Kayla Ouimet, RN, remembers the exact day she wanted to become a nurse. She was 16 and camping with her parents in Glens Falls, when a bike ride with her father took a terrifying turn.

“My brakes gave out as we were going down a steep hill,” she says. “Instead of bailing on the bike or laying it down, I just kind of froze. I went over a sort of cliff, hit a tree, lost consciousness and tumbled down into this ravine," she recalls. 

As she came to, her father flagged down a passing trolley. Two nurses happened to be on board and rushed to help. 

"I didn't really know what was going on. It just hurt everywhere," Ouimet says. "One poured bottled water on my wounds, the other covered me up with their extra layers of clothing because I was going into shock." 

Her injuries weren't life-threatening, but they were serious: multiple fractures, a lacerated liver and a kidney injury. That night, lying in a hospital bed, Ouimet made a decision that would shape her future.

"I looked at my dad and said, 'I want to be a nurse.' And he said, 'Okay, let's do it.' From that day on, I felt it to my core.” 

Ouimet became a nurse in 2009 and has worked in several care settings. But it's her time at UVM Health-Alice Hyde Medical Center, where she’s been since 2020, that she cherishes the most. 

"I love being able to help people immediately," Ouimet says. "Whether it's saving a life, easing someone’s pain or helping family members through scary moments, this is what I was meant to do."