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Kaitlyn Horton, a third-generation graduate of the UAMS College of Nursing, is shown with her mother, Pamela Horton.
Image by the Horton family
College of Nursing Graduate Builds on Family’s Legacy in Patient Care
| When Kaitlyn Horton earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) in December, she fulfilled a dream that she’s held for as long as she can remember.
“Being around nurses is really all I’ve ever known,” she said.
Horton, a Sheridan native, is a third-generation graduate of the UAMS College of Nursing, following in the footsteps of her mother, Pamela Horton, and grandmother Nancy Pyle.
The family’s journey into the nursing profession began with Pyle, who graduated with her Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree in 1993 when she was 47 years old. It took her several years to complete the program; she took classes part time while holding a full-time job in the personnel department at CHI St. Vincent Infirmary in Little Rock.
The family’s journey into the nursing profession began with Nancy Pyle, shown in this photo with granddaughter Kaitlyn Horton.Image by the Horton family
The balancing act was necessary, Pamela Horton noted, because Pyle and her husband had four daughters to support.
“My twin sister and I, who are the youngest in the family, graduated high school the year before our mom finished nursing school,” Pamela Horton said. “It was definitely a delayed career move for her, but becoming a nurse was what she had wanted her entire life.”
Pyle continued to work at CHI St. Vincent for the remainder of her career, serving mostly as a nurse in the cardiovascular intensive care unit. She passed away in 2017, but her love for nursing is shared by her daughters, three of whom have nursing careers of their own.
Pamela Horton at one point considered a career as a pharmacist, but she ultimately decided to enter the nursing field. After obtaining her Diploma of Nursing and becoming a registered nurse, she decided to continue her education by enrolling at UAMS. She earned her BSN in 2006 and completed her Master of Nursing Science (MNSc) degree in 2009.
“The programs at UAMS were great,” she said. “They definitely require commitment, especially if you have a family. It wasn’t easy to have a job and go to school at the same time, but the College of Nursing was very supportive along the way.”
Pamela Horton has worked at the John L. McClellan Memorial Veterans’ Hospital in Little Rock since she was 19 years old, a tenure that began before she started her nursing career. Although she has held a variety of roles as a nurse, she said she has primarily focused on surgical services. She currently serves as the hospital’s surgery nurse executive.
With so many family members in the nursing field, Kaitlyn Horton began her education at an early age. She learned the terminology of the profession, and she heard about the tools and treatments that enable nurses to tend to their patients. And as Pyle’s health began to decline, necessitating a heart transplant and later requiring treatment for diabetes, Kaitlyn Horton helped with her care.
Kaitlyn Horton said she has dreamed of becoming a nurse for as long as she can remember.Image by the Horton family
“She let me learn how to give her insulin shots because she knew I wanted to become a nurse someday,” Kaitlyn Horton said.
Kaitlyn Horton graduated from UAMS through the College of Nursing’s Fast-Track Program, an initiative that helps students earn their BSN degree a semester ahead of schedule. Students in the Fast-Track Program represent the top tier of their class, with only 24 of them invited to join the program last year.
She recently began her first job after earning her degree, working in the post-anesthesia care unit at the Arkansas Heart Hospital in Little Rock. She said she’s excited about the opportunity to add to her family’s legacy in nursing.
“I think my grandma would be so proud of me, knowing that I followed in her footsteps and graduated with the same degree that she completed,” she said.
Pamela Horton noted that the walls of the College of Nursing’s offices on the Little Rock campus display photos of each graduating class of students. She and her daughter have visited that display, looking at the images that reflect two generations of family achievement. Soon, a photo of Kaitlyn Horton’s graduating class will join the others on those walls.
“It warms my heart that Kaitlyn had this goal and that she achieved it,” Pamela Horton said. “She has such a love for her patients, and she’s very good at nurturing people and caring for them. I’m just so proud of her.”