Nursing Became His Family Tradition
Damien O’Leary seemed to have it all. A career he loved, a happy marriage and family life, a nice home in his adopted country. But at one point, he realized he wanted more. “I had the dream to become a nurse,” he said.
That dream came true last December when Damien completed his Associate in Applied Science in Nursing Degree. A registered nurse, he is currently employed at Hackensack University Medical Center. “I started in April and it’s been a great experience so far.”
A native of Ireland, Damien received his first associate’s degree there in sports and leisure management and worked for a major chain as a personal trainer in Ireland, England and Scotland, where he met Sally Dunn, a nurse whom he later married.
Coincidentally, Sally also had a prior career before becoming a nurse. “She worked in social services but decided to change her direction and follow in the footsteps of her mother and aunt, who are both nurses,” said Damien.
Damien was pinned by his wife, Sally, who is also a nurse, at PCCC’s traditional Nurse Pinning Ceremony last January.
In 2013, the couple moved to the U.S. and settled in New Jersey, where Sally has relatives. Damien made a good living as a personal trainer in New York and Sally found a nursing position at Hackensack UMC.
It was in 2020, during the Covid pandemic, that Damien first thought about a nursing career. “I saw my wife work through that. I watched the news reports about the doctors and nurses working through that, and I was in awe of what they did and what a difference they made. I felt excited about doing something that seemed so worthwhile.”
At the same time, personal training jobs were drying up due to the pandemic. That’s when Damien decided to enroll at PCCC. “I knew the reputation of the PCCC nursing program,” he said.
Damien worked full-time and attended classes in the evening. On weekends, he was a hands-on dad. By then, he and Sally had two young sons. A third son came later.
Balancing work, school, and family, Damien admitted there were times he nearly gave up. “I couldn’t, though. Not when my wife and mother-in-law both completed nursing school. I didn’t want to go home and tell them I couldn’t do it.”
Despite the struggle, at the end of each semester, Damien was amazed by how much he had learned. “The nursing faculty at PCCC gave me a really good foundation, especially in patient care.”
At last January’s pinning ceremony, a tradition in which new nurse graduates receive a gold pin as a sign of welcome into the profession. Damien was pinned by his wife. “Until I met my wife, I didn’t know any medical professionals personally,” he says. “The profession grew on me.”
Now they both work at the same hospital, Sally in the oncology unit, and Damien in the urology department, where he is fascinated by the growing number of kidney transplants performed there. “I feel lucky to be working in such an interesting area.”
In a few months, he plans to return to school to earn a bachelor’s degree in nursing, but Damien is in no hurry to move into a specialty yet.
“I am going to do what my PCCC professors advised us to do. Just focus first on applying the strong skills we learned in class and becoming a really good nurse.”
Now Damien and his wife are in the same profession and working in the same hospital. They have three sons: Liam, Dylan, and Declan. “It was good for them to see me studying, so hard,” Damien noted. “When I studied, they did their homework, too.”
Very grateful to PCCC, where he enjoyed not only “excellent professors,” but also the camaraderie with his fellow nursing students, Damien adds, “I’m truly blessed and happy. It was worth the sacrifice of the two years to have a really rewarding career.”
Written by Linda Telesco
Photos: Luis Ruiz
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