Christian Cervantes has his hands full studying in the School of Nursing's family nurse practitioner master's program and working full-time in a Las Vegas intensive care unit. But he still finds time for his online alias, “CMoneyRN.”
Since last year, Cervantes has been operating a YouTube channel all about the nursing field. He’s creating a brand for himself by producing instructional content on what it means to be a nurse and why it’s worth it. His goal is not about becoming an internet sensation; he simply wants to encourage future nurses through a unique recruiting technique.
“I always see a demand for nurses out there, and I want to encourage people to consider it as a possible career path," he said. "If they can see it through my eyes and my perspectives through my tips and my knowledge, perhaps I can help spark an interest.”
Being the host of a YouTube channel generally requires a likeable personality, something Cervantes has honed since he was a kid. Since kindergarten, he wanted to go into healthcare and ven used to take care of his family members when they were sick.
During his senior year of high school, his mother encouraged him to consider nursing as a potential career path.
“She said, ‘Christian, you seem to be a good people person. I feel with your skillset and your ability to communicate, I think you’d make a great nurse,'” Cervantes said. “After researching what a nurse does and what the job entails, I was interested and wanted to pursue it.”
The art of communication is at the heart of good nursing — whether that's on YouTube or in person with patients.
“If you are a people person, I feel that you're going to succeed in this field because you need to be able to spend time with people and listen to them,” he said. “Most of a patient's history is based on what they tell you. You talk and listen to them and that's how you can figure out what’s the underlying problem that needs to be addressed right away.”
Staying connected
When he launched his channel, Cervantes had a routine to consistently produce weekly content but admits it’s been tougher recently due his course load. It helps that he's had positive interactions with viewers.
“I've actually gotten messages from people asking me to mentor them and provide advice on how to land an ICU position,” he said. “The ones I've mentored have told me they were able to land their dream jobs, saying my advice helped them out a lot.”
Cervantes says the key to inspiring future nurses is to engage them.
“I think people should see nursing is not only hard, lack of sleep, three or four cups of coffee a day struggling," he said. "It's actually fun and it's worth pursuing.”
