UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center Magazine Fall 2016 | Page 22

“I’m humbled
every day
I come in. It’s
the patient care.
It’s working with
these families.
If I can make
their stay this
much better, it’s
not a bad day. It’s
a great day.”

20

U A B

UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center Magazine:
Why did you decide to become a nurse? Were
you always interested in the medical field?
Laura Leal: When I graduated from high school, I
was originally thinking pre-med because I had always
been interested in the medical field. I was a gymnast
my entire life, and I’ve broken more things and seen
more orthopedic surgeons than anyone should see
in their lifetime. I had an orthopedic surgeon who
invited me to shadow him when he learned about my
interest in medicine. So I did a co-op program in high
school, and every morning before school I was able
to go to a local hospital and watch every surgery they
did, which was awesome.
I was at Auburn University, and I was pre-med/
pre-vet, because I enjoyed veterinary medicine, but I
leaned more toward medicine. I was in microbiology
and was having a difficult time. I’m not a lab person.
I’m very much a person who wants to help people. I’m
a caregiver.
So I looked into nursing, thinking I could always
go back to the medical school route. Once my nursing
journey started, I never looked back. It was an “a-ha”
moment!

C O M P R E H E N S I V E

C A N C E R

C E N T E R

UAB CCC: What brought you to UAB?
LL: I actually finished at Auburn University-

Montgomery because they have an outstanding
nursing program. I decided if I stayed in Alabama,
I wanted to work at either UAB or Children’s of
Alabama. I had a professor who encouraged me to do
my preceptorship with the adult population. So I was
matched with the liver transplant unit at UAB.
I was exposed to a very caring environment there.
Whatever you could do for patients and their families,
that’s what was expected. There happened to be a
position on that floor when I graduated. I applied for
it, and I’ve been here almost nine years.

UAB CCC: What do you do as an assistant
nurse manager?
LL: As assistant nurse manager, I’m the biggest

resource on my floor, or at least I should be. I feel
like the more information I know to give to patients
to ease their stay but also improve outcomes, the
better. If I can be the best resource for my staff and
my patients, it helps take my stress level down, and
I feel that I’m doing the very best I can. I’m also
getting my master’s degree in the clinical nurse