Jennifer Hatcher, Ph.D., R.N., and
Kimberly Wordlow, senior B.S.N.
student
|
Nursing Student and Recent
Ph.D. Graduate Win Lyman T. Johnson Awards
A College of Nursing student and alum were presented
with awards at the 16th Annual Lyman T. Johnson Homecoming Awards Banquet on
Fri., Nov. 17, 2006.
Kimberly Nicole Wordlow
Kimberly
Nicole Wordlow received the Torch Bearer's Award.
Wordlow
is a senior in the College of
Nursing, who exemplifies the spirit of compassion for others,
community service, leadership, and scholarship.
While pursuing her
bachelor’s degree in nursing,
Wordlow serves as vice president
of the Minority Association of Pre-Health Students (M.A.P.S.),
and as treasurer for Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Mu Epsilon
Chapter. In addition, she maintains memberships in the Kentucky
Black Voices Gospel Choir and in the Black Student Union.
Her academic accomplishments
include an outstanding G.P.A. (3.345), membership in Sigma Theta
Tau International Nursing Honor Society and the Phi Sigma Theta
National Honor Society. She is a William C. Parker scholar
as well as a recipient of a Medical Center Enhancement
Scholarship.
For two years, she was a
volunteer at Kenton Healthcare Center, where she assisted with one-on-one recreational
activities for residents, and improved the quality of
residents’ lives through activities such as card-making, bingo,
bowling, horseshoes, nail polishing, and letter writing.
She continues to volunteer monthly at the Hope Center,
Hamburg Healthcare, Catholic Action Center, and Kid’s Café.
Wordlow is a member of and
actively involved in youth choir and youth ushers at Zion
Missionary Baptist Church in her hometown of Louisville, Ky. In
Lexington, she attends Consolidated Missionary Baptist
Church.
Wordlow’s current
work as a nurse extern at Cardinal Hill Rehabilitation Hospital
has enabled her to demonstrate skills and knowledge in nursing
gleaned through her studies with the College
of Nursing.
Kristin Ashford, a lecturer with the College, says,
“Kim’s enthusiasm in working with women, children, and their
families is remarkable. She sets the bar high for other students
regarding work ethic, and her professionalism shines through in
her patient care as well as her written work. Not only did I
recognize her gift, the patients she cared for also commented on
her pleasant, knowledgeable, and professional demeanor. Through
each experience, whether it was in the Nursery, NICU, Antenatal
Unit, Labor and Delivery or the Mother/Baby Unit, I knew Kim
would accept the assignment with a smile. I have no doubt that
she will excel in any opportunity she is given.”
Jennifer Hatcher
Jennifer
Hatcher, Ph.D., R.N., (Ph.D. August 2006) is an assistant
professor with the UK College of Nursing. She is committed to
the elimination of health disparities for underserved and
minority populations. Her dissertation, titled, “The Mental
Health of African American Women,” addressed one such important
inequity. Her current research focuses on the disparate rates of
breast cancer experienced by African American women. This work
has been presented nationally for the American Public
Health Association, Association of Black Nursing Faculty,
Southern Research Nursing Society, and National Institutes of
Health.
Jennifer is a member of
several professional organizations and committees: the National
Black Nurses Association, the Association of Black Nursing
Faculty, the Healthy Kentucky Advisory Committee, the American
Public Health Association, Sigma Theta Tau International Honor
Society of Nursing, and the Southern Research Nursing Society.
Jennifer is a mentor and
advocate for African American students in the College at both
the undergraduate and graduate levels. She is active in the
community and with Consolidated Baptist Church. She also is a
member of Chi Eta Phi Incorporated, a nursing sorority.
The banquet and awards are
given in honor of Lyman T. Johnson, who has earned the title of
“The Great Forerunner.” He was one of the most prominent and
highly respected educators in the history of Kentucky, having
devoted the greater part of his life to the intellectual
development of young people. As a teacher, humanitarian and
freedom fighter, he worked tirelessly to change the brutally
segregated society into which he was born. A highlight in his
life of service was his pioneering effort to open the University
of Kentucky Graduate School to African Americans. In 1949,
through his tenacious personal struggle and sacrifice, he won a
legal battle, which resulted in the desegregation of UK's Graduate
School. This landmark legal
victory ultimately resulted in the opening of schools of higher
education to all students, regardless of race or ethnicity.
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