Send Rob to Nursing School
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Hi. My name is Rob Brittingham, and I'm a nursing student in Seattle, WA. I have felt very uncomfortable considering creating a GoFundMe, but the reality is that I genuinely do need help and figured I should put this out to the universe. So, here goes:
On September 9, 2020, I am registered and scheduled to begin my studies in the college of nursing at Seattle University as part of the transfer student cohort graduating in August 2022. The program will be seven quarters that I will be completing over the next two years in my quest to become a registered nurse, graduating with my bachelor's of science in nursing (RN, BSN). Upon graduation, I am hoping to join my current unit where I have worked as a CNA-Hospital Assistant since November 2013, as an RN on the acute care Trauma Surgery unit at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle - the only Level One trauma, burn and emergency center serving Washington, Alaska, Idaho, and Montana. As a Level One trauma center, Harborview treats the most seriously injured adults and children, serving an area comprising 24% of the United States in terms of geography. From November 2013 until February 2019, in addition to the acute care Trauma Surgery unit, I also worked for the acute care Burns, Plastics, and Pediatric Trauma unit - caring for patients aged from one week to 104 years old with a wide variety of injuries and ailments across the spectrum. As Harborview is owned by the citizens of King County and managed by the University of Washington on behalf of the state of Washington, we are not only a Level One trauma center, but our mission is to care for our underserved populations in Seattle and Western Washington - the homeless, those struggling with addiction, as well as mental health issues. Annually, Harborview Medical Center provides more charitable and uncompensated care than any other medical center in the region, regardless of their ability to pay, race, creed, language, gender, or sexual identity. I am incredibly proud to work there and hope to continue working at Harborview as a trauma nurse for the next few decades, providing our patients with the highest level of care, with compassion, dignity, and respect, regardless of circumstance.
In February 2019, I accepted a promotion to join the administrative side in Harborview Nursing Supervisor's office as the hospital's on-shift Staffing & Patient Placement Coordinator (the role varies depending upon the day), two days a week, while continuing to work one day a week as a CNA for the Trauma Surgery unit. It can be a difficult transition moving back and forth between inpatient and administration, but I truly love being able to help patients first hand while being able to bridge that gap with my first-hand experience.
Since March 2020, I have been working to help coordinate staffing and patient placement at Harborview as part of our response to the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. As one of the first medical centers in the United States treating Covid patients, many of our early-adopted safety protocols and practices have been adopted by hospitals nation-wide and Harborview has continued to work coordinating the transfer of care and treatment of patients, as well as supplies to medical centers throughout our region. When we began training CNAs to assist on our Covid units, I made sure I was one of the first CNAs trained to work with our patients combating the virus, and assisting the teams of doctors, nurses, and respiratory therapists treating and screening these patients from the acute to critical and emergency care settings.
Prior to joining Harborview in 2013, I was a volunteer at the University of Washington Medical Center, from September 2012 through November 2013 volunteering on the Cardiothoracic ICU, and served as a volunteer team lead from June to November 2013, coordinating volunteer activities throughout the medical center. From June 2003 to January 2009, I served as the primary caregiver for my mother upon her diagnosis with pelvic osteosarcoma, my parents' subsequent divorce, and a multitude of other health issues brought about by misdiagnosed celiac disease until her passing in January 2009. From June 2009 to August 2012, I again stepped in to become the caregiver for my father due to his own health issues related to diabetes, heart disease, and pulmonary failure, until his passing in August 2012. From 2003 through 2012, I attempted to balance school with my caregiving duties, while struggling with my own clinical depression and social anxiety disorders, but as any caregiver can tell you there is no balance, especially if you are the sole source of care, love, and comfort for the individual you are caring for. From the ages of 22 to 32 I put my whole life on hold. For a time, I was heavily involved in volunteer and community service leadership during my studies at Central Washington University and Seattle Central College, throwing myself into helping others as a reprieve from my own life and worries, but discovering a true joy and love of being able to help others in any way possible.
