
By Rebecca Jamieson
The journey into nursing has been long and challenging for Eduardo “Chuy” Piña ’24 (he/they), but he knows he’s in the right place. “I honestly believe this is a calling,” Piña says. “I believe this is what I was meant to do.”
Born and raised in Chicago, Piña grew up in a high-crime, economically disadvantaged neighborhood. “My family came from Mexico, and we’ve worked really hard as immigrants,” he says. “I’ve spent my whole life working, working, working.” His grandfather spent years working as a dishwasher before he was able to buy his own restaurants. Piña’s mother instilled a love of learning in him and encouraged him to become a doctor. He is the first person in his family to go to college, first attending the Illinois Math and Science Academy and then Brown University Medical School.
But then, tragedy struck. Piña’s father died, and academics became too much to manage while he navigated the loss. He made the decision to leave medical school.

Although Piña didn’t complete medical school, they received their undergraduate degree from Brown in 2004. They realized that becoming a doctor was no longer the right path for them, but they still wanted to leverage their skills in math and science to help others. This led them to a master of forensic science program at Arcadia University, driven by their interest in crime scene investigation (CSI). After graduation, they got a job at the Wisconsin State Crime Lab, working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. But after five years, they knew the career wasn’t the right fit. “I was tired of being in a lab and not having that human interaction,” they say.
“I honestly believe this is a calling. I believe this is what I was meant to do.”
Piña switched gears again and became a nursing assistant. At first, he considered working toward being a physician assistant but quickly realized that nursing was where he wanted to be. “I was right there on the front lines working directly with patients,” he says. “It changed my life.” Although Piña respects doctors, he no longer wants to become one. “They don’t see everything we see,” he says. “They don’t see the patient every day, and they aren’t there holding their hands at the worst time.” Piña had found his calling. He finished the prerequisites and applied to the UW–Madison School of Nursing’s bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) program.
“I’m not a religious person,” says Piña. “But I believe everything happens for a reason. All my past experiences led me to this career and help me be a better nurse.”

During their BSN program, Piña discovered another passion. While doing clinicals at University Hospital, they shadowed a hemodialysis nurse in the transplant unit. Piña had previously worked as a nursing assistant at UW Health, but they loved working in this new environment. They realized they wanted to work in hemodialysis after graduation.
The decision was also deeply personal. “I had an uncle who was on hemodialysis for many years,” Piña shares. “He always spoke very highly of his nurses. He had to get treatments several times a week, so he developed a close relationship with them.” Sadly, his uncle passed away because of complications from hemodialysis when Piña was a child, but it planted the seed for him to pursue nursing.
“Hemodialysis is really complex and involves a lot of critical thinking,” he says. “That’s where I strive to excel. I want to keep my patients safe and provide the best care so that nothing like that ever happens to anyone else.”
Returning to school at forty, Piña was in a different position than many of his peers and needed to work while completing their degree. “My mom is a retired teacher who has cancer, so she wasn’t able to offer financial assistance,” he says.
“The teachers ignited this passion for nursing in me. I can’t even put it into words. It’s greatly impacted my desire to keep learning and working with people.”
Piña received the Rennebohm Initiative for Nurse Workforce Diversity and Health Equity scholarship in their first year of the BSN program. The scholarship provides financial support to students facing barriers in their efforts to pursue higher education.

Receiving the Rennebohm scholarship had an immediate impact on Piña’s life. “It gave me peace of mind,” he says. “It helped me focus on my studies and not worry about how I was going to pay rent.” The impact of that financial support has lasted beyond graduation. “Without this scholarship, I wouldn’t be where I am right now.”
Piña’s favorite part about the BSN program was their connections with faculty and classmates. “The teachers ignited this passion for nursing in me. I can’t even put it into words. It’s greatly impacted my desire to keep learning and working with people.”

One of Piña’s fondest memories is the creative ways he found to inspire and support his classmates. Right before a big exam, he realized how stressed they all were. “Everyone was freaking out,” he says, “including me!”
He could have stayed silent, but instead, he acted. “I took a big breath, and then I was like, ‘I need to say something.’” Piña asked the professor if he could borrow her microphone. Then, he gave a pep talk.
“I said things like, ‘You’ve made it this far, just try your best and breathe,’” he remembers. “They called it the Chuy speech.” That speech was the first of many. His speeches became so popular that Piña’s classmates nominated him to be their class speaker at graduation. “I thought I would be so nervous standing in front of hundreds of people, but I wasn’t. I just kind of went into the zone.”

“I love trying to give hope, enthusiasm, and energy to my classmates,” says Piña. But they’re quick to point out that their classmates have been there for them during challenging times too. While in school, two of Piña’s grandparents passed away, their mother was diagnosed with leukemia, and they had their own cancer scare. On top of it all, they abruptly had to find new housing. “So many of my classmates supported me,” they say. “It’s like a family. It’s just remarkable.”
“I’m not a religious person, but I believe everything happens for a reason. All my past experiences led me to this career and help me be a better nurse.”
Piña is a natural leader. While in nursing school, he was elected as a class representative, was a student council member, served on the diversity, equity, and inclusion committee, and spearheaded the creation of a class t-shirt for the School of Nursing’s centennial. He says, “I wanted to boost morale and help people realize they were part of something historic.”

Piña believes that nurses can play a vital role in transforming the future of health care. “I want to help motivate and inspire the next generation of nurses,” they say. They believe medical care is at a critical point post-COVID and with the current political landscape. “A lot of people are disenchanted. A lot of people are tired. A lot of people want to see change, and I see nurses wanting to be part of that change,” they say. “But sometimes it feels too big. The system is overwhelming.”
Piña believes that for nurses, returning to their motivation for working in health care is the first step. But he also wants them to learn how to advocate for change. “I came into this profession knowing it wasn’t going to be easy — that it was going to be a lot of blood, sweat, and tears,” he says. “But I don’t want us to become a society where martyrdom is acceptable.” He sees that culture of martyrdom playing out with individual nurses as well as at a systemic level. “We need to understand the flaws in the system and how we can work with them,” he says, “but we can’t get disenchanted or lose sight of our ultimate goal: becoming the best nurses that we can be.”

Since graduating, time has flown. In addition to starting a new job, Piña spent a month in Europe with his family. “My mom retired last year, so it was a combined retirement and graduation gift.” The trip was a present from his brother and sister-in-law, who also work in health care. The four went to Spain, Italy, Belgium, and the Netherlands. “It was the trip of a lifetime,” he smiles.
The most rewarding part of being a nurse is using all the skills they’ve learned in school. “My training on the hemodialysis unit has been intense but amazing, and my coworkers are great too,” says Piña. “I’m pretty excited about where all this will take me.”
Support students by donating to the School of Nursing’s Transform the Future fund. Your gift provides need-based financial support to the next generation of Badger nurse leaders.