“She was my nurse!”

by Susan Neale

While attending Summer Institute for Future Nurses at Ohio State, a high school student was reunited with a favorite nurse who inspired him

At 15, Dominic Alexander knows he wants to be a nurse. He’s a good-natured young man with a shy smile who lifts weights, plays keyboard and trumpet and marches in St. Clairsville High School’s marching band. He’s also a survivor of Hodgkin lymphoma.

When Dominic was seven years old, he started having rashes, fatigue and breathing issues. Then a tumor on his neck appeared suddenly, and his family raced him to Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, two hours away from their home. In the emergency department, they learned that Dominic had cancer. The team at Children’s took him to the oncology wing and immediately started treatment. 

That’s where he met nurse Kim Orr, BSN, RN, OCN. “She was one of my nurses, and she immediately made me feel happy. She was a very fun person to be around and always brightened up my day when she walked in,” Dominic said. 

“Very bubbly personality, always came in with a smile, cracking jokes,” Dominic’s mother, Erica Alexander added. “Kim really got Dominic, and I think he connected with her because she shared that she had also battled Hodgkin lymphoma as a child.” During the course of his treatment, Dominic and his family looked forward to Orr’s shifts.

“He was this wonderful, spunky little boy,” Orr said. “I have a special place in my heart for patients who have Hodgkin’s disease … I truly enjoyed meeting and taking care of him and his family, and then just seeing him thrive.”

Buckeye Inspiration: "She was my nurse!" A high school student's interest in a nursing career reunited him with a nurse from his past.

Dominic’s cancer has been in remission for seven years now. In 2023, he jumped at the chance to attend Summer Institute for Future Nurses, the College of Nursing’s program that brings high school students to campus for a week to learn about nursing careers. “I was super excited to go,” he said. “It felt like home once I arrived.” He attended lectures, toured labs and got real hands-on experience such as taking vitals and working in simulation labs. Then something magic happened.

The group took a tour of The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute, where Orr is now an outpatient nurse in oncology infusion.

“There was a nurse at one of the desks who looked familiar,” Dominic said. “She said, ‘I know you!’ … She told me who she was, and I immediately recognized her. We gave each other a big hug.” 

“It was a ‘wow’ moment,” Orr said. “My heart melted. Here is no longer this little boy … now I’m looking up at him! I just could not believe that he was in this program because he wants to be a nurse. It made me feel so happy for him that he’s thinking about his future.” 

Dominic told the group his story and how “Nurse Kim” had inspired him.

“He said, ‘I want to go into nursing because of my experience at Children’s, and a lot of it was because of you,’ ” Orr said.

Because of Summer Institute for Future Nurses, Dominic now plans to become a CRNA. “I was overjoyed with the experience I had,” he said, “and meeting nurse Kim made it 10 times better.”