Meet Trailblazer Stacey Coral

Today we’d like to introduce you to Stacey Coral.

Stacey, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I always knew that I had a passion for medicine. However, it took me a while to narrow down what field I wanted to go into and I thought particularly hard about what kind of medicine I wanted to pursue. I started as an EMT; working in the field, going out to a scene of a car wreck or to a house with someone who needed help. Through that, I came in contact with a lot of nurses. Nursing gives me the ability to come into contact with the most amazing people day after day who are possibly having the worst moment of their lives and it’s my job to help turn it around. I am just now transitioning into Emergency Department nursing, here I am able to blend the original love that I had for working as an EMT and nursing.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road to my career wasn’t too difficult because I had a general idea of where I wanted to end up. I had to backtrack a few times in my original goals. I pursued a degree in health science at James Madison University prior to nursing school and immediately after graduation I started my nursing degree at Drexel University. In nursing school, I dreamed of working in the ICU, and I wasn’t able to get a job in an ICU right away. At first I was pretty upset about this, but it ended up being the biggest blessing. I met the best mentors on the floor I started on, who really taught me how to hone my nursing instincts and helped me develop into a strong independent nurse very quickly.

For any career path, I wish someone would have told me to trust the process more a little more. If you are driven to succeed, find people who will help you do that and stick with it until you get where you want to be. Obtaining your goals doesn’t happen overnight, but it can happen quickly if you are committed and work hard.

For nursing specifically, I wish someone would have reminded me how versatile the nursing field is, you can change your discipline over and over again until you find what fits.

Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
I was working for the last year or so as a Neuro-trauma nurse. Working with a lot of stroke, traumatic brain injury, spinal injury and surgery, and multi-system and orthopedic trauma patients. I have just transitioned into the Emergency Department at Honorhealth Osborn in Oldtown, Scottsdale.

I am extremely proud of how much I’ve grown as a person over my developing career. I’ve grown a bit of a back bone, I have the confidence behind my actions at work that allow me to fight for my patients and stand up for myself.

Finding a mentor and building a network are often cited in studies as a major factor impacting one’s success. Do you have any advice or lessons to share regarding finding a mentor or networking in general?
I always find myself tracking people who inspire me in my field or who have been around for a long time. I ask anyone who’s around questions without wavering. I found out a while back that one of the administrative representatives in my hospital is a former Flight Nurse (my ultimate goal). When I was informed of this, I went out of my way to find her in the hospital so that I could ask her all of my burning questions. Now, we talk almost every shift we work together. She gives me advice and is a really big supporter of mine.

I have done similar things with other people around me. Finding someone who wants to share their passion and knowledge in a field that they love isn’t all that difficult, it’s all about reaching out and making the connection.

Contact Info:

• Email: staceyecoral@gmail.com
• Instagram: Stayceecoral

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