Celebrities You Didn’t Know Were Qualified Nurses

It’s amazing just how multi-talented some of our favorite celebrities are. What’s even more fascinating is just how many household names hav...

It’s amazing just how multi-talented some of our favorite celebrities are. What’s even more fascinating is just how many household names have second careers and passions! Beyond that, there are plenty of stars out there who are fully trained in more than just being public faces. Did you know that there are some big names who have full nursing qualifications?

It takes a lot to create a look, to be the face of a movie franchise, and to win big at the Grammys. However, training to be a nurse, and assisting people with healthcare demands, takes a different kind of spirit.

Many people head into nurse practitioner programs before or after they’ve had a big hit or two! In fact, online programs through bodies such as Wilkes University are helping all kinds of people find the time to train up and help others.

Here are some celebrities you may not know are trained nurses, and who have gone above and beyond to support people.

Paul Brandt

Country music star Paul Brandt didn’t always make a living from being a singer. In fact, until 1996, he worked as a pediatric nurse. It was Brandt’s family connections to the healthcare industry that introduced him to the work.

While he would eventually split away from healthcare to take on the country charts, Brandt found his time in the industry enlightening “You are constantly learning,” he states, having spent much of his time at Alberta Children’s Hospital.

Bonnie Hunt

Legendary comedy star Bonnie Hunt is, of course, best known for her Hollywood turns in some of the best-loved movies of the past 30 years. She’s best known to many as a regular voice actor with Pixar, but she’s also turned her hand to writing and directing over the years.

However, did you know that she was once an oncology nurse? Working at Northwestern Memorial, she worked the wards in the early 80s before finding stardom on the big screen later in the decade. She is one of many multi-talented Tinseltown stars who have hidden qualifications.

Tina Turner

Tina Turner is another legendary name in entertainment who actually has some experience in healthcare. Balancing a career between working in hospital wards and singing in clubs, Turner’s star is only so well-known thanks to her enduring effort.

Turner has also worked as a hospital aide as well as a domestic worker, meaning she has more than a little experience in supporting people, as well as providing entertainment to millions.

Naomi Judd

Naomi Judd was, of course, one-half of the iconic country music duo The Judds, but her background hasn’t always been in popular music. In fact, in her early 20s, she studied to become a nurse, inspired by family tragedy.

Judd worked specifically as an ICU nurse until she was encouraged by a hospital patient to take up an audition. However, tragically, it is her time in ICU that led to her early retirement from music. Judd developed Hepatitis C from an old needle injury.

This led Judd to set up her own fund and charity to help improve knowledge and education surrounding the condition.

Kathryn Joosten

Perhaps best known for her turns in The West Wing as Dolores Landingham and as Karen McCluskey in Desperate Housewives, Kathryn Joosten worked as a qualified nurse long before she started a career in acting.

Specifically, Joosten worked at Michael Reese in Chicago, where she served in a psychiatric capacity. Joosten is one of those faces you’ll have seen across US TV for many years. She sadly passed away in 2012.

Alberta Hunter

Alberta Hunter is a famous name from the world of jazz, having made her mark on the genre during its ‘big boom’ between the 1920s and 1950s. Hunter also qualified and worked as a nurse, but her journey between the two careers is what’s most interesting.

Hunter worked for around three decades as a jazz singer but trained and worked in healthcare following her mother’s passing in the late 1950s. It was then that she would work as a nurse until at least 1977. Beyond that, Hunter actually returned to music.

Not many people can say they took a break in a singing career to work in healthcare. Hunter made a huge success in both career paths, which makes her particularly inspirational.

Adrian Holmes

Adrian Holmes is a prolific actor who actively worked as a nurse before taking on roles on both big and small screens. Holmes, born in Wales, actually entered the healthcare industry in Vancouver before he made a break into big name shows such as Arrow, Supernatural and 19-2, from which he won awards.

Holmes has always aspired to act and he took up nursing as something of a secondary career. While the actor’s career on film and TV has been varied in itself, his nursing career saw a lot of versatility, too. He worked extensively in spinal units as well as obstetrics.

Julie Walters

Julie Walters, best known as British big screen royalty (thanks to franchises such as Harry Potter and Mamma Mia), had actually started out as a nurse early on in life. It was an experience while training on the job that convinced Dame Julie to train towards a different career. She’d initially taken up nursing on the advice of her mother.

However, it was acting that always inspired her the most, and as a result, she left healthcare to pursue a screen career instead.

Balancing Nursing and Stardom

Nursing is a career that takes a lot of heart, a lot of passion, and plenty of confidence. The stars in this list have shown they not only care about turning in a great performance, but for looking after those in need of critical healthcare support.

Some celebrities go under the knife, while others work on the other side. It really is fascinating to learn about the career changes some stars have made, and it’s all the more credit to their talents.