A version of this story first appeared in the 2025 issue of On Call, a publication of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga College of Nursing.
Amber Honea, left, and Alexis Murray. Photo courtesy of Amber Honea.
Sisters Amber Honea and Alexis Murray have found their place helping others.
The UTC alums are working as nurses for their respective hospitals in Chattanooga. Honea, who received a BSN from UTC in 2014 and an MSN in 2021, is an acute care nurse practitioner with the pulmonology and critical care department at Erlanger Hospital.
Murray, who earned a BSN in 2019, is currently enrolled in the DNP program and is on pace to graduate in spring 2026. She works at CHI Memorial Hospital as an ICU floating nurse.
Both realized their passion for helping people on visits to the hospital for family emergencies.
“I always knew I wanted to do something in medicine because I’ve enjoyed helping people ever since I was young,” Honea said. “I first started out wanting to be a Life Flight nurse after my middle sister Alexis was life-flighted as a baby. I thought it was a really cool experience.
“I really love helping people. I found my niche.”
———————————————
Click here to learn more about UTC College of Nursing
———————————————
Murray was born around four weeks premature. During the birthing process, she swallowed amniotic fluid, resulting in pneumothorax.
With no NICU in their hometown of Tullahoma, Tennessee, the Life Flight nurses had to transport her to Erlanger, where Murray stayed for close to three weeks.
She understood why her older sister became fascinated with the nurses.
“They are really cool,” Murray said. “I could imagine as a kid they’d be really cool because seeing them as an adult and as a nursing student, I remember thinking they were the coolest people. They show up in the true jumpsuits that make you think of Maverick in ‘Top Gun.’”
Murray had a similar experience that led to her decision to enter the health care field when her dad fell off a ladder, resulting in an emergency room visit.
“We had to take him to the hospital and I got to see how the ER worked,” she explained. “The combination of my experience with my dad going for a quick elbow surgery—it wasn’t anything serious and then getting to see Amber go through it—I figured maybe this is for me, too.”
Murray said she has leaned on her older sister during school and at work. She began nursing school at 18, which was earlier than most students in the program.
“I’d always go to her if I had any questions or I needed help understanding a disease, process or anything related to nursing. She’s definitely helped me review papers, make sure they sound correct and things like that,” Murray said. “When I started my career, she was working at Memorial as a nurse. I ended up working there through nursing school as a nurse tech. I worked closely with the nurses, and we ended up collaborating a bit during that time.
“She always made sure if anything interesting was going on in the unit, she’d find me and let me look at it with her. She’d explain what’s going on to help me learn a little bit better and quicker.”
Big sister Amber, left, holds baby Alexis under the watchful eye of their mom, Vicki Dietz. Photo courtesy of Vicki Dietz.
Honea and Murray, upon their respective graduations, started in the ICU.
Honea said it’s a highly competitive field because it allows you to jump right in and help others. Both noted that UTC helped prepare them for life in the hospital.
“The professors were awesome,” Honea said. “I got a great education. Whenever I’m asked where I went to school and I tell them UTC, they say, ‘You graduated from UTC, that means your education was good. We want nurses from UTC.’
“It was nice to know that we were well known in the community and everybody wanted us to be a part of their organization.”
Murray echoed those sentiments.
“I’m all about the UTC world,” she said. “Our professors in the acute care program are fantastic. Dr. Christi Denton, our program director, and the rest of the faculty are amazing.
“It’s very flexible, but it’s a hard program. It’s preparing us for what we want to do in the future.”
Honea and Murray have given back to the UTC community. They have volunteered at Camp Horizon, where children with physical disabilities can broaden their horizons and spend time with other children in similar situations. They have also worked as clinical instructors, teaching the next generation of UTC nursing students.
“I love being able to see our future nursing students take every challenge and every scrap of knowledge they can get,” Murray said. “They’re super smart and willing to learn, which is refreshing to see.”
Click here for more details about visiting the UTC College of Nursing.
Learn more
