National Nurses Week 2020

UT Austin School of Nursing Nurses

Celebrating National Nurses Week

May 6-12, 2020

The University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing celebrates National Nurses Week by highlighting a few of our alumni, students, and instructors who have heard and responded to the call of our profession amid challenging times. Read more about these leaders below and join us in our celebration of these everyday heroes.

Dr. Sholanda Horton

From the US Army to Texas Nursing: Engaging Students in Crisis Relief Mobilization

UT Austin School of Nursing clinical assistant professor Shalonda Horton is waiting on some important news. As a United States Army Reserve Public Health Nurse, she was notified on Friday, April 3rd that she needed to prepare for mobilization to assist the civilian population amid COVID-19. However, her orders have yet to come in, while some members of her unit, the 7454th Medical Battalion, have already been sent.

Dr. Stephanie Morgan

The UT Austin School of Nursing Family and Children’s Wellness Clinics Responds to the COVID-19

Since taking the helm four years ago as the director for the UT Austin School of Nursing Family Wellness Center and Children’s Wellness Center, Dr. Stephanie Morgan has steered the clinics through multiple obstacles. However, in the wake of COVID-19, Dr. Morgan has met an all new set of daunting circumstances, while ensuring the community retains access to health care services.

Darlene “Cookie” Wilson

A Life of Service: Balancing COVID-19 Response and Clinical Instruction

On Monday April 6th, UT Austin School of Nursing Clinical Instructor Darlene “Cookie” Wilson began a thirteen week assignment serving at the epicenter of the United States’ COVID-19 epidemic, Elmhurst Hospital in Queens, New York. A hospital located in a densely populated, working class neighborhood, Elmhurst has been hit particularly hard by the virus.

April Watkins

Nursing DNP Student Steps Up To Serve Our Local Community During COVID-19

Like a lot of individuals in her profession, UT Austin School of Nursing DNP student April Watkins has used her expertise to aid the world’s most vulnerable populations. As a clinical nurse specialist in cardiology and internal medicine, she has organized medical relief missions around the globe in places like Brazil, Haiti and Puerto Rico. While there, she and her team of ten to twelve health care workers delivered primary care services on the forefront of many crises. However, she was not expecting a crisis like COVID-19 to find her right in her own backyard.