Monica Greenwood’s path to a career as a nurse didn’t always include an abiding interest in medicine.
Instead, her path wound through a full Reserve Officers’ Training Corps scholarship to the University of Rochester and, when she graduated in 1991, an initial assignment as a naval public relations officer based in the small community of Willow Grove, Pa.
She served from 1991-1997.
Getting engaged to the man who would become her husband and finding that new job opportunities had opened to women in the Navy, led her to switch to a landbased assignment tracking submarines, bringing her closer to him while he was stationed on a ship in Charleston, S.C.
“That was an incredible experience for me,” she said. “I managed a team of 25-35 sailors, and I learned a lot about myself.”
After she and Andrew were married, he was deployed for seven months, leading them both to wonder what was next for them. While she had a chance to go to Okinawa, there wasn’t an assignment for him. So they both left the Navy, and moved to San Francisco, working as consultants. When the first child arrived, she left consulting and then a second arrived and later, a third. After the Sept. 11 attacks, “I wanted to be home,” the Kings Park native said and so they moved to Long Island, and now live in East Northport.
She decided to rejoin the workforce. “I was always strong on science,” she said. “But I never had any interest in medicine. But at this point, I love being a nurse so much that it’s just funny to me that i was absolutely not interested in medicine.” She was 45 years old when she graduated from nursing school. “People see me and think I’ve been a nurse forever but i still learn something new everyday. Sometimes I can use my experience to my benefit but sometimes not.” She is 55. The Navy had a definite impact on her life and career. “The military is a true cross section. There’s all kinds of people, from all walks of life. As a nurse in a hospital, (you see) so are your patients,” she said. “Being in the military taught me that intelligence and kindness come in all varieties. When I grew up, I thought education was intelligence but in the military, you learn that people are smart in all kinds of ways. I have respect for all kinds of knowledge. You see that for good or bad. The military time taught me to appreciate that.” “I have a good work ethic, and it’s definitely from my time there,” she said. “I take that responsibility seriously.” The public’s perception of veterans has also changed, she said. “When I went to the VA, people asked me, ‘are you lost’,” thinking that a woman wouldn’t be a veteran. People have a lot of pre-conceived notions about what a vet looks like.”
“I was active during the Gulf War, but I was always stateside,” she said. “I have people thanking me for my service. I am proud of myself and that’s something that i didn’t have any in the beginning.”
“I don’t generally define myself as a vet but it is still a part of who I am,” she said. “It was probably the formative experience of my life.”
After graduating from nursing school in 2014, she first worked for St. Francis Hospital. Then she was hired at Huntington Hospital where she works on the stepdown team, providing a level of care between a regular floor and critical care.
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