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Melissa “Lissa” (Hollis) Borders of Niles (’03) never intended to become a nurse. She thought it was “gross.”

Today, she’s a pediatric critical care transport nurse who has been with Beacon Health System for 22 years.

Her cousin, Chris Smith, is administrative support coordinator for SMC’s Office of Academic Affairs. Another cousin, on the other side of the family, always wanted to be a nurse and worked for years as a CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant).

Coming out of Galien High School in 1992, “My original plan was to become a marine biologist,” Borders said. “I was going to get my prerequisites through SMC and transfer to Florida State, but I was young and ‘in love’ so that didn’t work out as planned. I worked for several years at a local credit union doing mortgages.”

Her daughter was in the NICU when she was born. Borders relied heavily on the nurses.

“They made what was by far the most difficult time of my life bearable,” she said. “When we were being discharged, one of the nurses asked me if I was a nurse. At that time I had absolutely no medical knowledge whatsoever and to this day I have no idea why she asked me that question, but it got me thinking.

“When my daughter was 3 months old, I enrolled in my first class. This time I was ready and wanted to succeed. Just in case you are wondering, my daughter is completely fine and my cousin never did go to nursing school.”

Borders originally went to SMC straight from Galien “because I thought it was what I was ‘supposed to do,’ but soon learned it was not the right path for me at that time. I did poorly and was not dedicated so I quit after one semester. I started classes again in 2000. At that time I lived in Buchanan with my now ex-husband and two very small kids. 

“Out of high school, it was close to home and I did not want to go far away. In 2000, I chose SMC because of its reputation of having one of the best nursing schools in the area.  I have many friends, some who are like family, who have graduated from SMC throughout the years, and it just so happened that my high school best friend and I graduated together, but she went into a different field.”

Associate nursing at Memorial Hospital

During school, Borders worked in Memorial Hospital’s post-partum unit. 

“At that time they had ‘associate nurses,’ which were basically nursing students. On the post-partum unit, I was allowed to carry my own patient load and care for healthy moms and babies. I did have an RN that I worked under should I have any questions or needs but I was considered the patient's nurse. 

“I thought this area would help prepare me for after graduation when I wanted to work as a labor and delivery nurse, however, I ended up discovering that I did not want to go into that area.  So I took a position in the Intermediate Care Unit, aka the ICU step-down unit.  This was a great floor to learn how to be a nurse.  It taught me time management and critical thinking skills.

“I do wish more new nurses would take the time to develop their skills on a med/surg type unit.  I left there and went to the ER for the next seven years.  From there I worked in Interventional Radiology for about a year.  Following that I went to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and gradually transitioned over to the pediatric critical care transport team which is where I have been for about 10 years.

Borders added her RN bachelor’s degree from Goshen College in 2011.

“A friend and co-worker decided to get her bachelor’s degree and asked if I would go with her so we could take turns driving,” she said. “We went to Goshen College one night a week for 19 months.

LAI degree provides more options

In 2023, she earned her master’s degree in nursing leadership, analytics and innovation (LAI) from the University of Michigan.

“Obtaining my master's degree from the U of M is the degree I am the most proud of,” Borders said. “Looking back, I wish I had gone away to college and had the full college experience but I can’t change that now. I always said that when my kids were grown I was going to obtain my master's, so when the LAI master's became available as an online program I jumped on it.  As a lifelong Wolverine fan, I didn’t think becoming a U of M graduate was ever going to be possible.

“The LAI degree provides more options. As a nurse, innovation is near and dear to my heart and good leadership is something I have strong feelings about. I feel that the leader sets the tone of the department both negative and positive. I am wanting to find a job as an administrator or Director of Nursing (DON). My degree allows me to fit into a managerial position, like a unit manager, director, DON or administrator. I am also qualified to work in informatics, however that is not a field that interests me. I am hoping to find a job working with the very young or very old.”

Her 22 years at Beacon don’t include a seven-month period when she left to become a home infusion nurse.

What does a transport nurse do?

“When I say ‘transport nurse’ it is very common for people to assume that means in a helicopter. My mode of transportation is an ambulance, however, I do fly when I am needed, which isn’t very often.

“I have been a pediatric critical care transport nurse for more than 10 years. As an ER nurse, I always looked up to the pediatric transport team and aspired to become one eventually. Seeing them walk through the doors sent a feeling of relief through us all. Memorial Hospital is the only hospital in northwest Indiana that has a PICU and pediatric unit. 

“Since COVID, many hospitals have even closed their general pediatric units. Our team is the only critical care transport team specializing in pediatrics in northern Indiana as well. We work 24-hour shifts, staffed with a nurse, paramedic, and basic EMT as a driver, and when needed, we grab a respiratory therapist to take with us. We do have a living space in the hospital where we can rest on downtime. 

