Joel Regalado: Bloomfield College

Male nurses are as rare in the Philippines are they are in the United States. But the lack of male role models in his native country didn’t deter Joel Regalado, B.S.N., M.N., A.C.N.P., from entering the profession. With encouragement from his older sister, a neo-natal intensive care nurse, Regalado enrolled in nursing school in the Philippines, where he discovered the joys not only of nursing but also of teaching.
 
Teaching came naturally to Regalado, who was asked after he graduated with his master’s degree to stay on as adjunct faculty. Regalado agreed, and was able to combine his two main interests: direct care and classroom instruction. Working in his native Philippines, Regalado enjoyed the opportunity to care for and connect with patients. But he also liked teaching at his alma mater. "When I teach, I learn more," he says.
 
In 2002, Regalado brought his dual passions to the United States, where he enrolled in a second master’s degree program in acute care at Rutgers University in New Jersey. He completed the program in January, and is now a clinical nurse in the intensive care unit at University Hospital in Newark, N.J., and a part-time clinical instructor at Bloomfield College, also in New Jersey.
 
Although he initially planned to return to the Philippines, Regalado has since changed his mind; he recently became a citizen of the United States and plans to stay here permanently. He made the decision to stay not only because nurses here earn more money but also because they enjoy greater independence and respect than they do in the Philippines, he says. At the same time, he frowns upon waste in the U.S. health care industry, which he says contributes to the country’s astronomical health care costs. "Let’s say you open a suture tray and you just need scissors, but you throw everything else in the kit away….I completely understand the safety issue…but I find it very wasteful."
 
Regalado has big plans for his future; he wants to earn his doctorate, take a more active part in nursing organizations and someday lobby the government on health care policies. But he has no plans to give up his two passions, teaching and nursing. "I really enjoy teaching, but when I’m also doing clinical, talking to patients is gratifying too," he says.