During her grade school and high school years, Dieu-My Tran accompanied her parents to their health care appointments and assisted them with their health needs at home. Her experiences, coupled with the many health care professionals she met during those visits, inspired her to pursue a career in nursing.
Why UNLV?
I picked UNLV because it is research-intensive and UNLV is headed toward Top Tier. I want to be part of that. The university’s commitment to research impressed me. The support to do research — the support, funding, resources, equipment, and facilities — to help researchers. UNLV is the way to go.
Where did you grow up?
My family and I moved from Hue, Vietnam, to Lincoln, Nebraska, when I was 8 years old.
What inspired you to get into your field?
I accompanied my parents to their health care appointments and helped translate the conversations between them and their providers and took care of their health needs at home. I encountered many health care professionals — good and bad — during these visits and the interactions inspired me to become a health care provider. Toward the end of high school, I received a full-ride scholarship to a competitive nursing school in Nebraska and that helped me decide to pursue a nursing career.
What’s the biggest misconception about your field?
The biggest misconception about the profession is there is one type of nurse. Many people see nurses as assistants to physicians and caregivers only, which is not the case. There are different types of nurses, all with varying levels of training and education, and different licensing requirements. Nursing is not just another job.
What’s the biggest challenge in your field?
The biggest challenges are helping the public understand what nurses do and the depth of our professional field, and overcoming how nursing is portrayed in the media. We as professionals are easily recognized — you see lots of us in the hospitals and private offices — and are very trusted. However, our roles are not well known or understood. Then there’s the media. Television shows and movies often portray us in two ways: the sexy nurse, and the lazy, mean nurse. This portrayal widens the gap of misunderstanding.
Proudest moment in your life?
My proudest moment so far is earning my Ph.D. in nursing. I enrolled in a bachelor’s to Ph.D. program (at the University of Nebraska Medical Center) and completed it within three and a half years.
One tip for success?
My tip for success is to complete tasks early. When you finish something ahead of schedule, you have less stress and more flexibility for prioritizing other assignments.
If you could fix one thing in the world, what would it be?
I would increase the amount of compassion people have for one another. I think we could avoid many of today’s conflicts if we were nicer and more compassionate to each other.
What kind of professor do you want to be known as?
As a professor, I want to be known for being fair, flexible, and approachable. (I had) multiple instructors who embodied these values. One in particular, when I approached her about completing extra work on an assignment to improve my score, told me that while my goal is to get good grades, her goal is to help me learn. She allowed me to complete the work, but for half of my proposed credit. Instead of adhering to rigid rules, she compromised and we both succeeded.
What would people be surprised to know about you?
I am a Candy Crush addict. I can’t stop playing the game until I complete the last level. The problem is, every time I finish the latest level, the company makes new ones. So I keep playing. I want to beat the game.
