Katherine Valentine

Katherine (Katy) Valentine, RN, MSN, PCCN, is the recipient of the Margaret Gould Tyson Scholarship. She obtained her BSN from Texas Woman’s University in 2017 and her MSN from Western Governors University in 2022.  She is currently pursuing a PhD in Nursing Education at the University of Northern Colorado (UNCO).

Katy’s journey to nursing was inspired by her mother, who is a Nurse Practitioner, and her grandmother, who is a nurse.  Nursing is the field that brought together her passion for research and science and her love for people.  She found joy in providing evidence-based, compassionate, holistic care to patients, and eventually sharing that fervor with nursing students.

During her bedside career, she worked in Washington in a cardiac progressive care unit as a floor nurse and a charge nurse. Then she moved to California, where she worked in a progressive care unit as a charge nurse. After working through the COVID-19 pandemic, she sought out a new way to grow her career.  She began working as adjunct faculty while pursuing her master's degree, all the while continuing to work on the floor. Working with students reignited her passion for nursing and deepened her love for teaching. This inspired her to teach full-time and pursue her terminal degree at UNCO.  UNCO’s PhD Nursing Education program is unique in its goal of training nurse educators to be both excellent instructors and researchers. Katy chose this program to better prepare her as an educator and a creator of new knowledge.

In her current role at California Baptist University, she is an Assistant Professor and the Skills Lab Coordinator.  She is a Certified Nurse Educator and a Progressive Care Certified Nurse as well as the Treasurer for Sigma Theta Tau - Chi Mu.  With memberships in multiple nursing organizations (e.g. American Nurses Association, American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, and the National Organization of Nurses with Disabilities), Katherine is able to keep up with the current nursing issues and trends . She serves at her church as a member of the Staff-Parish Relations Committee and runs the youth Sunday school every other week, among other volunteer events.   Her research of nursing students with disabilities has resulted in two pilot studies as part of her program to better understand the barriers and facilitators to accommodation use among nursing students with disabilities. She plans to use the skills she gains during her PhD studies to help reduce barriers for nursing students with disabilities. The Margaret Gould Tyson NEF Scholarship provides the funding needed for her to focus on her education and future goals.