Jonathan Urroz’s Time at Mount Marty Comes Full Circle

To Jonathan Urroz '21, Mount Marty was a special place long before he stepped on its campus for his bachelor's degree in nursing. Now, Urroz is excited to return to where his nursing career all started as he joins the Mount Marty Doctorate of Nurse Anesthesia Practice (DNAP) program starting in the summer of 2025. 

When Urroz first started looking at universities to attain his degree in nursing, his mother proposed the idea of Mount Marty College as she and her family lived in Yankton in 1979 when her family fled Vietnam after the Vietnam War. His mother and her family were originally war refugees in Indonesia before being sponsored to the United States by the Sacred Heart Monastery. “When my grandfather, grandmother, mother, two aunts and two uncles arrived in Yankton, they did not speak a word of English and were scared because of the new life they would have to adapt to,” said Urroz. “However, they were welcomed with open arms by the monastery and everyone in Yankton. The monastery took them in, gave them a home, and treated them with love, kindness, warmth and compassion. What started off to them as just strangers quickly became like a family in which they would never forget.” 

The sisters offered them a place to stay before moving them into a home near the monastery. The sisters helped Urroz’s mother and her siblings with homework after school and taught them English and the Benedictine values and hallmarks. “The Benedictine values that were shown to my mother’s family when they first came to the United States I could feel when I first stepped foot onto Mount Marty’s campus. During my tour, I knew then that this was where I wanted to pursue my nursing education. The staff, students and community all were friendly and welcoming. This was a place where I knew I would be able to be given a quality education in a community where I would be able to build long-lasting and meaningful relationships.” Urroz said he will never forget the supportive relationships he found with the nursing faculty. “They definitely had a huge influence on me in where I am today, and for that, I am forever grateful.” His advice to other nursing students is to take advantage of all the opportunities the nursing program offers. 

After graduating from Mount Marty University with a bachelor’s in nursing, Urroz started his nursing career as a medical-surgical nurse at Zuckerberg SF General Hospital and Trauma Center in San Francisco, California, a level-one trauma center. He worked on that unit full-time for a year and a half before transitioning to the intensive care unit (ICU) at Sutter Health Mills-Peninsula Medical Center. Urroz still works part-time with the medical-surgical unit where his nursing journey began.

Urroz is immensely grateful for his position in the ICU and the opportunity to follow his dreams. “In my mixed-specialty ICU, we take care of neuro, medical, surgical and cardiovascular surgery patients. I’ve been able to gain a wide variety of experience with high acuity patients, post-op heart patients, advanced hemodynamic monitoring, and devices such as CRRT, Impella and IABP,” said Urroz. He said he truly appreciates working in a team setting and collaborating with others to ensure the highest quality of care for his patients. Urroz serves on the Skin Care and Pressure Injury Prevention Committee as vice-chairman and takes pride in responding to emergencies as a rapid response/code nurse.

Now, Urroz is taking his nursing career to the next level to assist even more patients as he joins the Mount Marty DNAP program. Urroz knew the program was for him because he learned from his experience with his bachelor’s degree that he would get a high-quality education from an institution that cares for its students and desires for them to pass along the Benedictine hallmarks to all they encounter. “I’ve been told many times by patients that my care was incredibly meaningful to them, and this I can confidently say is due to my upbringing as a nurse in nursing school; it is due to those Mount Marty and Benedictine values that allow me to provide care that goes beyond the bedside. … I know that once I’m done with the DNAP program, I’ll truly be prepared to take on the role of a certified registered nurse anesthetist and continue to make a difference in the lives of others.”

Urroz said it feels like coming home knowing he can attain his DNAP degree from where his nursing journey began.

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About Mount Marty University

Founded in 1936 by the Sisters of Sacred Heart Monastery, Mount Marty University is South Dakota's only Catholic, Benedictine institution of higher education. Located along the bluffs of the Missouri River in Yankton, with additional locations in Watertown and Sioux Falls, Mount Marty offers undergraduate and graduate degrees focusing on student and alumni success in high-demand fields such as health sciences, education, criminal justice, business, accounting, recreation management, and more. A community of learners in the Benedictine tradition, Mount Marty emphasizes academic excellence and develops well-rounded students with intellectual competence, professional and personal skills and moral, spiritual and social values. To learn more, visit mountmarty.edu.