DURHAM, N.C. — North Carolina is home to the oldest state nursing board, founded in 1903. While the concept of an educated nurse is a relatively new concept, the art of nursing goes back as far as history itself. In honor of Women's History Month, we spoke to a thoroughly modern woman who came to nursing in a dramatic career pivot.
North Carolina is home to the oldest state nursing board, which was founded in 1903
Jazzmen Blackwell left the U.S. Navy to pursue a career as a nurse practitioner
Blackwell wants to use her background as a military veteran and Afro-Latina to build relationships with her patients
Jazzmen Blackwell is a nursing student at Duke University.
“I see a lot of different types of patients,” Blackwell said. “Everybody has something else going on.”
Her parents didn’t go to college, which she says pushed her to build her own path.
“Their drive and their purpose was to put food on the table for our family, and make sure that we all had clothes on our backs. My siblings kind of followed that in a way,” Blackwell said. “And that’s just not a future I saw for myself.”
Blackwell joined the military in 2014 and served in the U.S. Navy for five years before realizing she wanted to go back to school.
“It was challenging. It was scary, but I was excited to do it,” Blackwell said. “I was excited to make the change for myself.”
She got help making the transition from life in the service to life as a student from a nonprofit organization called the Warrior Scholar Project.
“They put me in an environment where I was in a college classroom, learning from professors at these top universities, and it made me feel like I did belong there.”“They put me in an environment where I was in a college classroom, learning from professors at these top universities, and it made me feel like I did belong there.”
She earned her bachelor’s degree from UNC-Charlotte, majoring in psychology and minoring in public health. She is now attending Duke, where she is in a rigorous, accelerated nursing program that lasts 16 months.
As a female veteran and Afro-Latina, Blackwell says she’s happy to be at Duke. Her goal is to become a nurse practitioner to help her community.
“I would want to focus on working with veterans and those who suffer from opioid addictions, or alcohol, substance abuse,” Blackwell said.
She wants to use her diverse background to build relationships with her patients.
“My biggest goal is to be the best advocate I can be, for the communities I come from, people of color, low-income communities and veteran communities.”
Blackwell, who is expected to graduate in May 2023, works in a clinical setting at UNC Medical Center in Chapel Hill. She says she’s glad to help out at a time when there’s a staffing shortage of nurses on the floor.
