In Honor Of National Nurses Week: Celebs Who Were Nurses - Page 2

This week is Nurses Week and to honor some of the hardest working men and women in medicine, we take a look at celebrities who started their careers in nursing and other medical professions before becoming famous.

Kim Zolciak

For five seasons she was one of Bravo’s “Real Housewives of Atlanta” and we watched her go from a single mother of two to become a football wife with four more children. Kim Zolciak credits Nene Leakes and RHOA for changing her life because she met her future husband Kroy Biermann through the show. But before she moved down to Atlanta to begin life anew, Zolciak was actually a nurse. She studied and received her degree from the University of Connecticut.

Bonnie Hunt

Throughout her career in Hollywood, Bonnie Hunt has done it all. The Cheaper by the Dozen actress has also worn the hat of a writer, director, producer and even hosted her own daytime television show. But before she moved out west to conquer Hollywood, the Chicago native worked as an oncology nurse at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in her hometown. Most recently Hunt lent her voice to the animated 2013 film Monsters University.

Tina Turner

She started out as Anna Mae Bullock from the small town of Nutbush, Tennessee but she became known to the world as Tina Turner. Before she left her hometown on the arms of manager-turned-husband Ike Turner with dreams of becoming an international star, Turner worked as a nurse’s aid at a local hospital. She originally dreamed of being a nurse but her singing career began to take off and the rest is history.

Naomi Judd

Before Naomi Judd and her daughter Wynonna Judd made it big as country’s most famous mother-daughter singing duo, she was a single mother struggling to raise two daughters on her own. Judd divorced her first husband shortly after having her second daughter Ashley and put herself through nursing school in order to provide for her family. As The Judds, Naomi and Wynonna  sold over 20 million albums before their career was halted when Naomi was diagnosed with Hepatitis C.

Kate Gosselin

Raising no ordinary family, Jon and Kate Gosselin were first introduced to reality television on NBC’s “Home Delivery,” chronicling the renovation of their home to fit the size of their eight children. Following a couple of specials on Discovery Health, the family landed its own show with “Jon and Kate Plus Eight.” Before she gave birth to the sextuplets, Kate worked as a labor and delivery nurse at Reading Hospital in PA. After she divorced Jon, the show turned into “Kate Plus Eight” for another two seasons before it finally went off of the air.

Robin Quivers

Robin Quivers has been shock jock Howard Stern’s right-hand sidekick in the early days before the show was hugely successful. When Stern signed a blockbuster deal to go from terrestrial radio to satellite’s Siruis, Quivers made the move with him. After graduating from the University of Maryland with a degree in nursing, Quivers worked as a nurse at Maryland Shock Trauma facility. She then signed up for the Air Force and was discharged after earning the rank of Captain. After going back to school for broadcasting, Quivers got a job in radio and was soon paired with Stern in 1981.

Mayim Bialik

She got her first job in Hollywood at the age of eight and by the time she was 15, Mayim Bialik was starring in two television pilots. In 1995, the sitcom “Blossom” took off and Bialik became a teen idol. After the show ended, she enrolled in UCLA and continued her education until she earned a PhD in neuroscience. Making a return to television, Bialik has introduced herself to a new generation as Dr. Amy Fowler in CBS’ “The Big Bang Theory.”

Paul Brandt

He may be from Canada but Paul Brandt certainly knows country music and is one of their brightest stars. Born up north and raised in Calgary, Brandt’s demo tape made its way into the hands of the right people at Warner Music. He got his big break while still employed as a pediatric RN. But his first single “My Heart Has A History” changed everything for Brandt after it became a number one hit in Canada. Since then he’s gone on to drop numerous number one albums and started his own record label.

And a few stars who practiced medicine…

Ken Jeong

When “The Hangover” was released in 2009, it cleaned up at the box office and spawned two sequels. Ken Jeong stole the show as Mr. Chow. But before he starred in the blockbuster hit, Jeong honed his craft as a stand-up comedian while completing his residency in internal medicine at a medical center in New Orleans. He snagged a few television roles before appearing in Judd Apatow’s Knocked Up. Jeong also plays the kooky Ben Chang on NBC’s “Community.”

Emeli Sande

British singer/songwriter Emeli Sande has penned songs for some of music’s biggest names including Rihanna and Leona Lewis. Simon Cowell called her his “favorite songwriter at the moment” in 2010 and she scored a publishing deal before announcing her record deal with Virgin Records. But before she made it as a star, Sande was studying medicine at the University of Glasgow. Although she dropped out in the fourth year, Sande has said education was one of the most important things to her and if her music career failed, she had an education to fall back on.

Harry Hill

British comedian Harry Hill has been more comfortable in front of the microphone than holding a scalpel in his hands. Before he made audiences laugh, Hill was training in neurosurgery at the University of London. However, he gave up practicing medicine because he “didn’t feel in control of what was happening.” Hill jumped into radio then transitioned to television as a presenter of a slew of shows in addition to hosting his own show “Harry Hill’s TV Burp” on ITV.

Jenny McCarthy

We watch her as the co-host of ABC’s “The View” five days a week now. Jenny McCarthy has always had a personality more suitable for television than nursing. The former Playmate of the Year has made a career for herself by speaking her mind and after hosting numerous television specials and writing a couple of best seller books, McCarthy snagged a seat at the table alongside Barbara Walters and Whoopi Goldberg. But originally McCarty was studying nursing and psychology at the Southern Illinois University but had to drop out due to her finances. Her lack of funds led to McCarthy posing for Playboy and she’s never looked back.