OKLAHOMA CITY — When Layla Dougherty was practicing law, she never imagined she’d become a nurse — let alone a nursing professor.

For over two decades, Dougherty worked in bankruptcy and litigation law, representing major clients and navigating complex cases. But in 2015, everything changed. Her father was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer.

“The prognosis wasn’t good,” she said. “It was a textbook case and he was given 18 months to live. I started researching treatment options like it was a trial. His life depended on it.”

With her legal training, Dougherty dove into clinical studies and emerging therapies. She discovered a promising immunotherapy drug on the verge of FDA approval. The day after she secured an oncology appointment for her father, the drug was approved.

“I asked his doctor if the new drug could be an option,” she said. “He told me, ‘Yes, we’ll use that — it’s a good option.’”

Impressed by her ability to understand medical research, the oncologist encouraged Dougherty to consider a career in nursing.

“He said the world needs nurses like me — people who can understand complex information and advocate for patients,” she said.

That advice sparked a complete career change. With four children and a full legal resume, Dougherty enrolled in Oklahoma City Community College’s (OCCC) Baccalaureate to Associate Degree Nurse Accelerated Pathway (BADNAP) program.

It wasn’t the first time she’d felt like a fish out of water.

“On my first day of law school, everyone else was in suits. I wore leather pants,” she said, laughing. “I thought, ‘Did I take a wrong turn?’”

That feeling returned on her first day of nursing school — a 7 a.m. microbiology class where she sat tired and unsure. Then her professor, Janet Clanton, introduced herself.

“She said, ‘This is my second career. I’m really an attorney,’” Dougherty recalled. “I just started crying. I knew I was on the right path.”

Today, Dougherty teaches critical care nursing in the same OCCC program that helped her reinvent herself — a transformation that later helped save her son’s life.

When her son was 9, he began sleeping excessively. Sensing something was wrong, she checked his blood sugar. It was so high it wouldn’t register. She rushed him to the emergency room.

“Had I not taken him that night, he might not have made it,” she said. “If it weren’t for what I learned at OCCC, I wouldn’t have known what to look for.”

Although she once thrived in the courtroom, Dougherty found her purpose in patient care.

“I loved litigating,” she said. “But when my dad got sick, that world suddenly felt very far away.”

Now she tells her students what she’s come to believe: “You’re not just one thing. You’re allowed to change. You’re supposed to.”

Interested in a bold new path? Learn more about Oklahoma City Community College’s BADNAP program.