Loyola University Chicago

Success Stories

Hannah Bazur-Leidy

As a traveling nurse, Hannah Bazur-Leidy has worked in several states and cared for all sorts of patients, including infants in pediatric intensive care units. “I love to see patients that come to us in critical condition be able to go home,” she says. “It’s a great feeling.”

Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing

Hannah Bazur-Leidy

Major: Nursing, Class of 2011
Job: Traveling nurse

Hannah Bazur-Leidy’s nursing career has been anything but ordinary.

After graduating from Loyola in 2011, she has been a traveling nurse and has worked in several cities across the country. From Minnesota to North Carolina—and places in between—Bazur-Leidy has cared for all sorts of patients, including infants in pediatric intensive care units.

Here, she gives a glimpse into her career on the road, the responsibility that comes with the profession, and why she has no idea where she will be 10 years from now.

Tell us about your job and what you do.
I’ve wanted to do travel nursing since college. I work for an agency that sends me out on assignments, and I’m able to pick where I want to go based on the jobs available at the time. I’m currently traveling in the pediatrics intensive care unit (PICU), which is pretty specialized. So far I’ve worked in Minnesota, North Carolina, Virginia, and Wisconsin. I’m planning on going out West next.

How did Loyola prepare you for your career?
I have to take a lot of math exams as a nurse, and I remember while I was at Loyola we would take them over and over again. Math can be pretty scary under pressure, so getting familiar with exams has greatly benefitted me. During my first nursing program, my friends didn’t feel as prepared as I did, and that’s when I noticed how beneficial it was that Loyola stressed that component of our curriculum.

Which class or professor helped you the most with what you’re doing now?
At the end of the nursing program, you do a clinical role transition program for three months. (Learn more about the program here.) It was a great experience. It was the first time that I felt exposed to what actually working in the field would feel like. It’s nothing like clinicals, where you’re surrounded by other students and the shifts don’t last a full 12 hours.

What’s your favorite part of the job?
From a non-hospital side, I love traveling. It’s a great option open to anyone with two years of specialization experience. From the hospital side, I love working in the PICU. It’s really intense but I’ve learned a lot, and I can’t see myself doing anything else. I love to see patients that come to us in critical condition be able to go home. It’s a great feeling.

And finally, where do you see yourself 10 years from now?
Eventually I will check out other realms of nursing, but I have no idea what that entails. I don’t think I’ll be in PICU forever, but I’m not sure where I’ll go. Right now, I’m only thinking 13 weeks ahead of time to my next assignment. I don’t know where I’ll be six months from now, so 10 years from now seems like a lifetime away.