CAREERS IN NURSING: CAMPUS NURSE CALLS THE SHOTS

CAREERS IN NURSING
CAMPUS NURSE CALLS THE SHOTS: SOUTHERN NAZARENE UNIVERSITY

by Vickie Jenkins – Writer/Photographer

Are you one of those people that feel like you have to stay busy all the time? Apparently, Angie Hattler is. Angie is a pleasant individual that is an RN, Director of the Student Health Center at Southern Nazarene University Campus and is an Infusion nurse at Option One Infusion Pharmacy. Going from one job to the other, Angie’s focus remains on her patients. With a southern accent, a big smile and a bubbly personality, it is obvious that she is happy and loves helping her patients, and likewise, her patients love her.
Angie has been a nurse for 7 years and has been working at SNU and Option One Infusion Pharmacy for 5 years. She grew up in Jonesboro, Arkansas and came to Oklahoma, attending OCCC for her RN degree and received her BS degree from SNU.
Asking Angie what qualities make a good nurse, she replied, “Kindness, caring and compassion but the most important is being a good communicator. Knowing how to talk to the patients and having the patients understand is HUGE!”
“I am a very positive person. I have a strong work ethic and a solid relationship with God. I live a happy, healthy life,” she said.
Angie has always had a desire to help others, in one way or another. “I came to SNU when I was 18 years old, starting off with a nursing major and changed to education. I taught Biology and Science in the Yukon Public Schools for 18 years, then went back to achieve my other passion of being a nurse. It is amazing how much my education degree has helped with my medical degree,” Angie said.
The favorite part of Angie’s job is the fact that she loves working with patients, students, families and making a difference in people’s lives. “An awesome asset of being an RN is knowing that there are a million opportunities in the medical field due to different aspects of being a nurse. I love my job but since I love learning too, I am going to get my certificate for cosmetic nursing (Botox and filler classes) next week in Colorado. I just want to keep working and learning,” she stated.
What is your biggest asset at work? “Having amazing people to work with. At SNU, I have an amazing doctor to work with, who is not only my boss, but is a precious mentor to me, Dr. Ami Siems. She answers all of my crazy questions, teaches me daily and is so kind. There are other ladies that I enjoy working with. It is a fun place to work,” Angie replied. “We laugh a lot!” she added.
If Angie were to give advice to someone going into the medical field, she would tell them, “Stay with it! Work is hard and your job will be hard but when you are finished, you will be so glad you stuck with it, not giving up. You will make people healthy and you will have a great sense of doing well in this world. Being in the medical field, you can be a different maker every day. Wellness includes 3 things; physical health, mental health and spiritual health. Being an RN, you get to teach all of them every single day. I love my job,” she answered.
Angie has two sons, Tyler, 25, a 2016 SNU graduate and currently an OKC firefighter and is married to a precious girl Haley. Angie’s other son, Trenton, 21, is a business major in his junior year. “One of the most important things to me is making sure my 2 sons get a good education. I am so proud of my boys,” Angie said.
Even though Angie works 2 jobs, she still has time to spend with her friends and family. She enjoys spending time working out, walking, running and bike riding, going to sporting events and working in her yard.
Ending with a little humor, I asked Angie if there was a certain incident that happened to her when she was a new nurse. “Well, when I first got out of school, I worked at Oklahoma Heart Hospital and the charting was INSANE! Going from teaching to nursing, charting was very difficult for me. As a teacher for 18 years, I made sure to write in complete sentences. As a nurse, when it came to charting, everything is abbreviated. I still have a hard time knowing what some of those abbreviations mean,” Angie said.