“When we start our shift, we check our ambulance to make sure we have all our supplies and medications. We check all our equipment to make sure everything is working properly, including our ambulance. Daily we attend the PICU rounds, provide any needed assistance on the pediatric/PICU units, provide IV assistance throughout the hospital and respond to all pediatric emergencies throughout the hospital including the ER

“When a patient needs to be transferred to our facility, we are dispatched to go get them.  When we get there, we assess the patient and can provide any care needed to stabilize for transport. We have protocols we are allowed to follow for care and if needed, we will communicate with the pediatric intensivist.  Our transports can be to another hospital 15 minutes away or two hours away.

“When a patient requires resources that Beacon is unable to provide, we transport them to larger facilities in Indy, Chicago, Fort Wayne, even Ann Arbor. We average about two transports a day which, as you can imagine, can be anywhere from an hour to eight hours from start to finish. We are allowed to sleep if we are not needed, but we must always be ready to transport a kiddo at any time within our 24-hour shift. In our downtime, we do have required education to complete and occasionally have PR events we attend.”

Borders taught at SMC as an adjunct in 2011-12 under Janie Stephenson.

“I was working fulltime in the ER at that time, which allowed me to schedule around clinical days with students. During that period, my family went through a lot of changes and I felt like I needed to be home more, so I had to stop teaching and even change jobs, going to IR so I would be home every night.

“Teaching as an adjunct required a lot of time outside of the hospital and I needed that time back to focus on my family. I taught the second semester med/surg at Lakeland in St. Joe.

The coroner’s office

At one time, Borders was a reserve deputy coroner for St. Joseph County, Ind.

“I was unable to dedicate fulltime hours to work as one of the core deputy coroners. I provided them with a schedule of my availability along with trying to cover times when others were unavailable,” she said. “I attended a 40-hour Medicolegal Death Investigators Course with a required certification test and annual educational hours.

“Our nine-member coroner team worked in pairs of two at scenes so I would meet my partner at a death scene and our job was to establish the cause and manner of death, identification and body removal for the decedent. A death scene can be anywhere, at any time, and involve anything, as you can imagine. This job required a lot of investigative skills. Our team worked well together because it was made up of retired police officers, a mortician, paramedics and nurses. We were all able to provide the needed insight into our chosen specialties. I maintained my certification until this June, when I decided I would no longer be needing it.

“This job was by far the most interesting job I have had.  It allowed me to see things from a different perspective which I believe allowed me to apply an additional amount of empathy to patients and families. In Indiana, the coroner is an elected position. The man I worked under lost the election, which meant our team lost their jobs as well.”

Her husband is a South Bend fireman/paramedic who recently achieved his lifelong dream of becoming a pilot. They have been married for 12 years and have four children between them. 

“My son is 26, served in the Army for 5 ½ years, and now lives in Myrtle Beach attending Coastal Carolina University and studying marine biology — I live vicariously through him!. My daughter is 24 and married to a great man who is a Notre Dame police officer. They have a soon-to-be 1-year-old baby girl who is the light of our lives. What everyone says about becoming a grandparent is true beyond measure! My oldest stepson is almost 21 and attends IU Bloomington studying criminal psychology. He graduated from the IU police academy. His ultimate goal is to become an FBI profiler. My youngest stepson is 17 and has yet to figure out what he wants to become.  He has another year before he finishes high school so he has a little bit of time. My mother lives within 10 minutes of us and she is a large part of our lives. I also have family scattered throughout the Niles/Buchanan/Galien/Three Oaks area.  My husband, who is from New Carlisle, likes to joke that I am related to all of southwest Michigan because we can’t go anywhere without running into one of my relatives. I wouldn’t have it any other way!”

“Besides spending every possible second with my granddaughter, my husband and I have a travel trailer and love to camp,” Borders said. “We have a group we go camping with every summer. Next year we are expanding our borders and all going to Mexico together! I also like to travel when I can get away. My husband and I went to Punta Cana (Dominican Republic) in February and my mom and I went down to Myrtle Beach in May to see my son. My mom, godmother and I are also going to Texas in September to visit a family friend. It's always nice to get away.”

 Most of her SMC memories involve stress. 

“Nursing school is HARD, as I am sure you have heard before,” Borders said. “During nursing school, I had two very small kids, a husband and a mortgage, so I didn’t have a lot of extra time to spend on campus.

“My favorite aspect of nursing school at SMC is that I met my soul sister there.  We are still best friends today. I finished school a semester before she did so I was able to attend her nursing pinning and pin her. That is a memory I will never forget.”