Nursing Grad Shares Experience, Advice for Students During ‘Fireside Chat’

Alumna Jaylen Perez’s entry into the nursing field just happened to come shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic took hold.

A telemetry unit nurse at Rush University Medical Center, Perez saw her unit converted into a ward for the care of COVID-19 patients.

“It was very difficult to process,” Perez told a group of current nursing students who gathered on Oct. 24 to hear her speak in the Rebecca Crown Library’s Contemplation Space. “I was barely four months into my career.”

But Perez persevered, learning to work under pressure and to care for the sick during uncertain, stress-filled times. And the registered nurse had some advice for those following in her footsteps and preparing for their own nursing careers.

“You don’t have to be so hard on yourself, you don’t always have to be perfect, and you don’t always have to be right,” Perez said.

The 2019 graduate shared her experiences of working in various roles within the nursing field and advice for students during the first public “Fireside Chat” open to the DU community. The event was created to bring alumnae/i into the classroom and other spaces at DU to share the work they have been doing since graduation.

The chats help to inspire students and introduce them to alumnae/i who are close to their own ages, who are representatives of the careers they are seeking, and have connections to the DU community, noted Dr. Tina Taylor-Ritzler, executive director of Career Programs and Employer Relations, and one of the creators of the Fireside Chat.

For this particular event, s’mores were served to fit the “fireside” theme.

A first-gen student and the child of immigrants, Jaylen Perez is currently an oncology nurse at Rush University Medical Center. She serves on the board of the Society of Latinx Nurses, an organization representing and supporting Latinx nursing professionals, and was recognized among "40 Under 40 Emerging Nurse Leaders” by the Illinois Nurses Foundation in 2023. Nurses named to this list are celebrated for their impact on health care and the nursing profession.