By Phoebe Alwine | Reporter

The Louise Herrington School of Nursing (LHSON) on Baylor’s Dallas campus provides an education to baccalaureate and graduate level nurses for professional practice, healthcare leadership and worldwide service.

Graduating in May of 2019, Riley Mills and Hannah Conrad spent their initial two years on the Waco campus and later began their nursing journey in the heart of Dallas at LHSON.

Conrad said that after her childhood experience with surgery, she saw how kind nurses were and was inspired to become one.

Mills said that she was inspired to become a nurse through global missions where she loved caring for children, and that studying at LHSON really set them up for success.

“It was nice that the school is in Dallas because there are multiple hospitals nearby where we were able to have our clinicals at,” Mills said. “That way, we were able to make connections and network with the people who worked at the hospitals.”

Conrad said that the professors are the key to creating success in the classroom and in real life.

“The professors at LHSON are second to none. Each of them impacted my current nursing practice in one way or another,” Conrad said. “Some taught me nursing rationales I use every day to figure out what course of treatment would benefit my patients most, and others taught me how to be compassionate and empathetic in a way that is comforting to families but allows me to leave my work at work and not be too emotionally affected by it at home.”

Mills said that the LHSON community stands by their students, helping them along their journey of becoming a nurse.

“At the school, there are so many people that supported me throughout nursing school, whether it was professors or faculty that worked in student services,” Mills said. “Everyone was so welcoming and understanding of how challenging nursing school can be.”

Mills said that the faculty was a great help in growing her confidence as a new nurse because she knew she had their support in everything she did.

Post-graduation, Mills is now a registered nurse working at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas. There, she works 12-hour night shifts on the neurology unit administering medication, doing assessments, talking with families and working with doctors.

Conrad also works at Children’s Medical Center as a registered nurse in the Emergency Department. She determines the best course of treatment, administers medicine, takes blood and handles IV (intravenous therapy) and catheter procedures.

“I am confident that I wouldn’t be the nurse I am today without the (tough) love that the Baylor Nursing school showed me,” Conrad said. “I am so grateful to every staff member who allowed me to take away so much from their classes and personal guidance.”

LHSON prides itself on providing students with ultimate skills in professional leadership and critical thinking skills. Both Mills and Conrad said the opportunities and education given to them were unmatched, which helped them both to be working in the field of their dreams.