It may seem that Mississippi University for Women doesn”t expect its nursing students to sleep.
Between clinical rotations, an intense course load and testing process, many health care professionals will tell you that a W graduate will be one of the best nurses you can hire.
But just completing the nursing course work wasn”t good enough for senior Katie Robinson. After just four years, Robinson will be graduating in May with a full second major under her belt, Spanish, which she wants to use to provide more well-rounded care for a large Hispanic population that isn”t always heard when in need of medical attention.
And she hasn”t stopped there. In addition to spending a summer in Cuerna Vaca, Mexico, to hone her language skills, and doing an optional externship at a women”s hospital, Robinson became quite the campus presence as well. The 22-year-old, self-confessed overachiever from Brandon, served on the executive council of the MUW Student Government Association, the executive council of her four-year social club, Troubadours, joined a two-year social club, Jesters, was involved in the Student Nurses Association, Hearin Leadership Program, was a leader for the Hearin High School Conference, Welcome Week Corps, was a Student-Alumni Ambassador, and held down a job at the MUW Foundation.
And just to make the sleeping population of the W look bad, while being a Humane Society volunteer and finding time for her knitting hobby, she was a member of academic honor societies including the Lantern Honor Society, and has been on the dean”s or president”s list all four years of school.
“I have done a little bit of everything on campus,” she said. “I want to make a difference in my community.”
How did your summer in Mexico help you develop your language skills?
I went there with only the basic Spanish 1 and 2 stuff, and came back speaking Spanish. My host family were really nice. They refused to speak English to me. It exponentially helped with my fluency. There”s something about sitting down with people and having a conversation only in Spanish that makes you learn.
And how will that help you in your nursing career?
My passion is to help people that I feel might otherwise be lost in the system. The Spanish-speaking patients might not get the best care as they would if they had a Spanish-speaking nurse. They”ll get good care, and the care they need, but if they have a nurse that can speak with them, they won”t only be more comfortable, but the nurse will get better information that they can use to help the patient.”
Can you give me an example?
Pain assessments are a good one. Most Spanish-Speaking patients can be asked if they have pain, but not if the pain is pinching, burning or what type of pain it is. It”s not always the easiest thing to work with a translator, either over the phone or in person. And it”s also just nice to be able to be asked ”How are you doing?” in your own language. Being ill is disorienting enough, and anything that I can do to make my patients more comfortable and heard is worth it.
Why did you decide to become a nurse?
I want to be able to be a nurse to make a difference in a life that needs a difference made in it. I”ve wanted to be a nurse since I was in 10th grade, I went to tour the neonatal intensive care unit at University Medical Center through a program called Youth Leadership Jackson. I saw the nurses do a lot of really good things there. I fell in love with the field and if given the opportunity, I want to do whatever I can for the parents and those babies to make their lives better.
Why did you decide to double major?
While the nursing program at The W is one of the most stringent in the south, it”s something that if you can make it through, you are more prepared to be in the field. And combining Spanish curriculum with that has already been able to help me with patients I”ve had in clinicals and put those patients more at ease. The program is intensive and difficult, but because of the great faculty at The W, I” have been able to take both Spanish and nursing classes at the same time and finish in four years. I originally thought that I would have to do another year to finish both majors. But I definitely was willing to do that if that was what it took.”
Tell me about your externship program.
Externships are an optional eight-week program between your junior and senior years where you shadow and help out at a hospital and get school credit for your work. It involves a partnership between the Schools of Nursing and the State Hospital Association, but is invaluable to getting nursing students more comfortable in the field. I did mine at the Wiser Hospital for Women and Infants at University Medical Center. I was able to do a little bit of everything at the hospital — we saw pregnant women, women with gynecological issues, and I was able to help triage patients, work on basic nursing skills, practice my assessments and just really get comfortable with patients and their families. I was able to do a lot of patient teaching as well. Since we saw a lot of pregnant women with dehydration issues, I was able to educate them about how to stay hydrated during a Mississippi summer and about the medications they were being put on.
What was your favorite thing?
“My favorite thing was finding babies heartbeat. I loved seeing the mother”s face just light up when they were able to hear their baby for the first time. I really wouldn”t have traded the externship for anything. Its irreplaceable the confidence you gain. I also got to see the things I learned in class applied practically.”
Now your externship was a single summer, but for The W”s nursing program you said you have to visit hospitals often for clinicals. What is that? And what do you like about it?
“All clinicals are is when nursing students go into a hospital or clinic and work under a registered nurse to give us field experience. My favorite experience with clinicals was at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle, in their labor and delivery department. I got to see pre-partum labor and delivery and post partum care. I learned a lot there. I got to see my first baby born ever — I cried, I couldn”t help it. It”s that perfect moment. Everything is new and good and beautiful in the world in that perfect little bundle. It”s something the mother has worked so hard for nine months or longer and that baby is just something you love so much, so fast. Just being there to witness that moment when the family sees the baby for the first time is incredible. And being able to help make that come about is something I would love to do for the rest of my life.”
You said your hobbies echo your love for nursing. How?
Well I love to knit and crochet. I like to make I make hats for babies that I aided in their delivery. I also make things for a Save the Children program called Hats for Good. You send them a homemade hat and they send it to Asia, Latin America or Africa, where babies have a greatly increased chance of surviving if they can keep warm. It”s something tangible I can give that shows I care and actually makes a difference in the life of that child.
You graduate in less than four months. What is your dream job?
I would like to work with any client population, but mother/baby and women”s health is my passion. Working in labor and delivery unit in a hospital with a medically under-served population is also an area of passion for me, and eventually, I would love to travel with a program like Doctors Without Borders. I would love to do prenatal care for areas with a large Hispanic population and even travel to Spanish-speaking countries and help babies be born.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 43 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.