A former Coast Guard member walked into a hospital as a terrified new dad and walked out with a calling he never saw coming.
So there’s this man Nathan Schloegl. Ex-military, private security, tattoos everywhere. Not exactly who you picture when you think of a NICU nurse right? But God has this way of putting us exactly where we need to be even when we have no idea that’s where we’re headed.
The Day That Turned His Life Around
His son Luca was born in December 2022 at Corewell Health Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital in Grand Rapids Michigan. And within minutes the baby needed respiratory support. Schloegl stood there watching his newborn hooked up to machines and he had no clue what was happening.
“I really honestly didn’t know what NICU was,” he told TODAY’s Sheinelle Jones. He couldn’t take his eyes off that baby. “I had this really irrational fear that he was going to get mixed up or lost,” he said.
The Nurse Who Settled His Soul
And then one nurse just changed the whole thing for him. “She kept it so simple for me,” Schloegl recalled. “Her calm, confident demeanor, it was what I needed at that moment.”
I mean we’ve all been in those moments where someone’s presence just steadies you. That’s what God does through people. He sends the right person at the right time.
Luca spent six days in the NICU. Six days of watching these nurses pour themselves into his family. And something shifted inside Schloegl that he couldn’t shake.
All In Before the New Year
Here’s the best part. Luca was discharged on December 19. By the second week of January Schloegl was enrolled in community college. “I had no interest at all in nursing whatsoever,” he admitted. But he couldn’t ignore it. “I just went all in. That experience was enough for me to see the impact that nurses make,” he said.
He did all of this while raising a newborn with his wife Lindsey and their two teenage daughters. That’s not easy. That takes sacrifice and a whole lot of faith that God would make a way.
Back Where It All Started
Schloegl graduated from nursing school in December 2025. And now he works overnight shifts, 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., in the very same NICU where Luca fought for his first breaths. Every time he passes the spot where his son’s bed was, he feels it.
And he knows he doesn’t look like your typical nurse. He laughs about it. But that’s actually what makes him so good at this. Dads walk in scared and overwhelmed and they see this guy covered in tattoos who gets it. “Just because we’re able to connect on a guy-to-guy level,” he said.
Giving Back What Was Given
During his appearance on TODAY on May 8, first-time parents Hannah and Logan sent a video message thanking him for the way he cared for their twin boys. They talked about how he always made sure they got skin-to-skin time with their babies.
“The best part for me,” Schloegl said, “is being able to connect with those parents and try to give back what was given to me in that moment.”
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” — Ephesians 2:10
Your Calling Might Not Look Like What You Expected
So if you feel that pull toward something new don’t brush it off. We don’t always get to choose how God redirects our steps but we can choose to follow.
Nathan Schloegl walked into a hospital as a scared dad and God turned that fear into a purpose that now touches families every single night. Whatever is stirring in your heart right now take the step. Just go all in. He’ll handle the rest.
WATCH: Former Military Dad’s Life Changes Forever After His Baby Lands in the NICU
