Chad's journey with Duke Health began in 1996 with the Professional Nursing Assistant (PNA) Program. After he and his future wife graduated from Liberty University's Nursing program, they landed their first nursing jobs in different ICUs, but Chad had his sights set on Duke's Life Flight team.

"I pursued nursing to be a flight nurse. ICU nursing up in the sky, 3,000 feet, 200 miles per hour - you know, kind of an adrenaline junkie," he shares.

It was a dream he'd had since his youth. Working as an ocean lifeguard in California, Chad saw firsthand the lifesaving efforts of the team that helicoptered in. So, when joining the armed forces fell through, he focused his efforts on nursing school with this goal in mind.

Over the next three years, Chad completed all the additional credentials needed to make his dream a reality. He took to the skies, only to quickly come to a surprising revelation.

"About day one, I had major problems with motion sickness, throwing up almost half of the time. I began to realize that my dream job was probably not my dream job," laughs Chad.

After realizing he would need to pivot his career, Chad decided to pursue a master's degree as a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA). Together, he and his wife quit their "dream jobs" to start another journey together in Duke's Nurse Anesthesia Program.

"My wife is integral to all of this," he said. "I mean, we have parallelled our lives and careers in so many ways. Her dream of becoming a CRNA became my backup plan."

Since graduating from Duke University and remaining at Duke as a CRNA, Chad says this new path has been rewarding in ways he never expected when he first set his sights on nursing.

"Anesthesia teaches a highly technical skill set, but the human component - the relationships, the personalities, the conflict resolution - is probably the most challenging thing to manage every day. Learning to enter a room, look the patient in the eyes, talk with them, get to know them, show them that I actually care about them as a person, not just as a patient - this has been the most meaningful impact of my career."

Now, nearly three decades into his career, Chad credits many factors to his lengthy tenure in nursing at Duke Health.

"At this point, I look around me and I truly love where I am. My leaders, my team and department, the patients, the challenges," he shares. "I'm not done growing here yet. I don't want to just jump ship for some greener pasture. Year after year, there are always more opportunities for professional and personal growth."

Chad smiles in a Duke Life Flight jumpsuit by a computer during one of his first roles at Duke.

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