Officers of the National Association of Hispanic Nurses, Georgia Chapter, are, from left, Evelinn Suarez, RN, BSN, secretary; Paul Ocón, RN, MPA, president; Juan Irizarry, LPN, treasurer; and Aura Urdaneta, RN, vice president.

Hispanic nurses are invited to get in on the ground floor of the Georgia chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Nurses.

"When I heard that you only needed five members to start a chapter, I looked around at my own hospital and realized we had enough to start one right here," said Paul Ocón, RN, MPA, and recently elected president. "We started meeting in February with about 16 individuals from various hospitals, have looked at by-laws, dues and goals and elected officers. We're well on our way and working toward being presented as a new chapter at the national meetings in July."

As the director of critical care services at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite, Ocón is used to connecting the dots between staff, patients and families.

"My role is to help support the PICU, neonatal and TDICU units. I walk the halls to connect the dots between resources and needs," he said. Connecting the dots between the health care system and the growing Hispanic population in Georgia is one goal of the founding members of the association.

"There are government resources to help Hispanics get health care services, but it's not always easy to get the word out to the population," Ocón said. "If we can give better health care to one sector of the population, that's better for our communities as a whole."

With the influence of the Hispanic population growing, he sees the group networking to support one another and to broaden basic understanding of the cultural differences within the health care arena. Another goal is to help nurses who have worked in other countries find employment here.

"Because of the language and licensure barriers, many nurses feel like they can't pass the boards," Ocón said. "We can help them with the process, locate ESOL classes, run tutorials to get them ready for the boards and facilitate citizenship."

The group also plans to sponsor scholarships and to educate and mentor Hispanic youth interested in the health care field.

"My parents came to L.A. from Mexico. I have five brothers and two sisters, and believe me, no one in my family had me pegged as a nurse," Ocón said. He started college on an engineering scholarship, but soon found pre-med to be a better fit. In his junior year, a counselor convinced him to get his degree in nursing.

"I thought I'd work for a while to support my family and then go on to med school," he said, "but once I started practicing, I never looked back. I got into the leadership side about 10 years ago and I've never regretted it." The jokes and the stereotypes of being a male nurse rarely faze Ocón.

"No one is going to razz you like your family, and with seven siblings, I've heard it all," he said. "If you like what you do, it doesn't matter. "At the core of nursing is caring and the pride that you are doing purposeful work."

Licensed practical nurses, registered nurses and nursing students are encouraged to join the Georgia Chapter of NAHN. For information, contact Ocón at 404-785-5042 or paul.ocon@choa.org.

The NAHN Web site is www.thehispanicnurses.org.