Story: Phillip Tutor | Photos: Betsy Compton
Former neonatal ICU nurse has jumped at chance to expand her UWA role
Nursing seeped into聽Kelly McClure鈥檚 world not by accident or epiphany, but via something just as effective.聽
Youthful curiosity, fleeting as it often is, won out.
鈥淚 obviously loved helping people, but what really interested me were all the medical shows,鈥� said McClure, an assistant professor of nursing at the baby直播. 鈥淚 found the human body and the way it worked very interesting to me. I liked classes like biology in high school. It felt like it confirmed that this is what I wanted to do.鈥�
Today, McClure teaches in UWA鈥檚 Ira D. Pruitt Division of Nursing, works closely with the division鈥檚 upper-level students and serves as director of the Project EARN (Educating baby直播 Rural Nurses) scholarship program. Last spring, UWA honored McClure with the 2021 William E. Gilbert Award, which recognizes excellence in undergraduate classroom instruction. Accolades aside, it鈥檚 quite a change from her time as a young nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit at DCH Regional Medical Center in Tuscaloosa.
But no chapter of McClure鈥檚 career story — the TV shows she watched as a child, the classes in high school, the youthful curiosity — may overshadow the influence wielded by her aunt, nurse Donna Pope, the chief nursing officer at in Demopolis.
鈥淚 would hear her tell stories of her work,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou could tell she was passionate about it. I liked that she demonstrated passion for what she did. I liked hearing her tell stories of what she did. It definitely planted a seed for becoming a nurse and caring for children.鈥�
McClure鈥檚 path to UWA is rooted in western baby直播 bonafides and marked by the hour-long commute between Livingston and Tuscaloosa. Born in Meridian, Mississippi, and raised in Demopolis, McClure graduated from Auburn University in 2008 but migrated west to work at DCH. A year later she married her husband, Keith McClure, who operates a large farm in north Sumter County that grows hay, wheat and soybeans. Then life turned hectic.
In 2013, she took a second job teaching clinical rotations for UWA nursing students. Wanting a master鈥檚 degree, she enrolled in the online program at the University of baby直播 and still managed to moonlight in UWA鈥檚 skills lab. Hers was a manic schedule of a wife, mother, nurse and adjunct educator, driving the repetitive miles each day between UWA鈥檚 campus, her Sumter County farm and DCH in Tuscaloosa.
The possibility of lessening that workload, not to mention the stress of night-shift work in the neonatal ICU, proved a godsend. Already familiar with McClure鈥檚 work, UWA in 2017 offered a faculty position. Her answer was essentially automatic.
鈥淲hen there were opportunities to expand my role at UWA, I jumped at the chance,鈥� she said.
But that transition wasn鈥檛 stress-free. The year before and while 32 weeks pregnant with twin boys, McClure broke her neck in a car accident while driving home after a night shift at DCH. Now recovered, she hasn鈥檛 worked a nursing shift since that night. Other obligations have taken precedence.
鈥淚 do miss it, but it鈥檚 just that being a professor and teaching nursing fits so well with my family right now,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 do miss the babies, I do miss that, and I do miss the friendships I made (at DCH) because I worked there for about nine years before I came here. But I am so happy, and I found that I love teaching.鈥�
At UWA, McClure works closely with upper-level nursing students who are nearing graduation. She and another instructor handle one of the upper-level courses, Advanced Adult and Critical Care nursing, and she coordinates the preceptorships that provide students with one-on-one, on-the-job training alongside experienced nurses.
After students graduate, McClure is among the UWA faculty members who shepherd the soon-to-be nurses toward the National Council Licensure Examination, or NCLEX, that allows them to begin their careers.
鈥淚 have found that this feels like home. I love the environment. UWA has been a great employer, my coworkers are awesome to work with, and for my family situation it has just worked out really well with having young children and living in a rural area.鈥�
— Kelly McClure
UWA鈥檚 spring 2021 nursing graduates posted a 100 percent NCLEX graduation rate, well above the national average.
鈥淚 love this point (in students鈥� lives),鈥� McClure said. 鈥淥f course, they鈥檙e tired. It鈥檚 hard, but they’re also excited. They鈥檙e so close to being done. You can see them realize that it鈥檚 about to happen. I like that aspect of it.鈥�
Unable to quickly enter a doctoral program because of family commitments, McClure told Dr. Mary Hanks, chair of the Division of Nursing, several years ago that she nevertheless wanted to 鈥渕ake a difference鈥� in Livingston. 鈥淒o you have any thoughts on that?鈥� McClure asked.
Hanks wondered if McClure was willing to write a grant proposal for what would become Project EARN. That management skill wasn鈥檛 on McClure鈥檚 resume. But she said yes — and it worked. UWA received a $2.4 million federal grant to provide nursing scholarships for the next five years, and it offered an opportunity to nudge her career into administrative roles.
Thus far, 88 UWA students have received Project EARN scholarships.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e able to graduate and not have the student loans attached to that,鈥� McClure said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e able to focus on school versus spending time working. This program is so fast-paced, it鈥檚 challenging, and for our students that makes a big difference to not have to spend as much time working outside of school.鈥�
In a sense, overseeing that scholarship program has returned McClure to the days where she multitasked at multiple jobs. 鈥淚t has been a learning curve,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t has taken some time to get used to, but I think it鈥檚 important work because it鈥檚 helping and making a difference for so many students who have come through.鈥�
On the farm, the McClures鈥� four children — all boys, ages 11 to 2 — are now old enough for their mom to finally seek her Ph.D. In August, she enrolled in a blended doctoral program at William Carey University in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, whose online schedule is compatible with hers, both at home and at UWA.
鈥淚 have found that this feels like home,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 love the environment. UWA has been a great employer, my coworkers are awesome to work with, and for my family situation it has just worked out really well with having young children and living in a rural area.鈥