Kabira Arnold

Story posted: Spring 2026

Kabira Arnold ’26 has secured a job at Bryn Mawr Hospital before she's even graduated from GMercyU’s BSN program or passed the licensure exam.

Her college journey was not a traditional one — years after high school graduation, Kabira was living and working in Philadelphia when she decided to go back to school to become a nurse. She took prerequisite classes at the Community College of Philadelphia and applied to GMercyU as a transfer student.

“GMercyU’s admissions counselor really engaged with me; I felt very supported. I was able to do a summer accelerated transfer program, knocking out my first year of nursing, and then joined the traditional students in the fall,” Kabira explained. “It was the right fit for me, and they offered me a ton of scholarship money, which was really helpful.”

What appealed to Kabira about nursing was serving the community and giving back, in addition to everything else the field offers: versatility, stability, and the pathways for nurses to grow. With an interest in higher education, Kabira plans to become a nurse practitioner one day.

Experience in the DEU Program

After her first externship (during her junior year) at Lankenau Medical Center in the cardiothoracic ICU, Kabira decided to diversify her experience and landed on an externship at Bryn Mawr Hospital, of Main Line Health. While shadowing as an extern there, BSN Professor Tricia Brown O'Hara, RN, PhD suggested that she complete GMercyU’s Dedicated Education Unit (DEU) at Bryn Mawr, to strengthen her connections there for possible future employment opportunities.

GMercyU’s DEU program pairs select senior nursing students with an RN mentor, typically at a hospital where they want to work. Dr. O’Hara has built a network of partnerships with area hospitals and reaches out to nurses and staff to see who would want to serve as a preceptor or mentor, and then matches GMercyU students with those mentors.

Some of the mentors are GMercyU grads, but not all.

“I would totally do this as a GMercyU alum for someone else in the future. My preceptor isn’t an alum, she just happens to be a staff nurse that was on the floor that I was interested in, so I’m doing my DEU on a neuro-combined ICU,” Kabira said. “It's kind of like an all-together ICU, but we specialize in neuro. That's where I accepted the position for employment, as well.”

Kabira’s mentor has been in nursing for 16 years, and in critical care for the majority of her career.

“She is also on the Ethics Committee,” said Kabira. “We're very aligned with the type of ethical care that is really important to me, holistic care. I can’t imagine what it’s like to have someone follow you around for 12 hours for 11 shifts, but she and I are working really well together.”

Landing the Job

At Bryn Mawr Hospital, job applications for nurse residency specialties open in December. Jobs at Main Line Health are competitive, but Kabira’s DEU experience gave her a leg up.

When I applied to Main Line Health, I had to list my top three units and top three hospital sites that I was interested in. I was really fortunate to be doing the DEU program on the floor that I applied to as my top choice. You have to do several interviews, it’s a long process. I was offered the job about a month later. 

Experience in GMercyU’s BSN Program and Advice to Future Students

“I remember someone saying to me when I was applying, ‘there's just something about GMercyU... the students are just nicer’,” Kabira said.

With a cousin at another nursing school, they have compared experiences, but Kabira says she wouldn’t change hers at GMercyU for anything.

“I've had some incredible teachers and mentors with so much experience. And I’m very much aligned with them on delivering a certain type of care that’s important to me,” Kabira said. “GMercyU was a good fit for me.”

To future BSN students, Kabira recommends reminding yourself to nuture your own health and wellness while making your way through the program, that it helps tremendously.

“Even with the DEU program, some of the students are knocking out as many shifts as possible in a short amount of time so they can get all the shifts done, but I'm taking my time. I'm doing one a week. I'm soaking it in,” Kabira said. “I am taking care of myself and that works for me. It might be different for everyone, but I think truly prioritizing your own happiness and self-care while you go through a program like this will make you that much more successful for sure.”