Frank D. Gomez, BSN, RN

In a past life, I was a frontend website developer working for a marketing firm in DFW, TX. After heavy soul-searching I decided a career change was necessary and set my sights on a nursing degree. An RN was something that I always dreamt of becoming but never thought was actually possible considering that sometimes I have a “Porky Pig” stutter.

I have a neurological speech impediment, commonly known as a “stutter” or “stammer”, so it can take me a little extra time to talk sometimes. I’m doing my best with how slow my brain is talking to my vocal cords so that I can actually say what is on my mind.

Anyways, I made my dream of becoming an RN a reality in 2019. Helping people is a passion of mine and nursing was an excellent choice for me because I have the opportunity to observe the direct impact I have on another soul on this dimension of time and space.

This ability to care for and look at every single person as just another version of myself in a parallel universe is such an incredible superpower. It’s what empowers me to wake up and change the world. Because I am…one person at a time.

Nursing school was probably the most difficult challenge I’ve ever taken on. In less than a year I was able to earn my Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Texas Tech University’s accelerated 2nd-degree program. During this time, I became more familiar with the many facets of mental health and the growing need for passionate providers in this particular segment of the healthcare industry.

This year, after an in-depth application process, I was accepted into a BSN to DNP psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner program at UT Health Science Center in San Antonio, TX. My ultimate goal with this degree is to increase access to mental health care services to low socioeconomic communities and to help raise awareness of mental health disorders to reduce harmful stigmas.

Since attaining my RN license I’ve worked at a large hospital caring for patients in an Acute Rehabilitation/Med Surg Unit.  My typical night consists of head-to-toe assessments, passing out meds, dressing changes, pain management, and other various med-surg tasks.