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N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – Annually, nursing students at the University of Jamestown travel abroad to see witness nursing techniques in other parts of the world and thus gain perspective. Students want to become nurses because they know it is a meaningful, purpose-driven vocation.
As nurses, the expectation is that they will be instrumental in the saving of lives. As students going on a nursing-trip, however, it is certainly not expected. Nevertheless, this is exactly what happened during this spring’s trip to Vietnam where UJ nursing student Nichole Johansen followed her calling and saved lives – not in a hospital setting but while dining at a pool-side restaurant.
Nursing students and instructors were invited to dinner in Nha Trang, Vietnam by UJ alumnus Jim Johnson and his wife Sally. They were enjoying the delicacies when they heard noises of splashing and a child crying. Bethany Mello, nursing instructor at the University of Jamestown, said, “We turned and saw a man thrashing in the water, his head popping above the water line for seconds before going back under. At first we thought it was a joke, but the longer we watched, the more we realized this man was not fooling around.”
A worker at the restaurant jumped in to help, but immediately the flailing man pulled him down and they were both in danger. People panicked and nobody knew what to do. The nursing students and professors were asking each other, “Should we jump in? Should we help?” Mello said, “It was in this instant that I saw a flash of pink and a big splash out of the corner of my eye. I then recognized the pink skirt and striped shirt swimming swiftly to the two men as Nichole Johansen. She positioned herself below the drowning man who was still clinging to the restaurant worker. With a strong kick off from the bottom of the pool she pushed both men to the side where they were able to grab hold of something solid and be hoisted to safety.”
Both men emerged unharmed. Nichole simply rejoined the table with her wet dress and hair and continued sampling the unfamiliar delicacies. Nichole was a swim instructor for five years and a lifeguard for one year. When asked what made her jump in, she said, “I don’t know. I wasn’t really thinking. I just knew someone had to help him.”
Nichole Johansen will be a 2015 graduate of the University of Jamestown with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. Her hometown is Devil’s Lake, ND. In addition to Nursing, she is active in with pole vaulting in the University’s Track & Field program.