Nursing careers run in the family

Ryan and Grant McLain grew up in Newnan in a house of health care professionals. Their mother, Patty, is a critical care nurse with Emory Health System; their father, Steve, is a certified nurse anesthetist and a partner in a private practice.

“A lot of the ‘How was your day?’ talk around the dinner table was about patients and cases — no names, but plenty of interesting details. And anytime my friends got hurt, we came home and Dad stitched them up,” Ryan said.

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BARRY WILLIAMS / Special

Stephen, Ryan, Grant and Patty McLain (from left) have all chosen nursing as a profession. Sons Ryan and Grant are students at the Georgia Baptist College of Nursing at Mercer University.

Today Ryan, 24, and Grant, 22, are students at the Georgia Baptist College of Nursing at Mercer University — somewhere that neither expected to be.

Ryan’s high school teachers thought he would follow in his parents’ footsteps after he graduated, but he wasn’t interested in a medical career.

He attended Young Harris College for a year and found that college was harder than he expected. He transferred to the University of West Georgia to try to improve his grades.

“Dad kept pushing me to take anatomy and physiology, and I finally caved in 2003,” Ryan said. “The big surprise was that I just fell in love with it.

“Then I got a part-time job at an orthopedic surgery center, where I was allowed to observe surgeries and help clean up the operating room afterward. It was a big influence on my career decision. That’s when I really saw nurses at work; it was a lot more than just giving medications at the bedside like I had thought.”

Ryan enrolled at Georgia Baptist in 2006, but found nursing school to be a tougher than he expected. Ryan, who had gotten A’s and B’s in high school without working too hard, discovered quickly that cramming didn’t work.

“There were a lot of critical-thinking questions, where out of the three answers, two might be close and one the most correct,” Ryan said. “I really got slammed with fundamentals of adult health, but two fast-track nursing students — Kristin Borgia and Brandie Wade — taught me how to study. They saved my life.”

Ryan, one of five men in his graduating class (2009), can’t imagine a better place to be than in a program with 165 women.

“There’s three of us [male nursing students] in my fraternity and we take some heckling, but it’s just in fun,” he said. “Everyone gets how hard nursing school is, and when I tell most people that I’m going to be a nurse, they’re impressed.”

After seven years in college, Ryan is ready to graduate in May.

“I can’t believe it took me that long to figure out what I wanted to do, but I wouldn’t change anything about Mercer’s program. I’ve had a great experience and I’m sold on nursing,” he said.

Ryan wants to work in a hospital intensive care unit or emergency room, and is considering working in anesthesia after he gets some experience. “The interaction of drugs fascinates me.”

He is grateful that his father gave him a shove toward nursing. “I’ve discovered that when he gives advice, he’s usually right,” Ryan said.

Following footsteps

Grant studied criminology at the University of West Georgia for three years before enrolling in Mercer’s nursing program.

“With the terrible economy, I saw how my friends with marketing and financial majors couldn’t find a job, so knowing I’d be able to make money was one reason for going into nursing,” Grant said. “From my first clinical experiences, I’m seeing how rewarding it is.”

Ultimately, it was parental influence that caused Grant to apply to nursing school.

“They didn’t push me, but as I grew up and matured some, I realized what good people my parents are,” he said. “My mom has worked in ICU for over 25 years and she’s one of the kindest people you’d ever want to meet. I really want to be as good as them.”

Like his brother, Grant has found the academic rigor to be challenging.

“It’s much harder than I expected but I’ve seen how Ryan has done, and if he can do it, I can, too,” he said.

Ryan has lent books to Grant and is giving him study pointers.

“He’s a good influence and my parents are definitely proud of us,” Grant said.