credit – Pratt Community College
After working at the college for two and a half years as a nursing instructor, Kay Watkins saw many changes that were needed so when offered a promotion, she jumped on the opportunity.
“I saw issues as an instructor and wanted to be proactive in getting those resolved,” she said. “I also thought we could do some things differently to better help the students.”
Watkins took over as Director of Nursing at the beginning of January and said since then the two things she has already started working on are getting all the faculty to do things more uniformly so students know what to expect in each class and working to improve the pass rates.
Watkins has a office on both Pratt and Winfield’s campuses and splits her time between the two.
“I’m having a lot of fun with the new position,” she said. “It is challenging and rewarding at the same time.”
Before coming to PCC to teach first and second level courses, Watkins worked as a nurse in the ICU and ER for 27 years, many of those years in management.
While working in the field, Watkins said she saw issues with people coming out of school not being prepared.
“I knew when I saw the issues people were having right out of school that I wanted to start teaching so that I could help fill that void,” she said.
At the age of 11, Watkins decided she wanted to be a nurse when her dad had open heart surgery. She begged to go into the ICU, even though she was too young. Her mom finally got her in and Watkins said she knew as soon as she saw her dad that she was supposed to be a nurse.
Watkins received her undergraduate degree from Cook County College in Gainesville, Texas. To get her degree paid for, Watkins joined the Army for three years and was part of the military police.
When she’s not at work, Watkins enjoys being out in her garden and canning. She also has a miniature American Eskimo dog that keeps her busy and is getting her doctorate in nursing from Chamberlin College of Nursing.
She also has a son and two grandchildren that she enjoys spending time with.
