<iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-TJCKC2" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe> A Day in the Life with Jade Nicholas | Drexel Online

For a better experience, click the Compatibility Mode icon above to turn off Compatibility Mode, which is only for viewing older websites.

  • Drexel University Online’s Digital Drag Blog – The Digital Dragon logo

    Drexel University Online News, Events & More

  • A Day in the Life with Drexel Grad Jade Nicholas

    Monday, October 02, 2017

    Jade Nicholas lives a dual life. By day she’s a lead technician for central supply at Freeman Hospital’s West Campus in Missouri. By night, however, she’s a fixture at the Joplin Little Theatre (JLT), the “longest continuously running community theatre west of the Mississippi.”

    Nicholas received her MS in Arts Administration online from Drexel University, which she put to good use as the directing chair of JLT’s 2016-17 theatre season. In an interview for a local paper, Nicholas credits her Drexel classes with inspiring her idea to let the audience choose which productions the company would offer, a novel approach the theatre had never tried.

    Now that her season as chairman is over, Nicholas continues to be involved in the theatre, both as a member of the directing staff and by auditioning for roles in upcoming productions. Her degree helps her to better pursue her passion for the theatre while still maintaining her day job. Below, Nicholas describes a typical day in her life.



    “One of the most important things to start off my day is coffee! While drinking the sweet nectar of life, I look through and respond to my emails for my personal account, JLT account and my Drexel account. After that, I don my scrubs and drive to Freeman Hospital for my work day to begin.”



    “First thing I do after clocking in is check on the amount of stock we've received for the day (12 pages) and check on its status in the department's breakout room. This room is where the stock from Purchasing is counted, verified, broken down and prepared to enter the sterile field of Central Supply (CS). Here I am confirming with my colleague Chantel that a product we received from Purchasing is an approved substitute for a product we normally stock.”



    “In CS, I check the schedule to see who all is working on the day and evening shifts and write their names on our communication board. I then write down their assigned duties that need to be accomplished to get stock finished and keep the front desk caught up.”



    “With the Purchase Order report, I go through inventory to count each item that appears. With this information, I confirm that the quantity is correctly listed in our program, make any necessary corrections to the counts and then decide whether each item needs to be ordered or not. I fill out my decisions on the Purchase Order report and email it to Purchasing so that they can put the orders through to our various suppliers.”



    “Once 3:00 p.m. rolls around, it’s time for me to print the schedule of surgeries that the Operating Room will be performing the following day. I then highlight and organize all surgery picklists and divide them into piles for the evening shift crew to pull. Today there are 38 scheduled cases to pull.”



    “After stock is completed and cases are ready to be pulled, I write tasks down on the communication board to be completed once the crew has finished with the cases. Today, I gathered the evening crew for a pow wow to let them know about some changes to products they needed to be aware of and to remind them about some CS best practices.”



    “After work, it is back home to get dressed up for auditions at Joplin Little Theatre. These auditions are for JLT's 78th season opener: Heathers the Musical. I specifically bought this lip color ‘Blackmail’ with the show's subject matter as an inspiration.”



    “After a few deep breaths, I enter Joplin Little Theatre preparing to give the best audition I can.”



    “I receive my number—37—and audition form. I find a quiet corner to complete the form and focus on staying confident.”



    “The females auditioning take the stage to learn the selection we will sing individually for auditions.”



    “My moment comes. I sing ‘Dead Girl Walking’ with as much gusto and confidence as I can muster for Becki, the director, and her crew.”



    “After auditions conclude, I come home to relax and spend time with my family: my husband Karsten and our dog and cat, Moxie and Dolce respectively.”




  • Share this story via...