![\"Asha](\"https:\/\/intouch.rnunl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/IMG_7646web-225x300.jpg\")
<\/p>\nWhen Asha Whiteway began her academic journey, she wasn\u2019t planning to become a nurse. With a Bachelor of Arts in History and Police Studies, her original goal was to serve with the RCMP and work toward safer, more equitable communities.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy education explored the social determinants of criminality and how a person\u2019s circumstances are predictive of recidivism,\u201d she explains. \u201cI hoped to use my position to advocate for societal conditions that improve lives in ways that reduce the likelihood of criminality.\u201d<\/p>\n
But in 2020, as the world shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic, the RCMP\u2019s training depot suspended operations. That pause became a pivot point. Asha began learning more about biomedical sciences, public health, and the crucial role nurses play. At the same time, her grandfather passed away, and she witnessed firsthand the profound impact nursing care had on his final years.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis adoration for the nurses who cared for him never wavered,\u201d she recalls. \u201cThe care he received at the Dr. H. Bliss Murphy Cancer Centre showed me how nurses change lives. I realized that nursing would give me the opportunity to make the kind of difference I had always dreamed of.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now enrolled at Memorial University\u2019s Faculty of Nursing in St. John\u2019s and set to graduate in 2025, Asha has found her passion rooted in the patient experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cHuman connection is at the core of what I love most about studying nursing,\u201d she says. \u201cI believe in the power of authentic patient-nurse relationships. Listening to patients\u2019 stories deepens empathy, strengthens communication, and enhances advocacy.\u201d<\/p>\n
That commitment to connection became especially clear during one of her clinical placements in maternity care.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had never held a baby before, let alone bathed one or taught someone else how to,\u201d she says. \u201cBut during my \u2018Care of the Childbearing Family\u2019 rotation, I gave a newborn bath demonstration to first-time parents. They were so warm and trusting. It reminded me that if you\u2019re caring, competent, and responsive, people will put their trust in you \u2014 even with their first child.\u201d<\/p>\n
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While nursing has been deeply rewarding, it hasn\u2019t come without challenges. For Asha, the biggest has been the sheer financial and time investment required to complete the BScN program.<\/p>\n
Living in Harbour Grace, Asha commutes two hours daily \u2014 adding up to more than 80,000 kilometres over the course of her degree.<\/p>\n
\u201cNursing students are required to complete over 1,300 hours of unpaid clinical placements,\u201d she notes. \u201cIn addition to tuition, books, uniforms, and online learning platforms, there are significant out-of-pocket expenses. Like many students without benefactors, I\u2019ve had to contend with both lost learning and lost earnings.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Despite the obstacles, Asha\u2019s goals are firmly in sight. She is currently completing her orientation as a perioperative nurse with NL Health Services and hopes to pursue a role as a Registered Nurse First Assistant (RNFA).<\/p>\n
She also has her eyes set on public health \u2014 particularly policy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope to eventually earn a Master\u2019s in Public Health and work toward policy-level change in healthcare,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, making a difference in people\u2019s lives will always be the priority,\u201d Asha says. That difference, she believes, can be made one-on-one with patients, within a team of colleagues, or through larger advocacy efforts.<\/p>\n
As a nursing student, she\u2019s served as an active member of the Canadian Nursing Students\u2019 Association (CNSA) and the Provincial Nursing Network (PNN), working to improve learning conditions for nursing students both provincially and nationally.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m inspired by labour leaders like RNUNL President Yvette Coffey and CFNU President Linda Silas,\u201d she says. \u201cI intend to be a lifelong advocate and a proud RNUNL member.\u201d<\/p>\n
To fellow students, Asha offers this advice:
\u201cWhen you\u2019re nervous about stepping outside your comfort zone, remember \u2014 it feels scary because it\u2019s new, not because you can\u2019t handle it. Keep an open mind. Get involved.\u201d<\/p>\n
To nurses: \u201cThank you for your unwavering support. The kindness and professionalism I\u2019ve seen during my training doesn\u2019t go unnoticed.\u201d<\/p>\n
And to the public, she has a heartfelt reminder:
\u201cIf you\u2019ve been an inpatient in Newfoundland and Labrador, chances are you\u2019ve been cared for by a nursing student. Students play a critical role in care delivery. In a system facing a shortage of nurses, we need public support to remove the financial barriers to nursing education. Health care is a human right \u2014 and so is access to the education needed to deliver it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Finding Purpose in a Time of Uncertainty When Asha Whiteway began her academic journey, she wasn\u2019t planning to become a nurse. With a Bachelor of Arts in History and Police Studies, her original goal was to serve with the RCMP and work toward safer, more equitable communities. \u201cMy education explored the social determinants of criminality […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":1292,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[89,90,99],"class_list":["post-1291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nursing-matters","tag-national-nursing-week","tag-student-nurse-day","tag-asha-whiteway"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n