It was sitting at my mother's bedside in the ICU in January 2009, watching the kindness and care with which she was treated by her nurses that in turn inspired me to devote my life to the pursuit of becoming an RN, to pay forward the compassion and love given to my mother and myself, and to have the opportunity to help those in their time of greatest need. Over the past seven years, as a trauma, burns, and pediatric CNA, I have had the opportunity to help thousands of people in their recovery, and I have tried my utmost each day to bring joy, a laugh, a smile into their lives while showing that someone truly does care about them and that we're going to do everything we can to get them back to being themselves. My pursuit of nursing school has not been an easy journey and working fulltime as a CNA while attending school and completing my prereqs for nursing school has meant money is very tight. Twice in the past four years (December 2016 and January 2019), I have ended up homeless, sleeping on the floor of a friend's apartment and camping in my car parked under the West Seattle bridge, hiding the situation from my friends and coworkers because I was so ashamed at working 40-60 hours a week and having a job, but being unable to afford rent when 90% of my monthly earnings were already going to rent and couldn't absorb a $600 rent hike. I have been very fortunate to have some incredibly kind, generous, and wonderful people in my life who have helped me out of that situation, who have believed in me offered their emotional support in the continued pursuit of my goal.
I graduated in summer 2018 from North Seattle College with my Associate of Arts & Associate of Science degrees, with GPAs of 3.77 and 3.96, respectively. After multiple applications to several nursing programs and ten years spent completing my pre-requisite courses for nursing studies, I was finally accepted to the Seattle University college of nursing for Fall 2019, but was ultimately unable to attend as still almost $10K short towards the almost $50K annual tuition and books, and was unable to qualify for any private student loans due to being unable to provide a cosigner due to not having any family since the death of my parents. Seattle University generously offered me a deferment and acceptance into the Fall 2020 transfer nursing cohort, and recognizing my financial circumstances, their financial aid office was cover almost all of my tuition with grants, scholarships, and federal loans. Despite my intent to continue working nearly full-time (90% or 36 hours a week) in addition to attending nursing school full-time, my monthly earnings will only be sufficient to cover rent, food, utilities, and gas for my car to travel to/from school, work, and my clinical sites. I have already been working 60-80 hours a week for the past few months and will be doing that during my December and June-August 2021 breaks, trying to save up money towards school, make necessary repairs to my 15 year old car, and replace a 9 year old laptop for schoolwork.
For the 2020-2021 school year of Fall, Winter, and Spring quarters from September 2020 to June 2021, I am asking for help in paying for:
Total: $4,500
-$3,000 tuition ($1,000 a quarter for the Fall, Winter, and Spring quarters)
-$1,500 for books & supplies ($500 a quarter for Fall, Winter, Spring quarters), including scrubs & shoes.
I don't know if there is anyone in the universe who might be willing to help, but please know that anything you might be willing to contribute would be deeply appreciated. Anything I raise will go directly towards my 2020-2021 tuition and books, and should I raise anything beyond that, I will be putting towards my 2021-2022 tuition (which will be four quarters and approximately $17K) more than this year.
Upon graduating as a registered nurse, my intent is to become a trauma nurse at Harborview Medical Center for at least the next twenty-five years. It is my hope to eventually complete my Doctorate of Nursing Practice, becoming an ARNP specializing in large-scale trauma and wound care, as well as a clinical instructor or professor, teaching and mentoring nursing students, sharing my knowledge and experience as so many wonderful nurses have done for me. I come from a healthcare family - my mom attended the Mercy School of Nursing in Lansing, MI and my dad was an osteopathic surgeon and radiologist for over fifty years - and I believe that my becoming an RN and continuing their goals of kindness, compassion, and always helping those in need would be the greatest legacy and tribute they could leave. I just want so much to know that I have become a man they would be proud of.
