Army Veteran Dr. Pamela Wright, 53, is the associate dean of nursing at South College, a private institution that graduates more than 200 nurses from the Atlanta campus each year, adding skilled healthcare workers to the understaffed medical field.
Wright attributes her service in the military to an important role in the success of South College’s nursing grads. She said increasing teamwork and communication is her biggest impact since joining the institution.
“Having gone into the military is a big part of the leader that I am today because I developed strong leadership skills, discipline, and the ability to work under pressure,” Wright said. “My team will tell you I’m very big on team: Together, everyone achieves more.”
“Something as simple as huddling can make a difference,” Wright said. “We’ve instituted huddling across the College of Nursing to talk about our at-risk students to figure out how to make sure they’re successful in the program.”
The proof is in the pudding. The 2023 graduates in South’s Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing had a 97% pass rate of the licensure exam; the LPNs had a 94% pass rate.
Wright oversees students studying for degrees in Licensed Practical Nurse, Associate of Science in Nursing, and Bachelor of Science in Nursing. South College’s Atlanta campus has a predominantly Black, female student body. Graduates go on to work at Northiside Hospital, Piedmont Hospital, Emory Healthcare, Wellstar Health System, Grady Health, and the VA Hospital.
Wright served as active duty in the Army from 1999 to 2001, and remained in the Army reserves until 2005. After boot camp at Fort Jackson, S.C., she trained at Fort Liberty, NC (formerly Fort Bragg) and Fort Wainwright, AK.
“It was a total shock coming from bedtime nursing going into the military. I was a bedside nurse in a hospital setting, and I never imagined being in a field hospital in the Combat Support Unit,” Wright said.
Wright described her experience as an ICU nurse at Fort Bragg, where the environment was a war simulation. “Our mission was to set up hospitals and accept patients as if the unit was in a war zone,” she said.
At Fort Wainwright, she was stationed at Bassett Army Community Hospital, where active-duty soldiers, family members, and retirees from all branches of federal service receive medical care. The first week she arrived, temperatures hit 60 degrees below zero.
In the pediatric clinic, Wright ran the immunization clinic. She had a baby, and finished her Army career in the medical surgical nursing unit. Wright laughed that her son, now in his 20s, tells stories about taking photos with Santa at the North Pole – which was only 15 minutes from their home.
“I went into the military because I wanted something different,” said the Florida native. “That’s what landed me there; nothing more, nothing less. I just wanted to go and serve my country.”
Her day-to-day routine is quite different now. In addition to overseeing the nursing programs and its coordinators, she meets with area healthcare executives to discuss how South College can best serve the Atlanta community.
Healthcare companies and area hospitals are seeking nurses who are prepared to work in a high-demand, fast-paced environment, she said.
Emergency Department nurses have a high turnover, so South College has invested in equipment to simulate situations before their students enter a clinical setting.
“We prepare them in house before they go out and have actual interactions with patients. That has been a tremendous help with our students being prepared as they go on the floor and work as student nurses,” she said.
“I entered nursing education to be a change agent, to help future nurses,” she said.
