,” she says.