Like many nurses, Kyla Wulff, BSN, RN, found her way to nursing after working as a veterinary technician for eight years. As a registered vet tech, she discovered her love for medicine and science but was looking for increased responsibility and a fresh challenge. Applying to nursing school was the natural progression for Wulff, where she could utilize veterinary skills and transition to human medical care. “I was a bit ahead of classmates clinically,” says Wulff. “Overall, the switch to nursing worked out fantastically.”
Wulff graduated with her BSN in 2020 from CU Nursing. What stood out to her during her time at CU was the community her class created. She attended the South Campus, and all 40 students took classes together. “I had the most supportive classmates. We studied together and were able to tackle the whole process of nursing school as a group,” she remembers. This created an environment where professors could give dynamic lectures and provide individualized learning. “They spent time answering our questions and made it an incredibly personal experience.” Dr. Jean Burnkrant instructed a geriatric care course and was the professor that stands out in Wulff’s memory. “She was down to earth and genuinely invested in us, bringing a light to geriatric care that’s rare.”
Finishing nursing school at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic was a unique experience for Wulff and her classmates. “It prepared us to be flexible and deal with the unexpected in a way that wouldn’t have normally been part of our training.” With the unpredictability, students and faculty had to adapt to clinicals and protocols surrounding COVID-19 procedure, among other unexpected obstacles.
Wulff is employed at UC Health on the CU Anschutz Medical Campus. She is a clinical nurse in the Clinical Translational Research Center, which is part of the Colorado Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute, and performs research studies on volunteer participants. The studies range from focus areas of bone research, neurology, weight loss, COVID monoclonal antibodies, and everything in between. Wulff’s eventual goal is to attend CU College of Nursing for a master’s in nursing leadership. Ideally, she would like to have a position managing a unit or clinic as a nurse manager.
To undergraduate nursing students, Wulff advises that perseverance will serve them well throughout the program. “We all have experienced adversity in the last few years. I hope that students take time to reflect on why they were drawn to nursing and that they know the end goal is worth it.”
