We were lucky to catch up with Devona Fields recently and have shared our conversation below.

Devona, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

The one risk that I will present here was in moving to Delaware. I was a single mother in Oklahoma of a teenage son who wanted to go live with his father in Delaware. The caveat is that he wanted me to come with him, which was outstanding news for me. So, I went through the process of applying for jobs, flying to come across the country for interviews and have short visits with my son. Six months later with a job offer, I packed up my clothes in my car along with a TV and drove for 2 days to reach Delaware. It was a scary time. I will admit that at one point, as much as I love my son, I considered turning around to go back home. I was coming to a place that was unfamiliar, did not have a home, and no family. I was completely on my own. I stayed at a hotel for a couple of weeks before finding an apartment. The results of this move were truly beneficial for me and my son. Some lessons I have learned was that things may not go the way you would like them to, but growth is not always stress free or without some roadblocks. It gave me a great appreciation for relationships, mainly with God, but also family and friends. In addition, get out of your comfort zone, there is a great big world with limitless opportunities waiting for you to take them.

Devona, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

For the nonprofit, God’s True Treasures, Inc.., it was something that has been occurring informally for years. I would take in those who did not have a place to go into my home until they were able to get on their feet. It was an act role modeled by parents. My passion involves not seeing children suffer from homelessness or abuse. This is how my nonprofit came into existence. At this time, we provide care packages for this population. However, the goal is to be able by the year 2025 to prevent homelessness and provide housing for the age group of 18-21 years old. This is due to the latest statistics from Delaware Housing Alliance and from across the nation that shows that one out of every four persons who is homeless is under the age of 18. Our going to the next step is an evolving process as I continue to work within committees at the state level to ascertain the specific gap that we will meet as a newer nonprofit organization.

For Achieving Good Success, LLC, this business evolved in my relation to my career. I have been a nurse for over 24 years and have realized that my experience and knowledge could better benefit the community by passing it on to help others become nurses. Nursing students who I have encountered commented that sessions with the remediation specialists greatly assisted them in closing gaps of knowledge for nursing concepts. The nursing shortage that is evident in the acute care area has also been encountered in academia with faculty. Faculty who has a large load may not always have the ability to remediate or spend 1:1 time with students to provide additional support. Not every college or university has the position for this role, which led to idea for this business. We want to be that other resource to help students succeed and successfully complete their nursing program. In addition, you have nurses who have been out of the direct patient care setting and want to return to it. They sometimes need a refresher., and we are there to support them also.

Have you ever had to pivot?

A career pivot came when I left the acute care facility to assimilate into a role in academia. There are some nurses who spend their whole career in one setting. I don’t know that I had planned to do the same thing, but in that moment of making a decision to go to a new setting was exciting and held some formidable challenges. I was in a place of being the “new” nurse and was having to learn new terms, culture and develop a new role/program. There were changes within my previous employer that incentivized my choice to take advantage of some outside offers that had been presented to me. Out of those different offers, I took on the position to build a simulation program and work with students who needed academic support. These new challenges are continuing to shape me as a professional and a person. It has helped to enhance skills that I knew I had and revealed additional skills that were not overtly present. It has now been a year later, and I feel that this move was much needed to revitalize my love for being a nurse.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

My current life itself is an illustration of resilience. As a young woman of color, being pregnant at the age of nineteen, who dropped out of college to get a job. This diversion from completing college could have changed my path for continuing to get a higher education. Yet, I was determined to apply to nursing school, which I did two years later. I got in and finished with obtaining a BSN degree. This is thanks to God, my parents and others who were my “village” during this time. It was not without its bumps in the road. There were plenty of naysayers and those who were vocal in that I was not going to make it. You have to drown out the negative voices and hold on to the positive voices that will cheer you on, yet also give constructive criticism. In those moments, you have to recognize the difference between the negative voices from those corrective voices who will tell you what you are doing wrong along with what you need to change in order to be better in the process. Because correction will not always sound or feel good, however, the motive behind it is for your good. Your life story can become the encouragement for someone else.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.achievinggoodsuccess.org/ https://www.godstruetreasures.org/
• Facebook: Achieving Good Success, LLC God’s True Treasures

Image Credits
Devona Fields MSN, RN, NE-BC