A heart for people

By Anna Little

Molly Duncan graduated from Harding in 2016 with a degree in exercise science. After spending time as a medical scribe and applying to PA school, she heard about Harding’s accelerated nursing program. Seven days before the first summer semester course began, Molly interviewed for the program and received admission. From there, she said, it has been a whirlwind of challenging classes and clinicals. During the summer, the close-knit class often dined together at professors’ homes, creating a familial atmosphere reminiscent of her time working at a hospital in Tennessee.

“Five of my best friends that I met at Harding for my first degree were in the nursing department. When I was trying to decide if I should apply, I called them and asked if they could go back, would they choose Harding again. Everyone said yes, which I thought spoke very highly of the program,” Duncan said.

DeeAnn Martin, assistant professor of nursing and Duncan’s mentor, emphasized that the nursing program, while intensive, prepares people like Molly to tackle tough situations.
“It’s intensive work,” Martin said. “It prepares [the students] to be nurses at an accelerated rate. Any nursing program is a high stress program. You learn how to deal with stress, and you take those skills with you to the workplace.”

Duncan got a taste of the fast-paced environment when she worked as a medical scribe after graduation. The excitement was palpable, and she wanted more.

“I loved the emergency room, I felt like I fit in well,” Duncan said. “I loved how fast paced it was. We had a lot of crazy accidents that happen to people out on the field; we had a homeless population; but we also had regular middle class people, so it was just a huge socioeconomic mix. It was cool to be in the community hospital.”

Martin said that the ABSN program provides students with more access to working in the world and opportunities to do mission work. Students have the opportunity to travel to other nations and use their skills.

“We provide ways for students to do summer mission trips to Tanzania, Haiti and Guatemala,” Martin said. “We try to make those opportunities available to them so they can get a taste of that. Once you get a taste, you usually love it.”

Applying classroom techniques is crucial to the learning process, Martin said. ABSN students start clinicals at the beginning of the school year. Duncan said that her work with psychiatric patients and patients in women’s health revealed to her what she loves about nursing.

“The most fun I have is talking to the patients. I’m very people oriented. You have to recognize that they are sick, but you have to treat them like a human. Everyone deserves to be treated like they’re someone with worth,” Duncan said. “For women’s health and postpartum, the moms and the families are so excited, and I love talking to them about their hopes and dreams.”

Kim Cooper, assistant professor of nursing and Duncan’s former professor, said that her love for people and rigorous work ethic is exactly why she will succeed in her profession.
“Molly has a great personality. She’s always bubbly. She asks questions and is not afraid,” Cooper said. “ She already has confidence in herself. She really has a heart for people.”

The accelerated BSN program provides people like Molly Duncan with an opportunity to pursue a people-oriented career full of intrigue and interaction. Martin emphasized that Harding professors teach nursing students how to be critical-thinking professionals and loving servants to people in need.

“When I worked in the emergency room … I loved how much the nurse interacted with the patient. The nurse gets to be with the patient, and that’s why I think that I would love being a nurse,” Duncan said.

— Anna Little, staff writer