Miami Woman Goes From Being Trauma Patient to ER Nurse – NBC 6 South Florida

Samantha Nodarse crashed while riding an ATV and her life was forever changed.

“I had a brain bleed and actually I can’t smell or taste since then because my olfactory nerve was severed,” she said.

Samantha arrived at Kendall Regional Hospital in bad shape and was in the trauma unit for two weeks. At the time, she wasn’t a nurse – but that all changed.

Samantha took part in the STAR RN program offered by the hospital to go from trauma patient to emergency room nurse.

“She was interested in coming into the healthcare field, we were so excited to welcome her back with open arms to be part of the Kendall family,” said HCA Florida Kendall Hospital CEO Brandon Haushalter.

On March 3rd, Samantha was celebrating almost a year of being an ER Nurse as Kendall Regional got renamed to HCA Florida Kendall Hospital. The renaming is happening at all of HCA’s 49 hospitals across the state.

Samantha said she’s a better nurse because she’s been on the other side of care.

“Because I can feel the patients, what they’re going through,” she said. “I’ve been there, I have personal experiences and since I can empathize more I can provide better care.”

She’s now going back to school to become a nurse practitioner in critical care. Samantha is also expecting her first baby in a couple of months and can’t wait to tell him her story.

“Pretty much just show him look what a bad experience did to mommy, it made me who I am today,” she said.