Sometimes the most direct path isn't a straight line.
For Bonne Matheson, her journey to becoming a nurse took her from biology labs to ski slopes, from environmental consulting to wildland firefighting, and eventually back to the very campus where her interest in healthcare first began in eighth grade. Each detour along the way built the skills, confidence, and clarity she needed to finally step into her career as a nurse.
Earning a BS in Nursing from the University of Colorado College of Nursing at Anschutz Medical Campus is a full-circle moment for Bonne Matheson.
But it took a few years to close that circle.
Matheson, originally from Durango, visited the Anschutz Medical Campus as part of an eighth-grade summer program and knew she wanted to have a healthcare career.
“I gained an early exposure to some of the medicine they were able to teach on this campus, and I was excited to be a part of this community in some capacity,” she says.
Matheson’s career took a slight detour – she earned her first bachelor’s degree in biology, with a goal of going into pre-med. She earned her EMT license and then her career took a turn out of healthcare and into environmental consulting in several states across the US and in the Peace Corps in Cameroon.
Family circumstances brought her back to Durango, and she realized she missed working in healthcare. It led her to work on the ski patrol at Purgatory Resort and as a wildland firefighter. She also started working in urgent care.
“I loved the patient care aspect of my ski patrol work and in urgent care, so I felt nursing was a natural step to advance my scope of practice,” she says.
Focusing on Patients
Matheson’s experience in healthcare gave her a good foundation for understanding a nurse’s responsibility and caring for patients.
“When I was in urgent care, I worked side-by-side with nurses and gained a better understanding of the care they can provide,” she says. “I feel like working at Urgent Care gave me the opportunity to practice medical skills prior to coming to CU Nursing. This gave me a foundation to continue learning and building upon.”
Working on the ski slopes taught her that injuries and patient care could vary day-to-day. One day, she might be helping skiers who hurt their knees while on other days she might be treating patients with more serious traumas or casualties on the mountain.
“I think the unique aspect of ski patrol is I was the first responder to a lot of these incidents - I would have to balance resource control with initial patient stabilization,” she says. “Fortunately, we had paramedics and nurses on our staff, so I felt supported with care coordination. Looking back, working with patients in this capacity helped me build a lot of confidence in not only my skill set, but my decision to expand into a career comforting people in delicate health scenarios."
Another valuable skill she learned was communicating with and comforting patients and their families during what was supposed to be a joyous and fun vacation.
“I think building relationships with patients and family is a niche nurses can fill,” she says. “Nurses can help explain the healthcare and treatment process because this environment can be unfamiliar to a lot of people.”
A Future in the NICU
Matheson says her clinical experiences were valuable in helping her decide where to start her nursing career. She knew she wanted to work in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU), but clinicians helped expose her to other areas of nursing.
“In every clinical setting, you’re going to learn something,” she says. “It may not be directly applicable to your interests, but every unit is an opportunity to diversify and strengthen your nursing skill set. I was amazed by the diversity a nursing career provides and am thankful for how much I have gotten to observe throughout this program.”
Those experiences helped guide her to working with newborns and accept a nurse residency position working in UCHealth’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) on the same medical campus she toured when she was in middle school.
“Gaining exposure to several specialty units is what drew me to the NICU. The NICU practices the intensity of medicine I am interested in, all while providing patient support and family education. I am excited to have found this intersection,” she says. “When I had my clinical rotation in the NICU, I was so emotional, I knew it was the right spot for me.”
