From classroom to care: WKU nursing students ready to make a difference

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. –  In just a few days, 89 students from Western Kentucky University’s nursing program will graduate. But for these nursing students, it’s more than just receiving their degree, it’s the beginning of a lifelong mission.

“I just felt called to go into a position where you could be helping somebody,” said WKU nursing student Abby London. “Being able to see somebody in their most vulnerable aspect. That’s what really called me to nursing.”

Helping them along the way from the beginning was assistant professor Elizabeth Groves, who said she feels like a proud mother watching them walk across the stage and officially becoming nurses.

“I am so honored to get to be just this little blip with them, because they are truly a wonderful group of students who I have no doubt, are going to deliver phenomenal care,” Groves said.

These future nurses will step right into a workforce that’s still healing from the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic, because even five years later, the nurses today are still facing burnout, staffing shortages and challenges that go far beyond what they teach in textbooks.

But for this graduating class, entering the profession during a time of uncertainty only made their purpose clearer.

“COVID reinforced that. Nursing is what I wanted to do. I want to be out there helping. I want to do something meaningful,” said WKU nursing student Racheal Joseph.

Now, as they prepare to take on real patients, this new era of nurses brings with it a new sense of purpose. One made with compassion, resilience and hope.

“Every patient, regardless of what your background is, what your history is, why you’re in here deserves my 100 percent,” Joseph said.

“Nurses are not just taskmasters,” Groves said. “Nurses are competent, compassionate, committed individuals who are there to do their best to get you what you need and to take care of you.”

The WKU students will graduate May 9 at the E.A. Diddle Arena.