Janice Hahn (RN-BSN ’13) was the first recipient of The Alumni Professional Achievement Award, which was presented to her at the inaugural Goodwin Awards in 2019. This award, the first of its kind at Goodwin, recognizes an alumnus who differentiates themselves in the community with their expertise and achievements. They excel above and beyond with a record of notable career accomplishments and a history of outstanding contributions within their profession. She is also a 2019 Hartford Hospital Nightingale Award winner.

After graduating from Goodwin, Janice held the role of nurse educator in perioperative services and she adopted and implemented the association for perioperative nurse’s curriculum, taking it from a home-grown program to an online resource that is continuously updated to reflect the most current evidence-based guidelines and standards for practice. She also played an instrumental part in the reaccrediting of the Manchester Community College surgical technology program.

Recently, Jan shared that she has begun a fantastic opportunity at the UConn Health Center to address the labor shortage of OR nurses. “I am energized to join UConn Health Center. Working in an academic setting is new for me and I feel that I will be able to continue doing the work that means so much to me and enjoy the support and structure I need to meet my future goals.”

Amongst Janice’s achievements are introducing nursing students to the OR, designing and implementing a training program for those nurses including a paid summer internship for nursing students in the OR.

“The folks at UConn Health are all wonderful,” Jan says. “They’ve provided me with everything I need to be successful.”

Jan recently spoke with a reporter for the Alumni Newsletter to tell her story of how she found her path and to provide words of advice for current and prospective students.

I was a surgical technologist for many years. I was working in the OR and providing the instrumentation, anticipating the surgeon’s needs, and keeping strict sterility. It was wonderful and I loved it.

I decided to go back to school later. I remember that in my younger days, I had surgical tech friends who went back to school to get their nursing degrees. They talked about how difficult it was, and at the time, I had 3 small children. I had a real belief that I just wasn’t smart enough. I truly believed I wasn’t going to be able to do it.

I tell this often to people who are making decisions about going back to school and I don’t think that’s unusual.

I hadn’t studied or written a paper in years, and I didn’t know how to use a computer. There are a lot of exams in the associates program. It’s essential to balance your time, planning the time for studying does not just happen. You need to look at the calendar and schedule in your study time. If you take one thing at a time and try not to look at the mountain ahead, you’ll find that each small accomplishment adds to your confidence. I encourage people not to be afraid to start. I tell them a bit of my story and I hope that has a positive effect.

“When I made up my mind to apply to nursing school, I looked at my options. My experience at the first school I visited was very discouraging. The person I spoke with laid out the academic plan and said this is going to be almost impossible for you. The next day, I went to Goodwin for a similar appointment. The counselor that I sat with was 100% positive, spoke encouragement into me, told me the steps I would need to take to get admitted.

When she told me about the math entrance exam, I was very nervous. I was never strong in math, and I hadn’t taken a math course since high school. She provided me with resources to become better prepared. I studied hard. When I got the results of the entrance exam, I skipped over Algebra I and was placed in Algebra II. This sent my confidence soaring. Belief in myself began to grow.

The math instructor I had was amazing! I was so diligent about this work that I’d call him on the weekend when I was stuck, and he would walk me through whatever I was struggling with.

He offered that students could call him any time for help. I took him up on it and called several times during the semester. I could tell my interest in the topic made him feel good and his help came across with sincere caring. He is one of many instructors who offered more of themselves than you might find elsewhere.

I got an A in everything! As a single mom, I was on my own, raising my three kids, at the age when I needed to be around for them, and yet I found a way to get it all done.

So much of what is built into the programs at Goodwin is made for people who have busy lives, they’ve advanced into their adulthood and need flexibility to succeed. The institution is remarkable in that it considers the whole picture, and the lives of their students. There is so much support. There is a vibe, an energy that is alive and vibrant and so supportive! It goes beyond just friendly, people care. They went above and beyond to make us feel special.

Goodwin taught me to do scholarly research, how to read and write articles, and target the topic that meant the most to me. That is when addressing the operating room workforce shortage became my calling. It became clear to me that education was the track I was to take. This allowed me to enter the space where I knew I could make a difference.”

After graduating from Goodwin’s RN to BSN program, Janice enrolled in a master’s degree program at the University of Hartford. Janice also has a strong family connection with Goodwin. Her daughter Chelsea Siwik is a graduate of Goodwin’s first accelerated nursing cohort.

"I’m so proud of Chelsea’s accomplishments. She went back to school during COVID and was raising a young toddler. Chelsea now works as a nurse in Labor and Delivery, which has been her goal for a long time. Normally, if Chelsea had proposed enrolling in such a program that was just starting, I would have been concerned. But I knew that Goodwin was going to hit it out of the park!”