Nursing Spotlight
graduate Jason Batalha
A Foundation for Change
By Clare KiernanReprinted with permission from
TouchPoints | July 2009
“I want to work to try and break these cycles, to develop programs unique to specific populations so that they can get healthy and stay healthy. Prevention is key!”
“When I started a major in biology, I was really driven and motivated to be a doctor” says Jason Batalha, “but after a couple of years of biochemistry and microbiology classes of 300 students where you never get to know your professors, I really felt like I was losing touch with what I really wanted to do, which was work with people.”
Jason wanted to see what else the world had to offer, which led him to teaching English in Japan. His experiences in Asia helped point him back to health care. Extensive travel to places such as Cambodia opened his eyes to the conditions there. He saw orphans who were sick and malnourished. “It brought me back to what I had originally envisioned when I was 12 years old, that I wanted to help people. I had never thought about nursing, and didn’t realize the scope of what nursing was and what it could accomplish, but after doing some research, I really got excited about the possibilities.”
Jason saw the UBC School of Nursing as a progressive institution. With all the faculty research being done, he felt there was a real international feel to the program, which excited him right away. “It was a no-brainer” says Jason. “At that point I knew I was definitely coming back to UBC.”
Unlike his previous classes, he noted that in UBC Nursing the professors and instructors made a real effort to get to know students. For an internationally renowned school of nursing, the closeness and personal feel of the program really impressed him. “Here, everyone works together and supports each other.”
In 2008 Jason received the Janet Gormick Memorial Scholarship in Nursing. “It was a huge shock!” he says. “I never expected it, because it’s not something you apply for, they choose you. One day I checked my email and there it was, and it floored me. It was such an amazing feeling to be recognized in this way. I know that Janet Gormick was really involved and made a difference to nursing and meant a lot to people, and I’m still so honoured by this!” Jason has also just received the Helen L. Balfour Prize, awarded to the undergraduate student obtaining the highest standing in the final year of the program. Janet Gormick would certainly have been delighted to know that her support contributed to his exceptional academic success!
Jason is now working in an acute medical unit at Vancouver General Hospital. “There is a whole range of conditions from cardiac to neurological, respiratory and psychosocial issues” says Jason. “As such, the care is very multidimensional in that we are not only treating their physical illnesses, but must also focus on their living situation, social networks, mental and emotional states. It’s challenging, because you have to keep track of the entire set of factors affecting your patient, but I really wanted to start there because it provides a great foundation.”
“No matter what I do in the next five or ten years, I do eventually want to go into prevention in the community,” says Jason. He sees many complex patients such as IV drug users in acute care. While hospitals can treat their immediate care needs, if they are not adequately supported in the community once they leave the hospital, they keep cycling in and out of acute care settings. He sees his background in teaching being an asset for educating clients and explains, “I want to work to try and break these cycles, to develop programs unique to specific populations so that they can get healthy and stay healthy. Prevention is key!”
Like many of his fellow graduates, Jason is eager to create meaningful change, but he wants to take his time and absorb all he can from his current position. “I want to know what being in the hospital is like, so that when I am in the community working with clients I’ll know what they’ve gone through in the hospital and will have another perspective on their experience.”
“Community is definitely something that I love, but I’m also very interested in cardiac care, and am intrigued by the role of the nurse practitioner. I also like the idea of working abroad with different non-governmental organizations (NGOs). I’m keeping all of my doors open right now” says Jason, “I’m learning and taking any opportunities I can, I don’t know what the future will hold for me, but I’m eager to find out. I’m very excited to finally be out there and I know that I’ve definitely made the right choice with nursing!"
