In 1990-1993 while living in Malawi, Africa, Nora was driving behind a bus loaded with families when it tragically slipped over the edge, rolling over and seriously injuring many of the passengers. Helpless in the moment and emotionally impacted by the event, Nora returned to the United States to become a nurse so that she could help others in a time of medical need.

Nora went on to graduate from Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) with an RN degree. She started her professional nursing career with Community Health in Kokomo, Indiana.

Working 5 pm-5 am shifts, and later 5 am-5 pm shifts, plus every other weekend began to take a toll on Nora’s family life. As a single mother of three, she was challenged to keep her life in balance. Arriving home as the children were leaving for school, and then leaving for work as the children were coming home from school, Nora was determined to find a better solution. She switched to the day shift, believing this would improve the situation, only to learn it was difficult to find a daycare that opened at 4 am. Frequently finding herself needing two sets of daycare to handle the hours, she began to seek out a nurse staffing agency to provide flexibility for her family.

In June of 2000, at 1 am while working for an agency, Nora received a call from the County Coroner saying that there had been a shooting and she needed to come and identify the body. Nora’s 13-year-old son was spending the night with his cousin and the two boys, unbeknownst to Nora, decided to spend the night with a friend of the cousin. Nora called the night shift supervisor at the hospital and asked the supervisor to cover the balance of the shift. The supervisor agreed to finish her shift, then she called her agency employer to inform them she would be leaving. As Nora was preparing to leave the unit she received a call from the owner of the agency saying she could not leave! The owner informed her that the shift was the agency’s responsibility and they would lose the money if she didn’t finish the shift. Regardless of the death, she was expected to stay. Shocked at the response, Nora told the owner she was leaving and it would be her last day with the agency.

Tragically it was her nephew who had lost his life. From that moment forward, Nora decided to start her own staffing agency, and Assured Nursing, Inc. was formed. She wanted to give nurses a balance between work and family — the flexibility to live a more fulfilled life. The business would be driven, not by profits, but by compassion and dedication to the nurses and facilities with whom she works.

Over the next year, Nora worked to establish the business, employed as a nurse three days a week, and spending the other days marketing Assured Nursing. She landed her first contract by working as a hospital nurse in Indiana and recruiting nurses for Assured Nursing in the evenings and weekends.