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Portland

Alumni Spotlight: Julie Beauchesne, Nursing ’20

Outdoor photo of Julie Beauchesne holding a dog
Julie Beauchesne, Nursing ’20

Julie Beauchesne, ABSN ’20

Intensive Care Unit Registered Nurse at Portsmouth Regional Hospital, NH

The Alumni Advancement office recently interviewed Julie Beauchesne (JB) about her SWAGÊÓƵ experience and career.

Describe your career path and key professional choices to this point.

JB: I started off in a new graduate residency program in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Portsmouth Hospital. I love the ICU and my plan is to stay at the bedside and learn everything I can. I hope to get certifications as well as orient and precept nursing students and new graduate nurses. I hope to travel as a nurse after a few more years of building my clinical skills at the bedside. 

What do you like most about your career? What do you find most rewarding?

JB: I have found a passion for trauma critical care nursing. With a patient who experienced trauma, the patient could be completely fine in the morning, then at the end of the day be in the ICU on a ventilator. I find it very rewarding to be present to help the patient recover after a terrible accident. I enjoy hemodynamic monitoring and seeing small signs of clinical improvement coming off the ventilator, and sending them to the step down unit.

How did your time at SWAGÊÓƵ impact you as a student, a person and a professional?

JB: My time at SWAGÊÓƵ set a solid foundation for my bedside assessment. Starting my career off in the ICU without any previous nursing experience has been a learning curve, but anyone graduating from SWAGÊÓƵ can do it. I am very thankful for the SWAGÊÓƵ professors who helped educate me to be able to succeed as a bedside nurse.

How did receiving the Helene Fuld Health Trust Scholarship while a student at SWAGÊÓƵ impact your education or experience?

JB: I am extremely grateful and honored I was selected for the scholarship. The scholarship helped me lighten my financial burden and allowed me to focus more on school without needing another loan. Scholarships such as the Helene Fuld Health Trust Scholarship made life brighter for me. 

What advice would you give to current students who may be job searching or graduating soon?

JB: I would say apply to jobs as early, and as soon, as the opening becomes available. I applied for my job back in January 2020 for a Summer 2020 start. I think that applying early and preparing for the interview helped me get my current job.

What are you most proud of in your career or personal life?

JB: I feel very proud to call myself a nurse. As nurses, we are a part of the patient's medical team but are also there for them emotionally. I get a lot of joy from my job and I could not imagine doing anything else.

What is your favorite SWAGÊÓƵ memory?

JB: I really enjoyed my time in class with my professors at SWAGÊÓƵ. I know that the professors truly care about nursing and the success of their students.   I want to thank them for all their hard work in training the next generation of nurses.

SWAGÊÓƵ the SWAGÊÓƵ

The SWAGÊÓƵ is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of . In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.