In May 2013, a violent EF5 tornado devastated the town of Moore, Okla., killing 24 people and injuring hundreds more. KCKCC graduate Alyson Glaven Heeke was manager of the Women’s Center at Moore Medical Center at the time and said the training she received at the college proved vital.
“What I was taught here at KCKCC has served me well throughout my career. I learned many years ago, how to ‘care for patients’ through this program,” she said. “I was at
work with my staff when the tornado came through Moore. Because of my ethical commitment to my patients and my nurses, I was with the patient, her nurse and the scrub tech when the tornado hit our hospital and took the wall out of the room we were in. The only thing that mattered to me at that point was making sure that those people were cared for and safe.
“It’s hard to explain how you go into a mode where you don’t think about yourself because you’re focused so completely on what you’re doing for everyone else. I’m proud to say that the woman who was in labor ultimately gave birth after the storm passed, and we were all safe.”
When Glaven Heeke began taking classes at KCKCC in 1971, the college was still located at 9th and State Avenue in downtown Kansas City, Kan. By the time she had finished, the college had moved to its current location.
“I cannot tell you how many times I raced between the old campus and new campus to try to get to class on time,” she said.
Glaven Heeke was a member of the second class to graduate from the associate degree program at KCKCC. She said prior to the establishment of the nursing program, most nurses in the community went to school through the hospitals and earned a diploma.
“In this particular program, we not only were able to obtain college credits that were transferable to another program, but we also learned how to be a nurse,” she said. “Many of my classmates went on to get their bachelor’s degree and beyond. I started working in the hospital immediately and fell in love with the whole process so much that, although I had great intentions, I never did pursue my degree beyond the associate degree that I currently have.”
During her career, she has been based in maternal/child health with positions such as pediatric charge nurse at the former Bethany Medical Center in KCK; a head nurse; house supervisor at Children’s Hospital in Omaha; a pediatric director for a home health agency; positions in newborn, mother/baby and NICU and most recently a school nurse. She said her experience as well as her education in nursing at KCKCC has been an invaluable tool.
“By working at the hospital as a nurse’s aide as well as going to school and doing my clinicals there (Bethany Medical Center), I was able to put together what I needed to know about how to be a bedside nurse and what that involved,” she said. “I am very thankful for the education and the examples from great nurses that began at KCKCC. It gave me a wonderful foundation and the confidence to soar as high as I wanted to go.”
