School of Nursing student Emily Fonville quickly learned that the UAB family is committed to achieving each other's goals after long-standing health issues affected her education.
Author: Paleasa Rahimi
Media Contact: Mika Hardji
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Photo by UAB School of Nursing Nursing school student Emily Fonville's path to becoming a nurse was not without its challenges. Fonville was diagnosed with severe type 1 diabetes in 2015, and she has been hospitalized 37 times since then.
Although her complex health history tested her in many ways, it was through her treatment and healthcare experience that she found her calling and UAB.
purpose in pain
Shortly after Fonville became a sophomore in high school in 2015, what started as chest pain gradually turned into flu-like symptoms, worsening with fatigue and shortness of breath. Despite seeing her doctor several times, there were concerns about her health.
“It went on for months,” Fonville said. “I ended up having to move him downstairs to my mom's room because he couldn't walk up the stairs anymore.”
Fonville's symptoms continued until December 2015, when she passed out during a doctor's appointment. She was taken to a hospital in Memphis, where she fell into a coma and she was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Her condition was so serious that her chances of survival were extremely low.
When Fonville woke up, he had to relearn how to live. Because she has an autoimmune disease, she gets sick easily, sometimes requiring hospitalization for days or weeks at a time. Since her diagnosis, she has visited the hospital 37 times.
The care Fonville's nurses gave her during her stay in the hospital couldn't be ignored. Whether it was talking to her like her normal 15-year-old child or taking their time to comb her hair, the warmth and care they showed her made her follow in their footsteps. It gave me the opportunity to follow her and become her nurse myself.
“My nurses were amazing and they really were the light of my life at that time,” Fonville said. “From that day on, I knew I had to find purpose from what happened to me. I knew I was meant to be a nurse and be like all the nurses before me.”
The UAB School of Nursing's School of Nursing has been ranked among the top 10 programs for the third year in a row, moving up two spots from last year to rank No. 7 out of 656 programs in the nation and ranking among the top schools in Alabama, according to the U.S. It has become. News & World Report. Learn more about getting started on your nursing degree.
What it means to be a blazer
After researching the best nursing schools in the country, Fonville decided to attend UAB. After visiting the campus tour with her mother, she knew this was the next place to head to earn her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree.
Fonville immediately loved UAB and appreciated that she didn't feel fenced in or confined to one place.
“I felt like this was a place where I could grow not only as a student, but also as an independent individual for the first time,” Fonville said. “I fell in love with nursing school and have never looked back.”
In August 2022, two weeks into her first semester of nursing school, Fonville experienced severe COVID-19 symptoms and spent two weeks in the intensive care unit at UAB Hospital.
“Once again, the MICU nurses were amazing,” Fonville said. “They provided the best care I could have hoped for, my mother could have wished for, and anyone could have wished for a loved one.”
Photo by UAB School of NursingAlthough her hospitalization delayed her studies, Fonville was determined to let nothing stand in her way and stay on track to become a nurse. Ms. Fonville never realized how many fellow Blazers she had in her corner, but thanks to the support of nursing school faculty, staff, and colleagues, only a few have been able to help her since returning to school. I was able to catch up within a week.
“If it weren't for most of my peers making sure I was okay, helping me send notes, or even offering to meet me to see what I was missing. , I wouldn't be here today,'' Fonville said.
After graduating this spring, Fonville will begin working in the UAB Emergency Department. Her goal is to become a flight nurse and she wants to go back to school to become a nurse practitioner. UAB showed Fonville that anything is possible when it comes to nursing.
“It's been tough getting here, and there's been a lot of days where I've struggled because I wasn't feeling well or had a bad day. But every time I walk into this building, there's a lot of people cheering me on. There are people, there are professors who want to see me succeed,” Fonville said. “Graduating from the UAB School of Nursing and going to work at UAB is something very special. I can't wait.”
