by Alyssa Harvey, The Daily News, originally published on 4/17/2010
When Pat Pearson was considering careers as a youngster, her dreams floated near water.
“I wanted to be a marine biologist, but I didn’t have the money to go to school on the coast,” she said.
Instead, she decided to tag along with a friend who was going to nursing school at Western Kentucky University. Earning a degree in nursing would provide job security if she needed it later, she thought. But once she got into the program and started practicing, she found she wanted later to become sooner.
“After I got into it, I liked it. I realized it was the right choice,” she said. “It was what I meant to do. I love taking care of people. It fit me.”
Pearson has been the clinical supervisor for The Medical Center Home Care for 11⁄2 years, but she has worked there for 19 years. Her duties include overseeing scheduling, reviewing charts for corrections and sending out reports. The program takes care of patients at their homes.
“I’m here for any problems there might be in the field. If the nurses have any problems, they call me,” she said. “I can go out to help them. I love patient care. Any chance I get to see patients, I’m out the door.”
After earning an associate’s degree in nursing, Pearson took her time finishing her bachelor’s degree at WKU.
“I had a small son and worked full time,” she said. “It took seven years to finish my bachelor’s degree.”
While attending school, Pearson worked in emergency rooms, first at Allen County War Memorial Hospital in Scottsville for about 14 years and then at Logan Memorial Hospital. She loved the variety of working in the ER.
“I thought it was the only place to be,” she said, laughing.
A rotation with Home Care, a part of her degree requirement, changed her mind.
“I never thought I’d like it. I went on a visit with a nurse, and I fell in love with it,” she said. “We went into people’s homes. They were so glad to see us. They welcomed us in and treated us like family. We weren’t doing anything major.”
The welcoming feeling from patients and their families hasn’t changed over the years.
“That’s how it is every time you go somewhere,” Pearson said. “They trust you to take care of them. The patients rely on you to do what’s right for them.”
After she graduated from WKU, there was an opening for a staff nurse at Home Care. She got the job and was staff nurse for 15 years before spending three years as an assessment nurse who handled patient admissions.
Pearson’s love of taking care of people runs in the family. Her daughter-in-law is a nurse, and her son, who made a career change, graduates from nursing school in May.
“They’re expecting their first child,” she said excitedly.
Now that she has her feet firmly planted in Home Care, Pearson says it is the only place she wants to be.
“You feel like you’re making a difference in somebody’s life,” she said. “It’s the best place to work.”
