Barbara Habell, MSN, CPNP

I always wanted to be nurse ever since I can remember. There is no one in my family that is in the medical field, but for some reason nursing seemed like the right course for me. I knew there is no other career that can be as fulfilling as nursing. I started my nursing journey when I was accepted to San Diego State University (SDSU) nursing program. I enjoyed my experience at SDSU and all that I learned. I loved learning the simple things, such as how to make a hospital bed without any wrinkles to prevent skin breakdown to more complex nursing skills such as starting intravenous lines and placing nasogastric tubes.

I really enjoyed all my clinical rotations. From medical/surgical unit to geriatrics to labor and delivery. One of my clinical rotations in nursing school was a pediatric unit. After the first day of my rotation, I knew I wanted to become a pediatric nurse. I started my nursing career at UCLA Medical Center, Mattel Children’s Hospital. I worked there for 5 years and really enjoyed the bonds I created with the patients and families. Nursing school trains you how to be a nurse, but one cannot fully understand what it is like to be a nurse until you are working in the field. I worked with a multitude of complex patients which gave me the opportunity to gain knowledge on a wide range of diseases.

As I worked at Mattel Children’s Hospital, I obtained my master’s degree in nursing (MSN) along with my Pediatric Nurse Practitioner (PNP) degree. The master’s in nursing program felt quite different than undergraduate nursing school. As I have already worked in the field of nursing for several years, the knowledge learned from bedside nursing significantly applies to the schooling, academics, and clinical rotations in the master’s program. After I received my master’s degree in nursing, I continued to work in pediatrics.

I always had an interest in pediatric oncology. This population is very special. I eventually started working at CHLA in the LIFE Cancer Survivorship and Transition service in 2014. I find working with cancer survivors and their families to be very endearing. I enjoy helping support them through the transition from disease surveillance to survivorship. This can be an exciting experience, but also overwhelming at the same time. I like going through this transition with the patients and families and try to ease the experience and help them see that this is a wonderful milestone.