Ten Questions With Hailey Iverson

Photo by Christina Patton

Hailey Iverson, a nursing student at Linn-Benton Community College, will be graduating in June with her associate degree. After years of hard work and dedication to her studies, she’ll be moving on to working as an ICU nurse in the Critical Care Residency program in Corvallis.

Iverson has a warm and bubbly personality that immediately makes those around her feel comfortable and welcome. She considers herself an “extroverted introvert” because she loves spending time with her friends and family, but she also prioritizes her alone time. 

She grew up in a rural farming community in Canby, Oregon. She has had a passion for nursing since she was young. Many of her friends are also nurses and her husband works in health care. Outside of school and work, Iverson is a mom and wife and she loves spending time with her family more than anything. 

Tell me a bit about yourself and where you’re from.

I’m in the nursing program, so my specific degree would be an associate degree in nursing.

This is actually a second career for me. I am married and I have a little kid. At the start of the pandemic, I kind of had a midlife crisis, and I was like, “I need to do something different with my life.” I decided to start pursuing nursing and it included my prerequisites while I was working as a CNA. Before that, I had worked in the non-profit and fundraising field for many years, but I realized I didn’t want to be chained to a desk for the rest of my life and I wanted to do something more impactful. I started working as a CNA and I loved it. So I completed my prerequisites and I applied for the nursing program here at Linn-Benton. I’ve been at LB for four years.

Tell me more about why you decided to go into the nursing program.

I know a lot of wonderful people who are nurses and I would say those are my kind of people. My whole life I’ve been sort of interested in nursing and healthcare. My husband also works in the healthcare field. Seeing how much enjoyment my husband and the people I’m surrounded with have gotten out of working in that field encouraged me to explore it. The more I thought about it, I was like, “OK, I think this could be something I could be happy doing for the rest of my life.” I actually just accepted a job in the critical care residency program in Corvallis, so I’ll be working in the intensive care unit and the progressive care unit, so a critical care environment.

What have you enjoyed most within the nursing program?

In the nursing program, I have been grateful to be elected the student representative of the cohort. That position itself has been really rewarding for me. I enjoy the community we’ve created. Linn-Benton provides a lot of unique clinical experiences and I feel like I’ve gotten a wide variety of exposure to many different types of nursing, so that’s another thing that I’ve enjoyed.

Could you describe some of your classes at LBCC?

It kind of changes from year to year. For your first year, you’re enrolled in pharmacology in the Nursing Fundamentals course that’s designed to give you the basics of nursing. Alongside that, you’re also completing one clinical shift every week in addition to time in the simulation lab, which is this cool area they have set up where you take care of a robotic patient. You have to go through scenarios with them and oftentimes what you’re doing in the simulation lab will correlate with things that you’re learning about in class. You’ll also do skill sessions, where you learn how to do things like correctly hanging IV fluids, successfully passing medications, and how to give different types of injections. So fundamentals, pharmacology, clinicals, skill sessions, and simulations. Towards the end of your first year, you start doing something called a “standardized patient experience,” where we go over to the medical school that’s next door to us and we have a patient actor that walks us through a scenario. It's a great way to practice bedside manner and get actual feedback from someone who’s acting as a patient, because you don’t always get that from patients in real life. 

What is the most valuable lesson you have learned at LBCC?

I think that even just getting this close to completing the program, I’ve learned that things that feel out of reach are actually in reach. I’ve developed a real confidence in myself, like OK I can do this. Just developing that sort of inner self-esteem seeing myself completing my goals. 

What are some of your passions outside of school?

I’m a mom, so I have a nearly 2-year-old. He’s the love of my life, he’s amazing. Aside from that, I like to go running, baking, and I also really enjoy playing strategic board games.

What is one piece of advice you’d give someone considering the nursing program?

I would say that going into the nursing program, it starts with prerequisites so school kind of becomes your life, and having that intense focus is important. That focus and academic achievement are just as important as having a good support system around you. I would not have been able to do everything that I’ve done and finish so strongly if it hadn’t been for my husband and my parents. They help me bridge those gaps when I’m like, “Hey, I gotta stay up late and study for this test, I need you to take over what’s happening at home.” So a strong support system, but also a very good work ethic and being able to take feedback well. You get a lot of feedback.

Are there any role models you look up to in your life, and why?

I would say my spouse. He’s a wonderful person, I chose well. He is very passionate about what he does and he works incredibly hard but he’s also very humble. I would also say my mom. She did not go to college at all, she went to beauty school, which is like a trade school so it’s a little different. Growing up my parents didn’t really have a whole lot, but they still managed to give us a lot and to not let that affect our experiences. Now, years later she’s running her own business and she’s this amazing person. It’s a boutique in Canby, Oregon called Tin and Paisley Boutique.

What has been the most challenging part of the nursing program?

Different parts of it are challenging for different reasons. The first term is kind of stressful because the nursing program organizes classes and everything in a very specific way. So your first term you’re just sort of getting your feet wet with figuring out what’s due when. From there, the second term is very academically challenging. You have to get a certain grade percentage in order to even stay in the program, and you have to meet certain clinical outcomes every term as well. I think the hardest part is just that constant adaptability and making sure that you’re staying on top of everything and not falling behind.

Is there anything else you’d want people to know?

For prospective nursing students, try to get at least some CNA experience before nursing school. Going into a clinical environment, it’s really nerve-wracking talking to patients, touching patients, dealing with them, and if you can kind of get that out of the way before stepping into that role as a nurse it’s very helpful. For people that I knew who didn’t do that, it took a lot of confidence building for them and they had to do it a lot faster than they would have if they had spent a little bit of time in that CNA role, in a hospital setting especially.

At a Glance:

Hailey Iverson

Occupation: ICU nurse

Family: Thomas (husband) and Archie (son)

Hometown: Canby, Oregon

Education: Associate degree in nursing

Years at LBCC: Four years

Favorite board games: Scythe, Everdell, Raccoon Tycoon, and any word-based game, such as Boggle or Balderdash.

Other interests: Running, baking, and spending time with her 2-year-old son.

Contact information: hailey.iverson.5439@mail.linnbenton.edu