Recent DAISY Award winner Anastacia Marks, BSN, found her love of nursing while on the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus working as a pathology researcher.

“I was basically a lab rat,” she says with a laugh. As a researcher, Marks enjoyed her time with patients most. She began to look forward to patient visits and realized she loved the care and interaction. “Nursing mixes my love for science and my love for people,” she said.

When Marks learned about CU Nursing’s accelerated undergraduate program – UCAN – she was completely drawn to it. “I didn’t have to go back and take any prerequisites.” Because of a previous bachelor’s degree in bio-chemistry, she had already done the base classroom work and could focus solely on the nursing education.

The interdisciplinary qualities of nursing give Marks the ability to grow and keep learning, she said. “I don’t feel the pressure to stay strapped down to one specialty.”

After graduating, she started on the general surgery floor at St. Joseph Hospital in Denver, focusing on post-operative care. In time, Marks moved up to charge nurse and precepted many students, some of whom she still keeps in touch with.

For the past year and a half, Marks has pivoted focus to cardiology, working primarily on the cardiac and vascular surgery floor. “My uncle was a cardiologist, so I always had an interest in learning more about cardiology and cardiac nursing.” Looking ahead, Marks would like to go back to school to become a cardiothoracic nurse practitioner, she said.

In August, Marks married, and she and her husband are settling into life. “I spend time with my husband and dog. We are currently renovating, but when I have time, I like exploring the mountains.”

Read about Anastacia Marks’ DAISY Award here: https://www.daisyfoundation.org/daisy-award/honorees/anastacia-marks

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