Army veteran and single father Justin Crawford was highlighted at Monday’s College of Nursing and Health Innovation convocation for his work in the college’s RN to BSN program and at the Phoenix VA Health Care System.
Crawford began serving as a switch operator in the Army in 1996 and left active duty in 2000. His services included setting up mobile, voice and data networks in the Army, a job that also took him to Korea for a year.
The telecommunications industry began to decline in 2004 and after working as a network engineer outside of the Army for a few years, Crawford chose to pursue nursing because it seemed like a more stable field. He said his combat arms training in the Army gave him exposure to the medical field before he began working in the psychiatric field of nursing for the Phoenix VA Health Care System in 2008.
“I always knew I wanted to work in psychiatric nursing,” Crawford said. “Being a vet, I couldn’t think of anybody better to serve than fellow veterans.”
Crawford graduated from the College of Nursing and Health Innovation’s RN to BSN program, an online program designed for associate degree and diploma nurses to earn their Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing. In addition to going to school and working as an RN, Crawford is also a single father and said the online program was beneficial in helping him juggle school, work and caring for his 12-year-old son.
“It was extremely helpful for me,” Crawford said. “There was no way I would’ve been able to take a traditional class, work and take care of my son. That wouldn’t have been an option.”
Diann Muzyka, the director of the RN to BSN program, said the online program is designed to build upon the knowledge of students coming from community colleges and degree programs and focuses on evidence-based practice, leadership management and community and public health.
Muzyka also said she was very impressed by Crawford’s motivation and organization.
“I’m in awe — he was able to maintain a wonderful GPA,” Muzyka said. “I think he’s just an awesome person to do it all and do it so well. … He himself had the motivation and was able to put all the pieces into place so he could earn it.”
Crawford’s professors are not the only ones impressed by his motivation and dedication to helping his fellow veterans. The Phoenix VA Health Care System has also expressed their delight about veterans like Justin serving other veterans.
“We are proud of veteran employees like Justin Crawford who served our nation and now continue to serve our nation’s heroes. Veterans make up 37 percent of the Phoenix VA Health Care System employees in every capacity of our health care delivery system,” Phoenix VA Health Care System spokesman Scott McRoberts said in an email.
Crawford credits not only the online program for his success, but the support of his entire family. Since moving back to Phoenix, he said his family was instrumental in helping him excel in school by helping take care of his son.
Crawford currently works in the area of community mental health and teaches locally and nationally for the VA Health Care System about violence prevention. He hopes to eventually receive his Doctor of Nursing Practice or Master of Science in Nursing and do more teaching in the future.
“I enjoy teaching,” Crawford said. “I enjoy not only telling what I’ve done, but learning from them as well. You learn new ways to look at things. I think it benefits me and students.”
Contact the reporter at pkunthar@asu.edu