Make the world a better place one patient, one interaction at a time.
Thank you for your time and consideration of possibly helping me.
On September 9, 2020, I am registered and scheduled to begin my studies in the college of nursing at Seattle University as part of the transfer student cohort graduating in August 2022. The program will be seven quarters that I will be completing over the next two years in my quest to become a registered nurse, graduating with my bachelor's of science in nursing (RN, BSN). Upon graduation, I am hoping to join my current unit where I have worked as a CNA-Hospital Assistant since November 2013, as an RN on the acute care Trauma Surgery unit at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle - the only Level One trauma, burn and emergency center serving Washington, Alaska, Idaho, and Montana. As a Level One trauma center, Harborview treats the most seriously injured adults and children, serving an area comprising 24% of the United States in terms of geography. From November 2013 until February 2019, in addition to the acute care Trauma Surgery unit, I also worked for the acute care Burns, Plastics, and Pediatric Trauma unit - caring for patients aged from one week to 104 years old with a wide variety of injuries and ailments across the spectrum. As Harborview is owned by the citizens of King County and managed by the University of Washington on behalf of the state of Washington, we are not only a Level One trauma center, but our mission is to care for our underserved populations in Seattle and Western Washington - the homeless, those struggling with addiction, as well as mental health issues. Annually, Harborview Medical Center provides more charitable and uncompensated care than any other medical center in the region, regardless of their ability to pay, race, creed, language, gender, or sexual identity. I am incredibly proud to work there and hope to continue working at Harborview as a trauma nurse for the next few decades, providing our patients with the highest level of care, with compassion, dignity, and respect, regardless of circumstance.
In February 2019, I accepted a promotion to join the administrative side in Harborview Nursing Supervisor's office as the hospital's on-shift Staffing & Patient Placement Coordinator (the role varies depending upon the day), two days a week, while continuing to work one day a week as a CNA for the Trauma Surgery unit. It can be a difficult transition moving back and forth between inpatient and administration, but I truly love being able to help patients first hand while being able to bridge that gap with my first-hand experience.
Since March 2020, I have been working to help coordinate staffing and patient placement at Harborview as part of our response to the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. As one of the first medical centers in the United States treating Covid patients, many of our early-adopted safety protocols and practices have been adopted by hospitals nation-wide and Harborview has continued to work coordinating the transfer of care and treatment of patients, as well as supplies to medical centers throughout our region. When we began training CNAs to assist on our Covid units, I made sure I was one of the first CNAs trained to work with our patients combating the virus, and assisting the teams of doctors, nurses, and respiratory therapists treating and screening these patients from the acute to critical and emergency care settings.
Prior to joining Harborview in 2013, I was a volunteer at the University of Washington Medical Center, from September 2012 through November 2013 volunteering on the Cardiothoracic ICU, and served as a volunteer team lead from June to November 2013, coordinating volunteer activities throughout the medical center. From June 2003 to January 2009, I served as the primary caregiver for my mother upon her diagnosis with pelvic osteosarcoma, my parents' subsequent divorce, and a multitude of other health issues brought about by misdiagnosed celiac disease until her passing in January 2009. From June 2009 to August 2012, I again stepped in to become the caregiver for my father due to his own health issues related to diabetes, heart disease, and pulmonary failure, until his passing in August 2012. From 2003 through 2012, I attempted to balance school with my caregiving duties, while struggling with my own clinical depression and social anxiety disorders, but as any caregiver can tell you there is no balance, especially if you are the sole source of care, love, and comfort for the individual you are caring for. From the ages of 22 to 32 I put my whole life on hold. For a time, I was heavily involved in volunteer and community service leadership during my studies at Central Washington University and Seattle Central College, throwing myself into helping others as a reprieve from my own life and worries, but discovering a true joy and love of being able to help others in any way possible.
