How a CNA rotation in the COVID-19 unit helped a Leland woman find her future career

When Becca Seay imagined her future career, she never saw herself working as a nurse.

But that changed when her grandfather was hospitalized.

“He was on the oncology floor, and the nurses there were amazing,” she said.

After seeing the nurses in action, Seay earned her nursing assistant certification. She started working at Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center in February 2020 as a certified nursing assistant (CNA) in the float pool, which allows staff to move between floors to fill in when there are staffing shortages. She often floated to the hospital’s eighth floor — then designated as the COVID-19 floor — to work in the COVID ICU.

Seay admits volunteering to go there may have been “a little bit crazy,” but she enjoyed the experience and fell in love with nursing.

“Working in the ICU with the COVID patients was all very new because I started right when we were starting to get our first cases here at the hospital, and nobody really knew what was going on,” Seay said. “It was kind of scary. I liked the adrenaline rush a little bit, but I also enjoyed watching the nurses working.”

Most CNAs didn’t want to work on the COVID-19 floor, but Seay volunteered to move there permanently and had high praise for the unit’s leadership, nurses, nursing assistants and staff. She explained they all encouraged her as she considered going to back to school to get her associates degree in nursing.

Seay began by researching the program at Cape Fear Community College, enrolling in the prerequisite classes, and completing them one at a time as she continued to work her full-time schedule.

“I had to get my feet wet and figure out what I was able to do while working and being a single parent,” she said. “It was tough, especially that first year.”

Then one of her friends told her about Novant Health’s Upward Mobility RN Educational Assistance Program, which is funded by the Novant Health regional foundations. Seay applied, received the scholarship and “dove head-first” into the nursing program.

While the classes were tough, Seay said the scholarship program helped her succeed. In addition to covering tuition and books, it also covered uniforms for clinicals, graduation pinning fees, and a portion of the NCLEX nursing licensure exam fee. But Seay said one of the best aspects of the program was that it provides employees with one paid 12-hour shift to work on their studies.

Seay earned her associates degree in nursing in December 2023 and celebrated the moment with members of her graduating class.

“We got together, and we all obsessively checked our grades,” she said. “When our final grades came out, we had a toast and a lot of us cried—I know I cried. You don’t realize how proud of yourself you’ll be until the moment comes.”

Now 27 years old, Seay, is excited to embark on a new career. In late February, she began working as a nurse resident in the critical care specialty, floating through the various intensive care units at Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center. And when it comes to career advancement, she’s not done yet.

Through Novant’s tuition reimbursement program, she’s pursuing her bachelor’s degree in nursing at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, and she admits she hasn’t ruled out one day becoming a nurse practitioner.

“But it’s one step at a time,” she said.

Renee Spencer is the community engagement editor at the StarNews. Reach her at RSpencer@gannett,com.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Leland woman pursues nursing career through Novant nursing scholarship