Farming is in Tommy Fields' blood, but nursing is in his heart.

Fields, who graduated from Brenau University's nursing school in 2006, works in the intensive care unit at Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville. He also raises chickens on a farm in Commerce.

Photos by BARRY WILLIAMS/Special (ENLARGE)

Tommy Fields, an intensive care nurse at Northeast Georgia Medical Center, fills a feed hopper in a chicken house on his farm in Commerce.

(ENLARGE)

Fields, RN, BSN raises 11,000 laying hens and 1,000 roosters on a farm that he co-owns with his uncle.

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Fields crates eggs that were laid by his chickens. His farm, which has about 11,000 hens and 1,000 roosters, produces 1,500 to 1,600 eggs per day.

(ENLARGE)

Tommy Fields stacks crates of eggs. 'A lot of nurses have other jobs, but I've not met any others who are farmers. My background usually surprises people,' he said.

"I'd been working toward this goal for about 27 years, so I'm very thankful to — finally — start being a nurse. I've always felt like nursing was what I was created to do and [what I] wanted to do," said Fields, 47.

Fields, RN, BSN, works three days a week at the hospital, but farming is a seven-days-a-week enterprise. He raises 11,000 laying hens and 1,000 roosters on a farm that he co-owns with his uncle.

"A lot of nurses have other jobs, but I've not met any others who are farmers," Fields said. "My background usually surprises people."

Fields grew up on his family's farm in Hall County. He knows all about hard work.

"Working two jobs is a necessity for many small farmers," Fields said.

In addition to farming, Fields' father taught carpentry at North Hall High School and Lanier Technical College.

Fields was introduced to health care during an experience-based career program that he took in high school. As part of the program, Fields worked in a hospital emergency room.

In 1979, Fields started college and earned his EMT (emergency medical technician) certification by attending night classes at Lanier Tech. He became a paramedic and worked for an ambulance service.

Because he had already taken some of the required science courses, Fields intended to attend nursing school. But he had a change of heart and joined the Navy, working as an electrician on submarines.

"I'm proud I did it, but, after six years, I was ready to do something else," Fields said.

In 1990, he took over his grandfather's broiler chicken operation. In 1997, he built two new henhouses to raise chickens and sell eggs to hatcheries.

Still, Fields wanted to go to nursing school. But with a wife, two daughters and a demanding farming business, those plans were delayed.

"Finally, when my youngest daughter was a senior in high school, I started back [to school] to earn my BSN [degree]. My family pitched in with the farm work, and my daughter helped me with my homework," he said. "Their help and encouragement was a big factor in my finally finishing."

Farming and nursing have their unique challenges, Fields said.

"Farming is physically tiring and repetitive," he said. "But nursing can be physically and mentally exhausting. On days when you have harder patients, you can be spiritually worn out, too. Still, I enjoy nursing more than anything."

One trait that Fields brings to both jobs is attention to detail.

"The more attention you pay to anything, the better you do it," he said. "On the farm, if you notice something is wearing out, you replace it instead of waiting until it breaks. If you see something about a patient that is going downhill, you do something right away."

Despite the challenges of working in the ICU right after graduating from nursing school, Fields plans to stay at Northeast Georgia Medical Center.

"We're growing, and I'm learning a lot, so this is a good place to be," he said.

He enjoys caring for patients and their families, and he doesn't mind a workplace filled with women.

"I was already outnumbered at home," he said with a laugh. "When I can help patients heal and see them make progress, that's very rewarding.

"It took a long time to get here, but I feel like I've achieved something."