RNmen - Craig Copelin

Although the final decision to take the leap into nursing school was the direct result of his wife's surgery, even as a child Craig had thought about becoming a nurse. He remembers seeing men who portrayed nurses on television. “You are not going to believe this,” Copelin says, “but I remember considering nursing as a career while others were thinking about fire fighting.”

When Craig was older, he took a job as a snow groomer for the Santa Fe Ski Area making snow and driving a snow cat. During that season, Copelin met another male RN who groomed snow for relaxation. In retrospect, he thinks meeting that nurse kept his mind open to the prospect of becoming an RN later in life. As time went by, it was the shear flexibility of the profession that continued to draw him in.

“I was very intrigued to hear that anesthesia was an option as a field of practice for an RN. Once I started looking into nursing as a career, I was pleased to hear about the flexible scheduling and the opportunities to help others.” Copelin continues, “I have to say nursing fulfills my desire to please myself and help others at the same time. I cannot think of many professions that could provide the same sense of satisfaction for me.”

Craig Copelin now advises other men to consider the field of nursing as a career.
“Being a nurse is much more than I had imagined it to be before I became one. Even in nursing school, I did not understand or begin to comprehend the wonderful world of nursing.”

Craig remarks that nursing can bring enjoyment and sadness all in the same day.
“Sometimes during my time working in the trauma ICU, I used to feel weird that my best day at work was usually the worst day of someone’s life. Upon reflection though, I came to realize that those same suffering individuals are probably very glad that RN’s are willing to be there for them in their time of need.”

Craig Copelin is a 35-year-old CRNA with a Masters Degree in anesthesia from Georgetown University. Craig works for Sinai Hospital in Baltimore and is married to Katarzyna Miska, a research biologist from Cracow, Poland.

In 1993, Kate had a spontaneous pneumothrax requiring her to undergo a thoracotomy to correct the collapsed lung. “During the preoperative period, we met with a Nurse Anesthetist who impressed me a great deal,” Craig says. “I asked so many questions that the CRNA finally told me to just go to school. He was a very nice person and definitely inspired me to pursue my own path to becoming a CRNA.”

A self-described serious rock climber for 18 years now, Copelin says that being a CRNA allows him to pursue this passion without jeopardizing his career. “I have traveled the globe in pursuit of climbing. Did I mention that nursing offers extreme flexibility in scheduling?”

Copelin climbs indoors two or three times a week at a climbing gym in Baltimore, but at least once a month, he gets away to climb on real rocks. For the last two months, Craig has been heading out to the Desert Southwest to climb. What other career would allow him to do that?

In addition to rock climbing, Craig Copelin has a passion for photography. Craig started taking pictures as a teenager, but it wasn’t until he bought his first digital camera in 2001 that his photographic skill began to blossom. It was having the ability to take a shot, immediately critique it, make corrections and then set up the next shot that turned the amateur photographer into an artist. He has since sold all of his film cameras and gone fully digital. The results have been amazing.

RNmen.com is proud to feature a gallery of Craig Copelin’s work on this web site. Don’t miss the opportunity to experience these incredible photographs.