Nurse uses wisdom gained through difficult experiences to help others

When Maggie Long walks across the stage during MUSC’s Commencement ceremony, she’ll have traveled farther than across the Pacific Ocean and the continental United States to receive her degree. Hers is a journey of self-actualization – marked by loss, trauma and, ultimately, triumph.

“Maybe it will hit me that I finally did this,” said Long, 40, who hails from the rural community of Hau’ula on the Hawaiian Island of Oahu. “When I was a child, my grandfather would send me letters in the mail addressed to ‘Professor Maggie Long’ and ‘Dr. Long.’ He would be proud.”

Long’s fiancé, children, mom and her aunt and uncle from New York City will be present when she is awarded her Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) in the College of Nursing’s Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Program. But it’s also people who won’t be there who have propelled her to the next phase in her life.

Long admits she has not had a traditional path in life. In fact, she said she’s done things “in reverse order,” but she’s convinced that her life experiences prepared her for her role.

Long, one of six children, explained that she had a difficult childhood marked by instability in the home. Her father struggled with alcoholism, and her parents divorced when she was 11.

“My mom did her best,” Long said. “She had a lot of support from resources that she utilized, but the situation was traumatic. I was shy, quiet and did not have an outlet, and I felt a lot of anger.”

She attended Kamehameha Schools, a private school in Honolulu for Native Hawaiian students and, after graduation, entered Hawaii Pacific University with plans to study agriculture. At 18, she took on more than college coursework. She also became a mother, first of one, and then two, children.

She decided to major in nursing. Midway through her collegiate career, her partner died in a car accident, leaving her a single mother at age 21 with a 3-year-old and a 1-year-old.

“I wanted to continue in nursing. I had two young children to raise, and I needed stability. Nursing encompasses a lot. We are teachers, educators, and there is a lot of movement in the field, and I wanted to help people.”

After earning her Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 2008, she moved to Austin, Texas, where she worked on a cardiology unit at Seton Medical Center and enrolled in a graduate residency program for registered nurses.

Two years later, however, the lure of family, mountains and the ocean led her back to Hawaii. She took a job at Queens Medical Center in Honolulu, the largest hospital system in Hawaii and the only Level 1 Trauma Center.

Life was good. Long settled in and was now a mother of five. She loved her job in the emergency room and, based on her experiences as a triage nurse, she decided to pursue advanced training in psychiatric nursing. She had just been accepted into MUSC’s online doctoral nursing program.

Then tragedy struck once more.

 

In May of 2021, Long faced the unimaginable when her youngest child, 2-year-old Avani, passed away in a tragic accident. She arrived at the ER just as the medical team was working to save her daughter. But despite their efforts, Avani could not be revived.

“Losing her shattered everything I thought I knew about life,” Long shared. “In that moment, I realized I had to pause everything and take care of my own mental and emotional healing. I stepped away from work and deferred my admission to MUSC.”

Four years later, Long said her own loss and the time she spent coming to terms with it has deepened her understanding of her patients’ needs.

“Avani is my greatest teacher,” Long said. “Losing her changed me forever. As painful as it was, her passing became a turning point; it led me to face parts of myself and my past that I had long avoided. In many ways, it was the beginning of a deeper journey of healing.”

Long still had one more important lesson in healing coming her way. In the fall of 2023 – during finals week – she moved her father into her home to care for him in his final days. That chapter, too, became part of her journey.

“It brought everything full circle,” she said. “Caring for my dad gave me the space to forgive him and release old pain. Both experiences – losing Avani and saying goodbye to my father – taught me how to meet people where they are, with compassion, at any stage of their lives.”

Long said these experiences have shaped her work in psychiatry, giving her a deeper sense of empathy and allowing her to connect with patients through clinical understanding and lived experience.

Her efforts have not gone unnoticed.

“Maggie has shown incredible resilience,” said Joy Laurer, DNP, APRN, associate professor in the College of Nursing and head of the psychiatric nurse practice program. “She is committed to helping families. As a provider, she will bring a high level of care and understanding to her patients.”

Hannah Robidoux DNP, APRN, said Long demonstrates a strong foundation in trauma-informed care, grief support and psychotherapeutic modalities. “She approaches each clinical encounter with a holistic lens that honors the physical, emotional and spiritual well-being of her patients.”

Long plans to open a practice helping families and individuals of all ages to work through grief and trauma. "I want to help other Native Hawaiians. Our community has endured generations of trauma – from colonization, loss of land and disruptions to our cultural practices to ongoing systemic inequalities. I want to support others in healing and working through these deep-rooted challenges.”

Reflecting on her own challenges that she has overcome, Long said that, as an adult, she has realized that there really is no normal. “Over time, I’ve realized that life isn’t linear. There’s a quiet wisdom in learning to dance with life, to surrender to its rhythm as it flows, and to find grace in its ever-changing pulse.”