Blair

Sometimes the path of life is a crooked one. And Blair Dudley’s is no exception. After working as a geologist and having a career in information technology in the auto industry, he found what he was meant to do rather by chance.

“I didn’t really find my true calling. It found me,“ is how Blair describes his becoming a nurse. It began in the summer of 2003 when his two year-old daughter was diagnosed with Wilms’ tumor, a form of cancer that affects the kidneys in children. Blair and his wife soon found themselves spending days on end at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center. “When I saw the outpouring of care and attention she received by the doctors and nurses at the hospital, I was floored.”

Although he knew that the care his daughter was getting at UMHS was the best possible care around, he felt a strong need to understand her illness. He needed to help her fight it and help other kids fight it. He quickly immersed himself in the department. He got to know the doctors and nurses. So much so, he was often mistaken for hospital staff. Blair easily grasped the medical course of treatment through his daughter’s rounds of chemotherapy and radiation. But he wanted to perfect the methodology of treatment while taking care of her at home.

“My daughter never once got sick during her treatment, nor did she get a line infection due to my diligence with her care. It became obvious to me, my wife, and the nursing staff around us that I was good at what I did.”

Not long after his daughter recovered, Blair’s wife suggested he look into nursing. He had the full support of his family, and friends through his career change. “You can do this,” his wife declared. “You have to do this.” She was right. A year later he was a nurse.

Today Blair has come full circle, working with kids in the Pediatric Cardiothoracic Unit at University of Michigan Hospital, which deals with the most difficult congenital heart malformations ever diagnosed.

“What I find the most rewarding about my career is that I finally feel that I am making a difference in people’s lives,” Blair says. “It was not until my career as a nurse that I could honestly say that I enjoy what I do. I feel as if I have finally found my niche."

Looking back, Blair admits that while nursing wasn’t his first career choice, it was however, his final career choice.

For information on how to become a Nurse at U of M Click here.