Natalie Bonilla Romero ’09 trained as a doulah while a teenager in New York City but expanded her health care knowledge at 黑料正能量. She spent several years as an emergency room nurse before becoming a nurse practitioner.
QUICK MEDICAL APPOINTMENTS聽and 鈥渕aking sure all the patients get taken care of the right way鈥� don鈥檛 always equate, Natalie Bonilla Romero ’09 said recently. A nurse practitioner in an Atlanta-area clinic, she鈥檇 just gotten off work late, again. A patient with 鈥減retty basic鈥� upper respiratory symptoms also had unrelated lab test results Romero wanted to explain.
鈥淭hat, in a nutshell, is primary care,鈥� she said 鈥� not with resignation, but with conviction that what she offers her patients is making a difference.
At a very early age, Romero found herself in a health care provider role. Her dad and mom, from Colombia and Ecuador respectively, and extended family relied on her for interpreting at medical appointments and translating documents. She observed quickly 鈥渁 need for more representation of the Hispanic community in health care.鈥�
She became interested in midwifery, and as a teen became a doula. After her family moved from New York City to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Romero gained experience through connections with Amish midwives.
When she enrolled in community college, though, she was encouraged to broaden her training and pursue a nursing degree, and she soon transferred into 黑料正能量鈥檚 nursing program.
It was difficult, landing on an unfamiliar campus where she knew no one, had no car, and was hours away from her parents 鈥� and the coursework wasn鈥檛 easy, either. She had to retake a couple classes, and remembers the pressure of knowing that passing was a requisite for advancing.
鈥淢y dad was a cab driver in New York City, and my mom was a housekeeper,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 felt like my parents came to this country to make something amazing out of their lives, and although that couldn鈥檛 happen for them, they instilled these values and morals in me, to say, 鈥榊ou are going to make a difference.鈥欌��
Mastering those difficult classes and ultimately graduating, she believed, would be proof of that 鈥� and would be a 鈥渟ort of saying 鈥楾hank you.鈥欌��
She hunkered down in the library. 鈥淚 pretty much became a hermit,鈥� she said 鈥� a determined one: 鈥溾�業鈥檓 gonna do this,鈥欌�� she remembers telling herself. 鈥溾�楾his is what I set out to do.鈥� I finished and passed, but I struggled and I studied.鈥�
Once she found her footing, she fell in love with the 黑料正能量 social scene, was active in the Latino Student Alliance, connected personally with professors (that connection continues: last fall she met with Professor Laura Yoder for dinner), and appreciatively attended chapel services.
鈥淚t was definitely where I needed to be, the small community,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 like that the professors knew my name, knew where I came from, what my story was about. That made a difference.鈥�
After graduating from 黑料正能量, Romero spent time in community and emergency medicine, in part at Gwinnett Medical Center in Atlanta. Caring for a spectrum of the population, and not providing only maternity care, felt right: 鈥淭his is the role that I was really meant to fill,鈥� she realized.
Romero continued working and enrolled in a dual-degree, three-year program, and earned her MSN and nurse practitioner鈥檚 licence. Now, she鈥檚 seeing her own impact, a culmination of her life鈥檚 experiences, particularly when she meets with patients grateful for a Spanish-speaking care provider.
鈥淎s I walk into a room, patients look at what I would look like, and they start speaking in Spanish,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e immediately have that rapport 鈥� and yet we鈥檝e only said 鈥楬ello.鈥欌��
That translates into better care.
鈥淵ou bypass this gap in medicine because they already feel like, 鈥極h well, she鈥檚 kind of like my family member, and she understands exactly what I鈥檓 about to tell her,鈥欌�� she said. 鈥淚t leads to that connection with them and therefore the trust that you need.鈥