Now, native Odesan is officially leading the Faculty of Nursing at the Center for Health Sciences at Texas Institute of Technology.
Kelly Moseley was recently appointed as the school's district dean after a year of interim work. She replaces Sharon Cannon in that role.
A graduate of Permian High School, Moseley attended Angelo State University, where she received her bachelor's degree in nursing and a master's degree in nursing with a focus on education, and a doctorate in health sciences from Southeast Nova University.
For the first time, Moseley wanted to be a writer, but her grandfather got sick and was in the hospital, watching the nurses take her in a different direction.
“I think my favorite part of what they did was spending time with him and helping him relieve his fear, and I thought it was just a fun job.
Moseley began working in August 2008 at the TTUHSC School of Nursing as a retention counselor for an accelerated bachelor's degree in nursing. She said the retention counselor appears to be a supporter for students struggling with the course and will help them make the test better.
She has since taught several different courses and is currently co-director of the Center for Excellence in Evidence-Based Practice. Prior to joining TTUHSC, Moseley was a staff nurse at Medical Center Hospital and an auxiliary pharmacology and clinical instructor at Odessa College.
Moseley was named one of the 25 great nurses in the Permian Basin in 2019 and was awarded the TTUHSC School of Nursing School of Excemctual Mentoring Award.
Instructor Moseley, who had at Odessa College in Lori Wingate, was the one who encouraged her to enter the end of her nursing education.
“She did the tasks she had to teach about something like preschool kids. Our group chose sun safety, like wearing a hat or sunscreen when you play in the sun. She really encouraged me to get involved in education.
Moseley was interim dean at TTUHSC for one year and was appointed permanent position on January 1st.
Growing up in Odessa and attending school here, she is instrumental in her new role.
“I've had a lot of contact with people I didn't know before in this role…I think I stepped into someone who could reach out to certain things because I knew the resources we had in our community.
She added that Cannon was lucky enough to show her rope and take her to meet people in the community.
Being a native of Odessa can also help recruit future nursing students, whether in public, private or charter schools.
“I think that's a really good opportunity,” she said. “We need to go into these areas and get to these kids at a young age because in high school we pretty much know what they want to do. They may change their minds, but they need to get to them when they're young,” she said.
One of her big goals is to make students more active and engage with the community.
“I don't think people really don't know that we are here. I get asked constantly. Ah, do you drive to Lubbock every day? Our students are asked the same questions. But I think we're hiding here. Also, we have students on their red scrubs. Nurses, they seem to remember doing this when I was in nursing school, this may benefit this patient,” Moseley said.
Nursing schools have seen an increase in enrollment this year. It ranges from last spring 60 to this spring 87. Registration is usually low in the summer. Last summer they had 11 students, and this summer they are expecting 23 students, Moseley said.
“We did more recruiting and advertising. Andrea (Storm) and her team are great. It's very helpful for us,” Moseley said.
Storm is Communications and Marketing Manager at the TTUHSC Odessa Campus.
They held a recruitment event at Alpine with Professor and Physician Adrian Billings.
“They had a few students from different high school districts, rural high schools, and their parents thought the only option was to go to Lubbock, so they were really excited to be able to drive all six or seven hours to Lubbock.
Moseley and her husband Patrick have two children.
She added that the national nursing exam has a high pass rate and the staff is fantastic.
“They love working with our students, and they're (a) oiled machines,” Moseley said.
TTUHSC School of Nursing Dean Holly Wei commented that after Moseley's appointment, Moseley does an incredible job of helping the community.
“Dr. Moseley is from the Permian Basin and has done an incredible job of helping her community,” Wey said in a news release. “She is committed to providing quality education to the next generation of nurses in West Texas.”
