40 YEARS AND STILL GOING STRONG
“I have “It’s been a neat, ever-changing ride,”
When Kimberly Wall was a young girl she knew she wanted to be part of a profession where she could help people. “I wanted to work in a peoplecentered business,” Wall said. For the last four decades, she’s being doing just that. Wall is a registered nurse who currently works in the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) at MidState Medical Center in Meriden. She’s also one of four MidState nurses named a 2021 Nightingale Award winner.
Wall’s path to becoming a nurse was a little different compared to the schooling nurses go through now. While attending Maloney High School in Meriden she went through what was called the Yellow Bird Program, which allowed students to work and train as a nurse’s aide. The vocational course laid the ground work for what would become a fulfilling career in healthcare. After graduating from Maloney High School in Meriden, Wall attended St. Vincent’s Medical Center School of Nursing in Bridgeport. “We were in the hospital three days a week with our instructors and we spent two days a week in our college courses,” Wall explained. She graduated with a diploma in nursing in 1981.
Wall landed her first job at the former Meriden-Wallingford Hospital in Meriden and began working on a general medical floor, which was a year-long requirement at the time. From there she took a critical care course offered by the hospital and transferred to the intensive care unit (ICU) where she spent 27 years of her career. Wall says she remembers, vividly, when they had to help transition the Meriden-Wallingford Hospital over to the new MidState
Medical Center campus on September 28, 1998.
“I’ll never forget it. We moved 92 patients in a seven-hour period with 14 ambulances. We broke into two teams. I stayed back in critical care and the other half of the hospital staff were at the new location,” Wall recalls.
Wall has spent the last 13 years of her career in the PACU at MidState. She says one of the perks of the job is the ability to work in different areas of care – while still practicing nursing. “It’s been a neat, ever-changing ride,” Wall said. She’s also certified in perianesthesia and orthopedic nursing and for the past 30 years has taught CPR and first aid to her colleagues. “It’s rewarding to empower others with this knowledge,” Wall said.
This July she will mark 40 years of being a nurse – and has no plans of slowing down anytime soon. She admits she’s seen a lot of changes over the years, and like so many of her colleagues, acknowledges that the COVID-19 pandemic has been a challenge. Wall adds that she’s flattered to be recognized with the Nightingale Award and its standard of excellence in the nursing profession. She also has some advice for those who are looking to enter the nursing profession.
“I’ve always loved learning during my time in this profession – so listen to your peers because they always have great advice. Keep growing and listen to the patient. All people really want to know is that they are safe and that you are there to care for them. And, get a good pair of shoes because you walk a lot,” Wall said.