09/03/2026
Becky Gentry, MS, BSN, RN, NBC-HWC, Tanner Health School of Nursing. My Why Story. “My journey to nursing did not begin with a plan to become a nurse. At the time, I was finishing my first bachelor’s degree and considering a future in medicine. Then, during the last semesters of my degree, I had my son. What should have been one of the most meaningful experiences of my life was overshadowed by an experience with a nurse that I will never forget—not because she inspired me, but because she showed me what nursing should not be. That experience changed something in me. I remember thinking, ‘I can do better than this. I want to be part of changing the nursing world.’ In 2001, I began nursing school.
I quickly discovered that nursing school was one of the most difficult things I had ever undertaken. I was not only trying to learn the science, skills, and responsibility that come with becoming a nurse—I was also raising my own child. There were long days, long nights, exhaustion, and plenty of moments when I questioned whether I could do it. But I did.
I graduated from nursing school, passed the NCLEX, and began my career as a Registered Nurse. From the beginning, I was determined to grow. I continued moving forward in my career, taking on greater responsibilities and leadership roles, and learning what it truly meant to care for patients, families, and the nurses beside me. Then COVID-19 happened.
In 2020, my view of nursing changed completely. I watched nurses walk into situations no one had ever experienced before. They cared for endless numbers of critically ill patients, often under unimaginable circumstances. They held the hands of patients when families could not be there. They comforted people who were frightened and alone. They showed up day after day, even when they were exhausted, afraid, and unsure of what the next shift would bring. I saw nursing differently after that. I realized that nursing is so much more than a profession. It is a responsibility. It is advocacy. It is compassion. It is resilience. And, at its best, it is the ability to make a difference in someone's life during some of their most vulnerable moments.
By early 2021, I began asking myself a different question: How can I help make sure the next generation of nurses is prepared for this responsibility? That question led me to the University of West Georgia Tanner Health School of Nursing. When a position became available for a Clinical Placement Specialist, I applied. I knew that I wanted to find a way to use the experience I had gained throughout my nursing career to help student nurses navigate the journey that I remembered so well. And the rest is history.
For the past five years, I have had the privilege of helping 11 graduating classes of nursing students navigate their clinical placements and credentialing requirements. On the surface, my job may be about paperwork, deadlines, clinical sites, and making sure requirements are completed. But I know that what happens behind the scenes is part of something much bigger. Every clinical placement represents an opportunity for a student to learn. Every clinical experience helps shape the nurse they will become. And every graduating class represents hundreds of future nurses who will eventually stand at a patient's bedside, just as I once did.
When I think about why I became a nurse, I realize that my “why” has changed over the years. I became a nurse because I wanted to be part of changing nursing.
I stayed in nursing because I discovered how much impact one nurse can have. And today, I continue to serve nursing because I want to help shape the nurses who will carry this profession forward. My journey began with one experience that made me think, ‘We can do better. ' More than two decades later, that belief is still at the heart of everything I do.
