“When I was five, I carried around my safety kit and loved putting band-aids on everyone and everything,” says junior Kiana Bauss.

She chuckles as she reminisces on her earlier days; the ones when she was first introduced to a world infused with humanity and empathy. The ones that encompassed her first encounter with her lifelong passion: nursing.

While high school seems to be a time devoted to finding yourself and deciding what you want to spend the rest of your life doing, Bauss appears to be one step ahead of the game. She first discovered her fervor for nursing at an early age. While the other kids in her neighborhood bolted around like barbarians consumed in intense games of tag and basketball, Bauss often played the role of mother. She seemed to be five going on twenty-five; she would devote her time diagnosing the other kids whose stomachs were aching after digesting one too many mud-pies and comforting the ones who scraped the knees during a heated game of soccer.

And while Bauss’s admiration for nursing commenced when she had only just learned to spell her name, she has continued to nurture her passion throughout her time at FHC.

Bauss spends her mornings blending into the overcrowded hallways, towing her backpack and laptop case behind her. However, after lunch concludes, she hops into her car to begin her a hour trek to Ferris University.

While Bauss is enrolled at FHC as a current junior, she is also simultaneously registered at Ferris as an undergraduate student through a KCTC nursing program. Bauss is considered rather fortuitous; she was one of 32 to be allowed admission to the rather selective nursing program at Ferris. She remains extremely appreciative of the opportunity and admits that the program has done so much more for her than just offer her an education.

“It [the program] has opened my eyes in so many different aspects,” Bauss said, her eyes glistening with gratitude and appreciation. “It has taught me so much, not only what it takes to be a nurse in terms of academics and knowledge about the body, but also in terms of what it takes emotionally. Nurses have to be compassionate- they have to actually care about their patients and form a genuine connection with them.”

Nursing is deemed a profession that requires draining hours and is physically demanding; however, it is also one that demands heart. Nurses are the first and often the last people to interact with the patients, so it is imperative that they understand the role they play in regards to both the hospital and the patient being treated. Bauss is aware of the importance of nurses in the medical industry and agrees that besides all nurses do for the body…they also have the duty of nurturing the patient’s souls.

“Some of the nurses I have encountered are the nicest people I have ever met,” Bauss said. “Nurses are able to genuinely bond with their patients and one of the things that first attracted me to the nursing industry was how involved they are able to get with each and every one of the people that they treat.”

Through a unique experience that cannot be paralleled to a normal day of learning from the textbook in a classroom, Bauss is offered the opportunity to study at Ferris and to do what she loves for a couple hours a day. The nursing program allows her to practice her study in an environment that allows her hands-on experience. Besides studying the human-body, Bauss is allowed the opportunity to examine simulated scenarios and provide a diagnostic for the case in regards to what they have learned through the previous lessons. The program allows Bauss the opportunity to learn her craft through the process of doing- an opportunity that a traditional classroom simply doesn’t offer.

The nursing program at Ferris University can best be described as an escape from reality- it has the ability to mentally take Bauss to a place in which she finds comfort…one that involves emphasizing for the patients and caring for those who are not physically able to care for themselves. A place where she feels at peace and a place where she hopes to be able to spend the rest of her life after graduation.