The early days of Karen Dilatush’s 40+ year association with Baptist were noteworthy. She was elected “Miss Baptist” during her senior year at the Baptist School of Nursing (known today as the Baptist Health Sciences University), one of the highest honors for women in the program at the time. Shortly afterward, she was one of the first Baptist School of Nursing graduates to work in the Baptist Medical Center’s ICU in 1971.
During her years at school, Karen said the Baptist School of Nursing set their students up for success through academic achievement and character building.
“It was all unmarried women, there were no men. We kind of grew up together. The reality of life and death and learning how to take care of people, we had that in common,” she said. “They were trying to instill in you the seriousness of the profession. You did things with the people you were learning how to be a nurse with. There was such camaraderie there, I called it the sisterhood.”
Beyond just offering a good education, Karen said Baptist truly set her up for a successful life.
“Besides the obvious that it trained me for a profession, the system itself provided all kinds of opportunities for us, spiritually as well as professionally,” she said. “I think the fact that my education was so intensive, it gave me a confidence that bled over to the other parts of life. That was a great part of my growing up as a person as well as receiving an education.”
After a break from nursing to raise her four children, Karen returned to the Baptist system 11 years ago.
“When I came back, I wanted to go back to what I considered home,” she said. “I do think that Baptist tries to do everything the right way. They provide for their employees, and I just think they’re a bunch of honest and integrity-filled folks.”
Karen is happy working in the ICU again, and she’s especially glad to be in the Baptist system.
“Baptist DeSoto really has a family feeling,” she said. “We say that we swim together and sink together, which doesn’t happen too often. But there’s such a feeling in that building of security and camaraderie. There’s just a good spirit at Baptist, and you sense that people genuinely care about one another.”