It was sitting at my mother's bedside in the ICU in January 2009, watching the kindness and care with which she was treated by her nurses that in turn inspired me to devote my life to the pursuit of becoming an RN, to pay forward the compassion and love given to my mother and myself, and to have the opportunity to help those in their time of greatest need. Over the past seven years, as a trauma, burns, and pediatric CNA, I have had the opportunity to help thousands of people in their recovery, and I have tried my utmost each day to bring joy, a laugh, a smile into their lives while showing that someone truly does care about them and that we're going to do everything we can to get them back to being themselves. My pursuit of nursing school has not been an easy journey and working fulltime as a CNA while attending school and completing my prereqs for nursing school has meant money is very tight. Twice in the past four years (December 2016 and January 2019), I have ended up homeless, sleeping on the floor of a friend's apartment and camping in my car parked under the West Seattle bridge, hiding the situation from my friends and coworkers because I was so ashamed at working 40-60 hours a week and having a job, but being unable to afford rent when 90% of my monthly earnings were already going to rent and couldn't absorb a $600 rent hike. I have been very fortunate to have some incredibly kind, generous, and wonderful people in my life who have helped me out of that situation, who have believed in me offered their emotional support in the continued pursuit of my goal.
I graduated in summer 2018 from North Seattle College with my Associate of Arts & Associate of Science degrees, with GPAs of 3.77 and 3.96, respectively. After multiple applications to several nursing programs and ten years spent completing my pre-requisite courses for nursing studies, I was finally accepted to the Seattle University college of nursing for Fall 2019, but was ultimately unable to attend as still almost $10K short towards the almost $50K annual tuition and books, and was unable to qualify for any private student loans due to being unable to provide a cosigner due to not having any family since the death of my parents. Seattle University generously offered me a deferment and acceptance into the Fall 2020 transfer nursing cohort, and recognizing my financial circumstances, their financial aid office was cover almost all of my tuition with grants, scholarships, and federal loans. Despite my intent to continue working nearly full-time (90% or 36 hours a week) in addition to attending nursing school full-time, my monthly earnings will only be sufficient to cover rent, food, utilities, and gas for my car to travel to/from school, work, and my clinical sites. I have already been working 60-80 hours a week for the past few months and will be doing that during my December and June-August 2021 breaks, trying to save up money towards school, make necessary repairs to my 15 year old car, and replace a 9 year old laptop for schoolwork.
For the 2020-2021 school year of Fall, Winter, and Spring quarters from September 2020 to June 2021, I am asking for help in paying for:
Total: $4,500
-$3,000 tuition ($1,000 a quarter for the Fall, Winter, and Spring quarters)
-$1,500 for books & supplies ($500 a quarter for Fall, Winter, Spring quarters), including scrubs & shoes.
I don't know if there is anyone in the universe who might be willing to help, but please know that anything you might be willing to contribute would be deeply appreciated. Anything I raise will go directly towards my 2020-2021 tuition and books, and should I raise anything beyond that, I will be putting towards my 2021-2022 tuition (which will be four quarters and approximately $17K) more than this year.
Upon graduating as a registered nurse, my intent is to become a trauma nurse at Harborview Medical Center for at least the next twenty-five years. It is my hope to eventually complete my Doctorate of Nursing Practice, becoming an ARNP specializing in large-scale trauma and wound care, as well as a clinical instructor or professor, teaching and mentoring nursing students, sharing my knowledge and experience as so many wonderful nurses have done for me. I come from a healthcare family - my mom attended the Mercy School of Nursing in Lansing, MI and my dad was an osteopathic surgeon and radiologist for over fifty years - and I believe that my becoming an RN and continuing their goals of kindness, compassion, and always helping those in need would be the greatest legacy and tribute they could leave. I just want so much to know that I have become a man they would be proud of.
Make the world a better place one patient, one interaction at a time.
Thank you for your time and consideration of possibly helping me.
Organizer
Rob Brittingham
Organizer
Seattle, WA