Sailor. Policeman. Engineer. So, how about nursing?

Ask Matt Ward about his careers and his response is "the major ones or the minor ones?"

As a kid he had the usual dreams of astronaut and firefighter. At 18, he joined the Navy. He was a police officer for a year and his engineering background is extensive. He was the master project manager for a local marine contractor when he switched directions again.

Last month Ward became one of two men to graduate from the nursing program at Tidewater Community College.

Ward, 36, is meeting a growing need in a field seeking to attract qualified applicants. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 223,000 registered nursing positions will become available every year until 2016. Only 200,000 pass the Registered Nurse licensing exam annually, and many leave the profession, largely due to complaints about working conditions.

TCC produced 86 registered nurses last year and is among the more flexible nursing programs with students allowed to enter classes throughout the year.

For Ward, "Something was missing," he said from the lobby of his new employer, Chesapeake Regional Medical Center. "When you wake up in the morning, you should go to work happy."

Before entertaining notions of going after another degree - Ward has two in engineering - he had to convince his wife, Jennifer, it was the right move.

Jennifer Ward vetoed culinary school, noting he'd stop cooking for her if he did it professionally, but long discussions eventually led her to embrace his becoming a nurse.

"He's pretty passionate about nursing," she said. "He's got the math/science background, but he's such a huge people person. That's an unusual combination."

Jennifer Ward is an oncology nurse practitioner at Portsmouth Naval Hospital, and Matt watched the level of commitment she showed while caring for her stepfather, Frank Smith, who was eaten up with cancer.

"She was so proactive in his care," he said. "Everything she could do to make life better for him, she did. Seeing her compassion made me stop and think."

It took Ward 533 days from the day he started until he and 25 others were pinned May 14. He had to overcome a fear of anatomy and physiology - he later tutored others in both.

He learned to become a student again, with homework consuming what used to be free time he could spend with Jennifer and his son Gregory, 15.

He added to the load by becoming president of TCC's Student Nurses Association, a program he helped recharter after a hiatus.

He will ultimately work in intensive care as a critical care nurse, where his patients will be limited to two.

"The biggest thing is you have to be caring and compassionate," he said. "You have to be a critical thinker. Nursing is not something out of a textbook."

After a year off, Ward plans to pursue his bachelor's of science in nursing followed by a master's with an eye toward being a nurse practitioner.

"I think I have found my calling," he assured. "I've finally found what I was meant to do."

Vicki L. Friedman, 222-5218, or

Vicki.Friedman@pilotonline.com