For Dana Hubbard, nursing wasn’t a lifelong plan. It was something she found and then grew to love deeply. More than two decades later, that calling has shaped not only her own career, but her daughter’s as well.
At Chippenham Hospital, Dana now serves as director of critical care. Just a few floors away, her daughter Arin Hubbard works as a registered nurse in the Levinson Heart Institute. Their roles are different, their paths uniquely their own—but their connection to patients, and to each other, runs through every shift.
And in many cases, through the very same patients.
From accident to purpose
Dana’s journey into nursing began almost by chance.
“Nursing was really an accident,” she said. “It wasn’t something I always dreamed of doing. But it’s something that really grew in me, this desire to serve people.”
Over time, that sense of purpose found a focus. When Dana was a teenager, her father underwent open heart surgery — a moment that would shape her future.
“Seeing him go through that, and the care he received, it stuck with me,” she said. “Cardiac care became my passion.”
That passion has defined her career. Across more than 20 years with HCA Healthcare, including time at multiple hospitals and a return to Chippenham Hospital in 2020 just before the COVID-19 pandemic, Dana has remained rooted in cardiac and critical care nursing.
Growing up in the hospital
For Arin, nursing wasn’t exactly the dream growing up.
“I actually didn’t want to be a nurse,” she said, laughing.
But hospitals were a constant presence in her childhood. Dana often worked night shifts, and mornings sometimes meant being dropped off at the hospital before school. Over time, Arin and her sibling became familiar faces — so familiar, in fact, they could navigate the halls on their own.
“You’d see two little kids with backpacks walking through the hospital,” Dana recalled. “They knew exactly where to go.”
Those early experiences left a mark, even if it took time to surface.
“I always knew I wanted to help people,” Arin said. “I just wasn’t sure how.”
She explored other paths from radiology and physical therapy to dance, which she pursued for years. But while completing science prerequisites and working in hospital registration, something clicked.
“That’s when I realized, maybe this is what I’m supposed to do,” she said.
Finding her own path
Even as Arin chose nursing, Dana was intentional about giving her space to grow independently.
“I didn’t want her to feel like she had to follow my footsteps,” Dana said. “And I definitely didn’t want her to be compared to me.”
Arin considered working elsewhere for that very reason.
“As a new nurse, you think about going somewhere no one knows your name,” she said. “Starting fresh.”
But ultimately, she felt drawn back to the same system and the same hospital community where she had grown up. Now, in her role at Levinson Heart Institute, Arin prepares patients for major surgeries — often some of the most anxious moments in their lives.
“A lot of patients are nervous,” she said. “For some, it’s their first time in the hospital. I just try to make them as comfortable as possible.”
That often means something simple but powerful: connection.
“It’s really important to me that they see their family before surgery,” she said. “Even just holding their hand, explaining what’s going to happen. It makes a difference.”
A unique full-circle moment
At Chippenham Hospital, Dana and Arin’s work intersects in a way few families experience.
Arin prepares cardiac and thoracic patients for surgery. Dana oversees the critical care units where many of those same patients recover.
“Pretty much every day, we’re connected through patients,” Dana said.
Sometimes, patients make the connection themselves.
“They’ll say, ‘You look like the nurse upstairs,’” Dana said. “And then it clicks.”
Other times, the connection becomes something more meaningful.
“I’ve had patients tell me how kind she was, how she held their hand before surgery,” Dana said. “That means everything.”
For Arin, it adds another layer of accountability and pride.
“I can tell my patients exactly how well they’ll be taken care of when they go upstairs,” she said. “Because I know firsthand.”
Nurse, mentor, mom
Working in the same hospital has also created a unique dynamic between them.
“There are times we have to stop and ask — are you talking to me as my mom, or as a nurse?” Arin said.
That balance has proven valuable. Dana offers leadership perspective; Arin brings the day-to-day reality of bedside care.
“We learn from each other,” Arin said. “We see things differently sometimes, and that helps.”
And then there are the quieter moments — sharing lunch when schedules allow, catching up between shifts, or simply knowing the other is nearby.
“It’s been a real joy,” Dana said.
A legacy of care
Looking back, Dana can trace her career from a moment in her teens to decades of caring for cardiac patients. Now, she sees that same compassion reflected in her daughter.
“She has such a good heart,” Dana said. “She’s a great nurse. And when patients recognize that, it’s just an incredible feeling.”
For Arin, the path may not have been planned, but it feels right.
And at Chippenham Hospital, their shared story is more than a family connection. It’s a reminder of what nursing is at its core: service, compassion, and the quiet, powerful impact of showing up for others day after day.
Especially when it runs in the family.