“When I was very young, my parents gave me one of those toy doctor kits that comes with a stethoscope, thermometer and a reflex hammer,” recalls Everett, Massachusetts native Gabriella Floramo. The rest is “herstory.”
Like many Regis students, Gabriela will be the first in her family to graduate college but early on, she knew she wanted to pursue a career in healthcare. “My favorite subject in [high] school became my science classes because it involved using your hands and equipment to bring about a solution, a result or reaction…I went from wanting to be an anesthesiologist, to orthodontist and then finally a nurse because of the numerous tasks you can work in.”
In high school, her advisor recommended Regis “based on their stellar nursing program.” By the time she enrolled, Gabriella writes, “I had a pretty good idea about the type of nursing field I wanted to specialize in. I flourished in lab during our sterile field courses, and then in the last two months, I have been building off the skills I learned during my clinical at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in their operating room.”
It was here that Gabriela shadowed a scrub and circulating nurse in the operating room and discovered exactly what she wanted to do.
“In previous years, I never felt quite connected to other nursing fields. It was never an issue of nursing not being the right job for me, but more that I hadn’t found my niche. The more I shadowed Kerri, the more connected and passionate I became about a career in the operating room.”
Gabriela appreciated the collaboration between nurses, doctors, techs and anesthesiologists. “This was something I had never really witnessed in other clinicals and a quality that makes me want to be a part of this field so much.”
The seed was planted when her first-year seminar professor suggested ER as a possible path, telling the class that “’Nursing is all about the experiences you take away and the knowledge you gain. And you can’t declare your field of interest unless you’ve seen what’s out there first.”
Currently, Gabriela works as a PCA and Unit Coordinator in the postpartum department of Brigham and Women’s, but she knows exactly what her dream job looks like: “I love the comradery, teamwork and collaboration that is present throughout the operating room.”
