Profile: Nurse Michelle Wilkins

DAVENPORT - In March, Lincoln Hospital nurse Michelle Wilkins was offered new position.

The infec- tion control manager of the nursing staff retired. The U.S. was still in the early stages of the COVID- 19 pandemic at the time. Taking over infection management at a hospital in the middle of a pandemic may not seem appealing to everyone.

Wilkins, who had been with the hospital for almost six years, decided to accept the challenge.

"Who volunteers for a job like that, right?" Wilkins said laughing. "I figured since I had a work- ing knowledge of the hospital already, if they would have me then I would give it a college try."

Wilkins says the helpfulness and professionalism of her fellow nurses and the rest of the staff has made the

job manageable.

Before accepting the new position, Wilkins had worked a lot of positions with Lincoln Hospital.

"I started out here as a floor nurse," Wilkins said. "I had been trained in most areas at other facilities, but they trained me to the emergency room here. And to our TCU unit and our out-patient unit. So I got to dabble in all the things we do here in nursing. Then, they trained me to be a house supervisor."

Wilkins graduated high school in Florida in 1989. She knew right away that she wanted to be a nurse.

"I never had any doubts about what I wanted to do," Wilkins said.

After high school, she attended Seminole Community College and earned her associate degree in nursing.

She then started on her bachelor's degree at the University of Central Florida but left to start her career.

After starting her career working at hospitals, Wilkins decided she wanted a greater variety of experiences. She tried her hand working as a nurse at a few doctor's offices before return to the hospital scene in several different roles.

"When I was newer in my career, I was not shy to try a bunch of different things," Wilkins said. "I worked a bunch of different floors. I worked post-open- heart unit. I worked ICU, burn unit, psyche unit. I was pretty much test- ing the air to see what I wanted to do for the rest of my life."

After moving from city to city in Florida, she decided she wanted a change and checked out the Pacific Northwest. First, Seattle, but then decided to "see what's on the other side."

She found herself driving through Davenport to look at houses.

"I didn't even know there was a hospital in Davenport," she said.

When she saw a sign for a hospital, she decided she wanted to see it.

"I walked into the front door and was greeted so warmly," Wilkins said. "And everyone I met in that spur of the moment visit were so friendly."

Later that night, Wilkins applied for a job. Six years later, she says she still loves it.

Wilkins admits it took about a year to get used to the small size of the hospital. "I had always

worked in places that were huge," Wilkins said. "So, I was surprised that I really love it here."