University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Golden Eagle Alumni in Healthcare Spotlight: Amy Davis
5/7/2020 3:56:00 PM | Women's Soccer
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- Southern Miss Athletics is thankful for healthcare personnel serving on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. This serves as the second installment of features with former student-athletes who are in the medical field. This week's spotlight is on Amy Davis, a soccer letterwinner from 2008-11.
Davis, a native of Vestavia Hills, Alabama, served as the team captain her junior season and was a four-time Conference USA Commissioner's Honor Roll member. She also earned Academic All-Conference honors in 2010.
What are some of your daily responsibilities?
"I am a CRNA, which stands for Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist. I went to school for four years at Southern Miss and became a Registered Nurse, and all of my work has been at Children's of Alabama in Birmingham, which is where I'm from. I worked for a year and a half in the emergency room there and then 2 1/2 years in the Pediatric ICU. Then I went back to get my master's degree in nursing anesthesia and finished that last May. Now I'm a nurse anesthetist in the operating room. I put kids to sleep for a variety of procedures and work together with the OR staff and anesthesiologists."
When did you realize that this was what you wanted to do for a living?
"I knew I wanted to do something in science and healthcare. My dad was an exercise physiologist, so I was always interested in the human body. In college, I decided to go towards the nursing profession, even though there isn't anyone in my family who did that. I just always felt it was where the Lord called me to be. I'm very happy with my career."
It's no secret that student-athletes have a rigorous schedule, but being a nursing student as well takes it up several notches. How did you manage the balance?
"It was a really rigorous schedule. We'd play Fridays and Sundays which meant traveling on Thursday, so I'd have to miss class. Once you got into the two-year program, there was a strict attendance policy. They did make an exception for me there. Sometimes I'd get home late Sunday night and have nursing clinicals at the hospital on Monday since that was our soccer off-day. There was one semester where I had obstetrics in Laurel, and I was getting up super early, around 4, after sometimes not getting home till midnight. It was what I wanted to do. Being an athlete, once you set a goal you work until you achieve that. One other thing that was neat was athletes are a close-knit group and know each other. There was a volleyball player that was also in the program, and we had every nursing class together. So if one of us missed, the other might be able to help with taking notes, especially if one of us was traveling that weekend. We formed a lifelong friendship from there due to athletics and nursing."
How has COVID-19 affected your workplace's daily routines and preparation?
"It has directly impacted surgery. We've canceled a lot of elective cases and now only do urgent and emergency ones. We're starting to get back into some electives, but we have special N95 masks and then wear a regular mask over that. We have eye protection and all the necessary protective measures. Our hospital screens us every morning from symptoms to temperature. It was especially stressful for the first few weeks with everything so unknown. The hospital made sure we had what we needed and were taking the proper precautions. Thankfully, kids haven't seemed to be hit as hard as adults, so that's been good as well."
How often have you been able to come back to Hattiesburg/follow the Golden Eagles?
"I've come back a couple of times, but not as much as I would like. Some of my friends from soccer and nursing, we've tried to get back together but not as much as we wanted. I've been able to catch a few soccer games there and also when Southern Miss would play in town, but it is a goal of mine to get back more now that I'm finished with school. I did stop by this summer on my way to New Orleans to visit some friends, and I got to walk and drive through campus and the soccer field."
Davis, a native of Vestavia Hills, Alabama, served as the team captain her junior season and was a four-time Conference USA Commissioner's Honor Roll member. She also earned Academic All-Conference honors in 2010.
What are some of your daily responsibilities?
"I am a CRNA, which stands for Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist. I went to school for four years at Southern Miss and became a Registered Nurse, and all of my work has been at Children's of Alabama in Birmingham, which is where I'm from. I worked for a year and a half in the emergency room there and then 2 1/2 years in the Pediatric ICU. Then I went back to get my master's degree in nursing anesthesia and finished that last May. Now I'm a nurse anesthetist in the operating room. I put kids to sleep for a variety of procedures and work together with the OR staff and anesthesiologists."
When did you realize that this was what you wanted to do for a living?
"I knew I wanted to do something in science and healthcare. My dad was an exercise physiologist, so I was always interested in the human body. In college, I decided to go towards the nursing profession, even though there isn't anyone in my family who did that. I just always felt it was where the Lord called me to be. I'm very happy with my career."
It's no secret that student-athletes have a rigorous schedule, but being a nursing student as well takes it up several notches. How did you manage the balance?
"It was a really rigorous schedule. We'd play Fridays and Sundays which meant traveling on Thursday, so I'd have to miss class. Once you got into the two-year program, there was a strict attendance policy. They did make an exception for me there. Sometimes I'd get home late Sunday night and have nursing clinicals at the hospital on Monday since that was our soccer off-day. There was one semester where I had obstetrics in Laurel, and I was getting up super early, around 4, after sometimes not getting home till midnight. It was what I wanted to do. Being an athlete, once you set a goal you work until you achieve that. One other thing that was neat was athletes are a close-knit group and know each other. There was a volleyball player that was also in the program, and we had every nursing class together. So if one of us missed, the other might be able to help with taking notes, especially if one of us was traveling that weekend. We formed a lifelong friendship from there due to athletics and nursing."
How has COVID-19 affected your workplace's daily routines and preparation?
"It has directly impacted surgery. We've canceled a lot of elective cases and now only do urgent and emergency ones. We're starting to get back into some electives, but we have special N95 masks and then wear a regular mask over that. We have eye protection and all the necessary protective measures. Our hospital screens us every morning from symptoms to temperature. It was especially stressful for the first few weeks with everything so unknown. The hospital made sure we had what we needed and were taking the proper precautions. Thankfully, kids haven't seemed to be hit as hard as adults, so that's been good as well."
How often have you been able to come back to Hattiesburg/follow the Golden Eagles?
"I've come back a couple of times, but not as much as I would like. Some of my friends from soccer and nursing, we've tried to get back together but not as much as we wanted. I've been able to catch a few soccer games there and also when Southern Miss would play in town, but it is a goal of mine to get back more now that I'm finished with school. I did stop by this summer on my way to New Orleans to visit some friends, and I got to walk and drive through campus and the soccer field."
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