By Walter Villa, Special to STU
Dinez Ceballos delivers in the clutch – as a nurse and as an Emmy Award-winner.
Ceballos, a 27-year-old graduate of St. Thomas University’s College of Nursing, was in Orlando on December 7 to receive her Suncoast Emmy. She was one of several nurses who were filmed in the making of a documentary series titled: Labors of Love.
In fact, Ceballos was specifically featured in a Season Two episode called: “The New Kid.”
Ceballos, whose full title is Labor and Delivery Nurse at Jackson North Medical Center, is good at her job – just ask Cindy Silva.
But before we get into why Ceballos helped deliver Silva’s son, let us go back to the beginning of Dinez’ story.
Ceballos’ maiden name is Banos — something she gave up when she got married in March to her high school sweetheart, Christian Alexander Ceballos.
Dinez Ceballos is a South Floridian through and through. She was born in Miramar, raised mostly in Miami, and educated for high school in Broward County at Archbishop McCarthy. She now lives in Davie.
For higher education, Ceballos – who has long dreamed of becoming a nurse — started out at Tallahassee Community College.
However, when she applied to Florida State University’s nursing school, she was rejected due to the fact that her grade-point average was not quite up to FSU’s standards.
That was the first of a few major obstacles that Ceballos had to clear in her life.
After failing to get into FSU, Ceballos returned home and regrouped. Fortunately for everyone involved, she was accepted into STU’s nursing program.
But that acceptance was not the end of Ceballos’ remarkable story. Ceballos struggled with the rigorous STU course work and the strict – but well intentioned – professors.
“They were tough,” Ceballos said, “but it was because they knew that one day we, as nurses, would have the lives of patients in our hands.”
During that time at STU, Ceballos dealt with panic attacks. While taking tests, she would suffer from anxiety, especially when she would see fellow students finish their tests while she was still going through her exam.
That anxiety resulted in Ceballos taking tests alone in a closed room.
School became so difficult that Ceballos was tempted to walk away. But a couple of things kept her from quitting.
For starters, she would envision Graduation Day, knowing the joy that would bring everyone involved, including her family and friends.
Secondly, she focused on actually becoming a nurse and focused on the help she could provide the community.
“I never had a Plan B,” Ceballos said of her nursing-or-bust career plan.
With that sort of determination, it should come as no surprise that Ceballos graduated from STU’s nursing school in May of 2021.
Soon after graduation, Ceballos was hired by Jackson North to work in the medical surgical unit.
That was great hands-on training as a nurse. But it was also tough stuff – dealing with terminal patients, amputees, and other stressful situations.
“I learned a lot,” Ceballos said. “But after six months, I decided the medical surgical unit wasn’t for me. I was stressed all the time.
“It just wasn’t the vision I had for myself when I was studying to be a nurse.”
Fortunately for Ceballos, she talked to Jessica Caprile, the director of the medical surgical unit at Jackson North Medical Center.
“I told her my dream was to become a labor and delivery nurse,” Ceballos said. “She said, ‘I think you will be wonderful in that role, and you need to pursue what makes you happy.’”
Caprile put Ceballos in touch with Anna Hoo, the Director of Women’s Services at Jackson North Medical Center.
One week later, Hoo allowed Ceballos the chance to “shadow” a labor and delivery nurse.
“I did that for one day, and I fell in love with nursing,” Ceballos said. “I found my passion and what I was meant to do.”
Prior to that day, Ceballos had never experienced a live birth.
But now that she had, she wanted this to be her career. So, she emailed Hoo to thank her for the opportunity, and that ultimately led to Ceballos applying for and earning a job as a labor and delivery nurse.
Ceballos started that job in August of 2022.
“(Hoo) said my enthusiasm was contagious,” Ceballos said. “It’s just an amazing thing to be a part of – helping to bring a new life into the world.
“I found my calling. I found my light.”
Pretty soon after that, people experienced Ceballos’ ‘light’ on camera.
Initially, Labors of Love was an online series created by the communications team at Jackson.
Eventually, however, the series was picked up by South Florida’s local PBS station, which is what led to the Emmy.
As for Ceballos, once she heard that Season Two was going to be filmed at Jackson North, she volunteered to be a part of the show in whatever capacity.
“If you never ask you never know,” Ceballos said. “I was happy to be involved, but I had no idea I would be featured in an entire episode on me being a new nurse.”
To record about eight minutes of footage for that episode, director David Vargas followed Ceballos for a full week. Ceballos was interviewed on camera. And, in addition to the intense aspects of being a labor and delivery nurse, the cameras also grabbed some lighter moments of Ceballos, including her having breakfast.
Labors of Love ultimately won the aforementioned Suncoast Emmy in the local healthcare category, and Ceballos was there for the ceremony at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Orlando.
Which brings us back to Cindy Silva, who was pregnant during the making of Season Two.
Silva was impressed with Ceballos and her fellow nurses at Jackson North Medical Center.
She was so impressed, in fact, that she picked Jackson North as her hospital of choice when it came time to deliver her son.
As fate would have it, Ceballos was working when Silva went into labor.
Ceballos, of course, delivered in the clutch – just as she did on camera during Labors of Love and just like she did when things got tough at St. Thomas University.
