From the Nurse’s Office to the ‘MedSurg’ Floor: How One Alumna’s Path from NAF to Nursing School Was Years in the Making 

For NAF alumna, Brianna Tahmasian, the pull toward Health Sciences started before she ever set foot in a classroom. As a child, she was a fixture in her elementary school’s nurse’s office as a helper, making ice packs and absorbing everything she could about the world of school health. That early instinct would go on to shape every decision she made. 

“I genuinely can’t picture myself doing anything else,” Tahmasian said. “This wasn’t something I got from my family – I’m the first person in my family to go into healthcare.” 

Now a student at West Coast University on track to graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 2027, Brianna reflects on her experience in NAF’s Academy of Health Sciences at Burbank High School, as she looks ahead to her bright future in the ever-robust and in-demand field of nursing.  

Sprouting the Seed of a Nursing Career with NAF 

By the time Brianna reached her junior year of high school, she had already been volunteering in a local emergency room for a year. But it was her enrollment in NAF’s Academy of Health Sciences that gave her something even more valuable than experience: certainty. 

“That program was really the confirmation I needed. It gave me a real opportunity to test whether healthcare was something I truly wanted to pursue and seek more education after graduation.” 

NAF’s hands-on approach to Health Sciences offered engagement beyond a traditional life sciences classroom. In her anatomy and physiology class, a team presentation on peristalsis left such a lasting impression that she can still recall every detail today. It reinforced something she had always known about herself – that she learns best by doing, not by passively receiving information. It was the hands-on nature of nursing that drew her to the field in the first place.  

Brianna also credits a NAF field trip to Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank as a formative moment in her step toward nursing. Standing at the window of a surgical wing, catching a glimpse of an actual surgery in progress, was the kind of experience no textbook could replicate. 

“That experience stayed with me as something I was working toward,” she said.  

The Road to Nursing School 

Brianna graduated from her NAF Academy of Health Sciences, having already been taking general education courses at community college throughout her senior year. She continued at Glendale Community College and Los Angeles Valley College, working through prerequisites like statistics while beginning to map out her path into nursing. 

When she learned about West Coast University – located near her home in North Hollywood – she looked into it, liked what she found, and began the admissions process.

Doing the Work in the Meantime 

While working toward nursing school, Brianna found her way into a role that kept her close to clinical work. After spotting a Health Services Assistant position with the Burbank Unified School District, she spoke directly with the school nurse and asked what she needed to do to make the move. 

“She connected me with the district’s lead nurse, and I started the process from there,” Brianna recalls. 

She came on as a substitute health assistant, covering whichever schools in the district needed support on a given day. Right away, the student traffic took her by surprise.  

“I always say that if you took an ER nurse and put them in a school nurse’s position, they would struggle – because unlike a hospital, we have no control over how many people can be seen at a time.” 

On any given day she might be triaging a rush of students, managing first aid, charting, calling parents, and supporting students with complex medical needs ranging from diabetes to G-tubes and tracheostomies. Brianna describes the health assistant role day to day as dynamic, fast-paced, rewarding, and exactly the kind of hands-on environment she thrives in.

Finding Her Direction in Clinical Rotations 

Now in nursing school, Brianna has used her clinical rotations to methodically narrow her focus. A skilled nursing facility left her wanting more direct patient contact. A psychiatric hospital gave her deep respect for those who flourish in that specialty – while making clear it wasn’t her calling. 

Med-surg, on the other hand, has felt like home. 

“I’ve had clinical rotations on a med-surg floor and have genuinely enjoyed it,” she says. With advanced rotations in the ER and ICU on the horizon, she suspects she already knows where she is headed. “I’m drawn to fast-paced, high-acuity environments, and I have a feeling the ER might be where I’m headed.” 

Her Advice to NAF Students 

For students currently in NAF’s Academy of Health Sciences, Brianna’s message is direct: say yes to everything. 

“Take every opportunity you’re given. Every field trip, every hands-on experience – say yes to all of it.” 

She is equally straightforward about the value of the program itself. NAF, she emphasizes, is not just another elective. It is a tool for figuring out the right direction before investing years going the wrong way. 

“The sooner you can confirm what you want to do, the sooner you can move toward it without wasted time.” 

As for balancing a demanding job with the rigors of nursing school, she keeps it simple: “I tell myself it has to get done, and then I find a way to get it done.” The support of colleagues who have walked the same road, including her boss and fellow school nurses who are all nursing school alumni, has made that sustainable. But at its core, she says, it comes down to mindset. 

For Brianna, it always has.