Nursing career dream comes true for woman after 20 years

When Emily Isaacson walks across the stage to receive her diploma from Chippewa Valley Technical College in a couple of weeks, she’s sure to get emotional.

More than 25 years after she passed on an education in nursing for a degree in social work, she’s now realizing her dream of becoming a registered nurse.

But the diploma means more than simply being a piece of paper that hangs on a wall.

Since she was 18, Isaacson has had the nursing profession at the top of her mind. But at every step, circumstances got in the way.

She graduated from Stevens Point high school in 1996 and attended a university.

“I always wanted to go into nursing, but it was just not in the cards at the time,” she said. “The program was so rigorous and so competitive. There was a wait list.”

Instead, she graduated with a degree in social work, which she knew would also be a good fit.

Throughout her 20-plus years as a social worker, Isaacson’s role consistently connected with health care in many ways – through discharge planning, nursing home social work, long-term managed care, and case management.

“Often times I was on a team paired up with a nurse working in tandem with them,” she said. “Being a social worker made sense in that way, but I still always wanted to be a nurse.

“There were a few times I was really considering going back to school, but it was never the right time. My kids were too little. It’s hard to drop everything. Then I found myself in a situation where my whole life was getting turned upside down.”

Her divorce caused her to reconsider. Her sister-in-law sat her down and said, “I love you, but either go back to school or shut up about it.” Isaacson laughs at the memory.

Isaacson, of Eau Claire, and her sister-in-law went online at that moment, looked up nursing program information at CVTC and was the catalyst for Isaacson realizing her dream.

The struggles and the success are something she and her daughters have been living in real time.

“We had lots of conversations about me going back to school because we were going to have to make changes, but they knew it was temporary,” she said. “I remember I was walking into one of my clinicals at 5:30 in the morning and I was messaging them, and I was like, ‘If you guys in your life ever find yourselves in a position where you’re not happy with what you’re doing, change it.’ I’m hopefully showing them that they can make a change. It might be scary and hard and crazy terrifying, but you can do it.”

Eric Johnson, CVTC nursing instructor, said in his experience as an RN, he has worked with several men and women who come from previous professional and trade backgrounds. He said the profession offers a wide variety of jobs for people looking to care for others and impact their communities.

“Emily showed a passion for learning throughout the clinical experience,” Johnson said. “Like so many of our incredible students, she faced challenges in the clinical setting with remarkable commitment and grit. I am proud to have been a small part of her and her peers' nursing journeys as they make their way to making a difference here in the Chippewa Valley and beyond.”

Now, at 46, Isaacson is doing what she’s always wanted to do. And when she walks across that stage, and tears of pride well up in her eyes, she will have the support of her two daughters, her mother, a retired nurse, and her boyfriend in the audience. Still, she can’t believe it’s actually happening.

“This is actually happening,” she said. “I’m terrified. I’m excited. Now I have the life experience and confidence to do this.”