At the age of 19, Katelyn Herring, from Mount Olive, began working as a nursing assistant in Vidant Duplin Hospital’s emergency department — where she said she loved “racing against the clock” with nurses and doctors to help save lives.

The experience inspired Herring to pursue a nursing career, and she earned an associate degree in nursing from James Sprunt Community College a few years later. Since, Herring has earned a number of certifications and is now a flight nurse, in addition to working in the emergency department.

Flight nurses are trained to provide medical care while transporting critically ill or injured patients by helicopter or plane. To become a flight nurse, Herring said she was required to have a minimum of three years of experience in emergency medicine or critical care, and had to pass a cognitive test and a medical test.

“When my patient is in a life-or-death situation, my training automatically kicks in,” she said. “I remember I am there at that moment to intervene and hopefully stabilize or save the patient from their emergency. It’s up to me to make a difference,” she said.

Herring is pursuing her BSN degree online at App State to further her knowledge of nursing care and prepare for leadership or educational roles requiring an advance degree, she said.

“I am learning concepts that will improve my bedside nursing techniques and develop my leadership skills. I am also learning about community health, nursing informatics and research,” Herring said.

Herring said she wants to help promote the field of nursing and plans to pursue her graduate certificate in nursing education online from App State after completing her BSN.

Haley Love ’18 is a third-generation nurse and the 11th member of her extended family to become an RN. “I spent my childhood surrounded by the best nurses I know, learning how to show compassion and caring at a very young age. I knew nursing was in my blood and what I was meant to do,” she said.

Love, who lives in Concord, is pursuing her Master of Science in nursing with a concentration in nursing education at App State and serves as an adjunct clinical instructor in the university's Mental Health and Professional Nursing Capstone courses.

She has worked with oncology patients most of her career, most recently at the W.G. (Bill) Hefner Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Salisbury. Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

During the surge of the pandemic, Love worked as a COVID-19 relief nurse before moving to her current role as a referral coordination nurse, through which she helps cancer patients chart their course of treatment.

“Caring for the veteran population requires patience, understanding and excellent communication skills to build a trusting relationship with the patient,” Love said. “My late grandfather was a U.S. Army veteran and I was taught from a young age to show appreciation for those who sacrificed so much for our freedom. I see a part of my grandfather in every veteran I treat.”

App State’s RN to BSN nursing program aligns with her personal philosophy of nursing, Love said. “I believe nursing care should encompass holistic views and provide dignified, quality care — and App State has the same valued principles,” she said.

Love named App State’s Drs. Becki Turpin and Dana Brackney as excellent mentors — both professionally and clinically — in her career. “They are very supportive and encourage me to think outside the box on a regular basis,” Love said.

Love received an Oncology Nursing Society scholarship during her senior year and the Do Unto Others Scholarship for Nursing from App State’s Beaver College of Health Sciences for 2020–21.

She will be attending the Academy for Emerging Leaders in Patient Safety: Telluride Experience in Breckenridge, Colorado, this summer after completing her MSN.

As a public health nurse, Donata Brown ’18 is dedicated to disease prevention and the promotion of healthy lifestyles and environment — a role of which she is proud, she said.

“It is truly rewarding to serve the needs — and preserve lives of — those in the community, especially during this pandemic,” said Brown, who provides COVID-19 education, testing, follow-up and vaccinations to members of the community.

Brown has been a registered nurse for 20 years, working as a charge nurse on a surgical/oncology floor, then as a psychiatric nurse before joining Albemarle Regional Health Services as a public health nurse in 2010.

In her day-to-day role, Brown conducts well child physicals — one of the best parts of her job, she said. “I love seeing children return yearly, growing and changing with each visit. It feels great knowing I am encouraging them to have a healthy lifestyle.”

Brown said she aspires to work in an administrative role or as a nurse educator, and earned her BSN from App State in 2018 as a step toward her goals. She chose App State’s online RN to BSN program based on recommendations from her colleagues.

“App State’s program was wonderful. My biggest takeaway was learning how to apply evidence-based nursing practices to everyday clinical settings. I have used this in my clinics and have improved patient care,” Brown said.

Brown said earning her BSN was important to her so she could be a role model for her children. “Plus, having the degree has improved my confidence and opened doors for future growth in my nursing career,” she said.

Dericka Hollifield ’19, a psychiatric mental health nurse from Morganton, earned her BSN from App State in 2019. She is pursuing her MSN from App State and serves as an adjunct instructor in the university’s Department of Nursing, teaching students to work with adolescents experiencing mental health issues.

After earning her Associate Degree of Nursing (ADN) from Foothills Nursing Consortium in 2015, Hollifield began working with specialty populations at Broughton Hospital, a psychiatric treatment facility in Morganton.

“Nursing is an ever-changing career, and to keep up I knew I would need to advance my education,” Hollifield said. She said she chose App State’s RN to BSN program because of its reputation within the nursing field.

“I love the way the program is structured, focusing on real-world applications, which make the content relevant and interesting. The curriculum is tailored to the individual, creating a personalized learning experience,” she said.

As a working nurse, mother and student, Hollifield said she appreciated App State faculty’s flexibility to assist her outside of normal business hours. “They took time to get to know me and were available to help me accomplish my goals,” she said.

Earning her BSN created many opportunities for Hollifield in her job, including cross-training in additional roles. As she pursues her MSN, Hollifield said she hopes to transfer into nursing education, where she can incorporate psychiatric mental health when teaching a general nursing curriculum.

“I feel mental health care is underrecognized within our society and I hope I can help to spotlight its importance,” she said.

When Janet Idol graduated from high school, her plans were to pursue a nursing career — but a “less than stellar grade” in her Introduction to Chemistry course during her first semester in college dimmed her dream, she said.

Idol dropped out of college and took a job as a case manager for a law firm. A few years later, she switched fields and began working as an accounting assistant.

Idol said if she wanted to advance in her career, she knew a college degree was needed, so she enrolled in Guilford Technical Community College (GTCC) to study accounting. She signed up for an anatomy and physiology class to meet her biology course requirement.

“One lecture, and my desire to be a nurse came back full force,” Idol said.

Idol switched to the nursing program at GTCC and entered her third “career” — and this attempt was a charm, she said. “It was difficult, but anything worth doing takes hard work, determination and dedication. There were times I went to school full time and worked two jobs,” Idol said.

She earned her associate degree and has since been working in the surgical intensive care unit at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem.

Idol, who is a student in App State’s RN to BRN online program, said she aspires to earn a master’s degree in nursing and work as an advanced practice registered nurse in a critical care setting. A BSN is a “stepping stone” for her goal, she said.

App State was the best fit for her because the online delivery and format for the clinical assignments are convenient for adults working full time and at a distance, Idol said.

“Dr. Dana Brackney has had a tremendous impact on my educational experience at App State,” she continued. “She has been encouraging and compassionate since day one. When students like myself are learning from a distance, communication is the key to success, and my instructors understand the importance of this.”

Idol said she loves nursing because she knows she makes a difference in someone’s life every day. “The people I care for are going through one of their most difficult experiences, and if I can somehow make them smile or laugh, a little weight has been lifted off of them at that moment,” she said.