She never intended to be a nurse, but a near tragedy changed all that

*First in a series celebrating research nurses during Nurses Week 2025*

Michelle Jurado, MSN, RN, PHN, didn’t intend to become a nurse. She was good with numbers, so she went into finance in the aerospace industry. It was going really well. But then one night at a party, her mom missed a step, fell, and hit her head. 

“She was on the ground,” Michelle said. “And I didn’t know what to do. I felt so helpless.” 

Her mom, who was a nurse, turned out to be fine. But that moment was a turning point for Michelle’s career.  

“I said to myself, I can do something that has more meaning.”  

With the support of her husband, Michelle quit her finance job and went back to school. She already had a bachelor’s degree in business administration. She then added associate and bachelor’s degrees in nursing science. She began working at the Los Angeles County Hospital emergency department. 

“We were taking care of the sickest of the sick, and the poorest of the poor, and I loved it,” she said.  

While Michelle was earning her master’s in nursing science, she discovered her fascination with research. It was a perfect blend of the care she wanted to give, and the business sense she had always had.  

She joined Kaiser Permanente in April 2021 as part of the quality department at the West Los Angeles Medical Center. She transferred to the Department of Research & Evaluation in 2023 to work on the “DetectCID” project focused on improving dementia diagnosis and care. 

Her primary role is to educate patients and their families on cognitive impairment, brain health, and the best ways to communicate and maintain the patient’s independence and safety. Michelle meets with patients and their families when they begin noticing cognitive changes to help measure the loss and to connect them with resources.  

Her best days are those when she can give patients and caregivers and patients the reassurance they need. 

“When people come in, they can feel so much fear and helplessness,” she said. “I get to reassure them that they can still be independent. They just must set things up differently, think about things differently.” 

Having a nurse on the research team helps patients because it is a different model of care than other professions, she said. “We are a trusted professional, and yet caring is inherent in what we do.” 

Michelle has never regretted leaving finance.