Damon Stone got his start in the healthcare field as a Certified Surgical Technologist. The California native moved to Washington, D.C., for college in the early 1990s, but left to serve as a full-time volunteer at the World Headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses, then located in Brooklyn Heights, New York. After a couple of years, Damon married Irene Parks (now Irene Stone) and moved to Kentucky to help care for his grandmother and uncle. There, he decided to go back to school.
A Journey in Healthcare Begins
Although he was interested in nursing, Damon enrolled in a certified surgical technologist program for a faster path to starting his career. “I knew that eventually I’d return to school to become a nurse because I was looking to focus more on patient care,” says Damon. After finishing school, he and his wife moved back to D.C., and he worked for various hospitals in the area.
In 2006, Damon was ready to return to school—and so was his wife, who had also dreamed for years of becoming a nurse. The couple moved to Arizona to be close to family and started nursing school at Gateway Community College. Together, they started a surgery center cleaning business and worked nights while attending school during the day. Damon and his wife graduated with associate degrees in nursing in 2009.
Gaining Clinical Experience and a Bachelor’s Degree
Damon joined Banner Health’s Gateway Medical Center as a nurse in the telemetry unit before leveraging his surgical tech background to join the new Banner Ironwood Medical Center in the operating room. “I enjoyed working in the operating room,” Damon says. “So, I decided to get the Certified Nurse of the Operating Room (CNOR) and Registered Nurse First Assistant (RNFA) credentials to expand my knowledge.”
In 2014, Damon and his wife were ready to return to the Northeast—and also ready to return to school together once again. Before leaving Arizona for the D.C. area, Damon and his wife enrolled in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing online program at Grand Canyon University. He took a travel nurse assignment at Johns Hopkins University Medical Center in Baltimore as a cardiovascular operating room nurse before joining a digital healthcare company as a care coordinator. In 2014, he and his wife graduated with their BSN degrees.
Long-Term Goal: Nurse Practitioner
Earning the BSN was an accomplishment, but it wasn’t Damon’s end goal. “When I worked in Arizona in the operating room, I got to know one of the orthopedic nurse practitioners,” he says. “I was so impressed with what she did. As an RNFA, I work closely with the surgeons during surgery, but I knew by becoming an NP, I’d be able to broaden my capabilities to see patients in the clinic, thus contributing to better patient outcomes.”
Damon joined Kaiser Permanente in 2016 as an RNFA. As an educational partner of the healthcare system, Post University came onto his radar. “I did my own due diligence on the university to ensure it was accredited and reputable, and I decided it was definitely the school for me,” he says.
In 2022, the timing was right for Damon to start the Master of Science in Nursing – Family Nurse Practitioner Specialization. He is targeting a spring 2025 completion date and gaining a lot along the way. “I’m learning a lot of new information, which is stimulating in and of itself, but applying what I’m learning during clinicals has also been fulfilling.”
Working full-time and going to school requires Damon to manage and prioritize his time, but he has unwavering support from the person who has been by his side since the start. “My wife has made this possible for me and is by my side, step for step, throughout this amazing journey,” he says. Today, she works as an RN in oncology case management.
A Goal to Provide Quality Patient Care
After he graduates with the MSN – Family Nurse Practitioner Specialization, Damon’s goal is to gain family practice experience first, then transition into a surgical specialty such as orthopedics or plastic surgery. “There’s a shortage of providers, and sometimes patients will have to wait three months to get in for an important surgery,” he says. “I want to make sure patients get the quality care they need sooner than later.”
Post University is helping Damon fulfill that goal. “I recommend Post University because it’s easy to get started, and if you do your part, you’ll have a lot of help and support from the advisors and professors,” he says. To others, his only advice is to go for it. “I’d tell anyone who is considering going back to school for a bachelor’s or master’s in nursing that time is going to pass whether you pursue your educational goal or not. Why not go after that goal instead of wishing you had? And Post University is a great place to do that.”