Kathleen MacLachlan retreats to her broken-in office chair after a long day of work. She is still wearing her white medical coat that is familiar to 20 or so patients each day.
Behind her are more than 100 colorful photos on a cluttered wall of lifetime memorabilia where smiling SU students, Otto the Orange, family portraits, diploma certificates and Christmas cards are displayed. MacLachlan is determined to completely fill it by the time she retires (not any time soon, she says).
"There's nothing educational about that," MacLachlan, a nurse practitioner, said pointing to a poster of cats on the ceiling above the medical exam table.
"I have all these different props I use to put people at ease," Kathy says, pointing to a basket of toys her patients fiddle with.
The 63-year-old Syracuse native doesn't think about retiring from her 25 years at the health center, a place where 100 to 150 students visit each day, according to James Jacobs, director of Health Services.
MacLachlan said she doesn't have much time. Her schedule is jammed with her women's health position, her position on the board of directors for the National College Health Association (she just finished her term as president), her board member position with the state's affiliation, her dedication to her family and many other responsibilities.
"Kathy brings work home seven days a week," said Gary, her husband of 40 years.
The two were sixth-grade classmates (they were both captains of the girl and boy safety patrols). The school districts split shortly after, and the two reunited at a 1968 Simon and Garfunkel concert.
"It was love at second sight," Gary said.
Gary knows how much her job and involvement in associations like the National Professional College Health Association (she received the highest honor of The Fellows Award last year) mean to her. The couple does their talking while Gary drives MacLachlan home from work or at dinnertime.
"I know she's so emotionally committed to do what's right for college health," Gary said. "She has a tireless dedication to what she loves. In my mind she is above the standard of quality as a nurse practitioner and as a human being."
MacLachlan's children have also experienced firsthand her dedication to her work.
"I remember when I was about 10 years old having wheelchair races at the health center when nobody was there," said Gavin, one of MacLachlan's three children. MacLachlan would take each of her children (two boys and one girl) to work once a month during her night shifts at the health center (the center changed three years ago from being a 24/7 operation).
"I really began to understand how much she loved her job," Gavin said.
MacLachlan's role as a nurse practitioner focuses on reproductive health, with 10 percent of an appointment involving the exam and 90 percent spent educating and talking with the student. Sex and contraception are common discussions.
MacLachlan has seen a trend in fewer unplanned pregnancies since the emergency contraceptive Plan B became valuable. During the '90s, she would encounter a couple of unplanned pregnancies a week, she said.
But one memory that sticks was a case of meningitis back in the early 1990s. A student visited the health center with what seemed to be a stomach bug, MacLachlan said, but died that night from the virus.
"That shook everyone up for quite awhile," MacLachlan said. "It was like losing one of your own."
Students at the health center view MacLachlan as more than just a nurse.
"Students request Kathy," said Deb Frank, also a nurse practitioner at the health center. "She's caring, she's kind, and she really knows her stuff."
In between seeing patients at the health center, she does work for the national and state American College Health Association, professional development at SU, an Irish host program called Project Children and more.
"I'm always trying to see where I can get 15 minutes of solid time to send a batch e-mail out," MacLachlan said. "But I know I'll get things done at some time."
While MacLachlan grinds out medical forms, sends out batch e-mails and consults her patients at the health center, what she enjoys most is building relationships with the students, and that doesn't just mean learning their names.
MacLachlan's family is always a top priority, no matter how busy she may be. Her son, Gavin, and his family live two blocks away from her and Gary in DeWitt, N.Y. Oftentimes when Gavin and his wife are working, Kathy and Gary get their grandchildren on the school bus. Lindsay, 7, and Jamison, 5, spend many mornings at their grandparents' house.
"My mom has developed a really special relationship with the kids," Gavin said. "Lindsay and her are like best friends. She knows all my mom's business."
It's during these mornings that MacLachlan goes through the same routine she has had since her children were little. The family has learned it perfectly, and Gavin recites the morning ritual.
MacLachlan wakes up at the same time each workday, at 4:45 a.m. She hits snooze twice, gets out of bed at 5:15, showers, then gets dressed in her reading-the-paper clothes. Then, she turns the coffee on, does her hair, drinks her coffee, and makes fruit and yogurt for her and Gary.
"You don't mess with her routine," Gary said with a laugh.
MacLachlan has mastered the task of taking better care of herself as she continues her loaded days of responsibilities, work, family and friends. When asked what one thing is that she needs to work on, she replied, "I need to learn the 'n' word: 'no.'"source
Licensed Vocational Nurse Jobs
What is a Licensed Vocational Nurse?
Is the Vocational Nursing Profession a growing career?
What do Vocational Nurses do? |
