Tarleton State University nursing professor Dr. Cathy Young was one of 168 leaders in the nursing field who were inducted into the American Academy of Nursing. Young was recognized for her success in education, management, practice, policy and research. Among others inducted were hospital and government administrators, college deans and renowned scientific researchers.

“I knew I had been nominated, but really didn’t expect to be selected,” commented Young on her achievement. “Very few are accepted the first time they are nominated, so when the letter arrived, I cried.”

Young is an associate professor of nursing at Tarleton. She began her work with Tarleton on Sept. 1, 2014. Before coming to Tarleton, she was the coordinator of the family nurse practitioner program at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, Arkansas. Throughout her career, Young has worked to help victims of domestic violence and sexual assault cope with their abuse and the effect it can have on their lives. She has done what she can to help improve the access to care these victims have.

When asked what she considers her greatest accomplishment, Young responded, “Being a nurse. Nursing is the best profession in the world. It helped that my calling seemed to be to improve care to rural areas that did not have health care providers. I chose to work to establish rural health clinics in medically underserved areas; then established a nursing clinic on the campus of Moberly Community College in Missouri.”

Also, while working at Southeast Missouri State University, Young worked with a women’s health nurse practitioner to establish a clinic to provide sexual abuse exams for children, which eventually became a child advocacy center to provide care for children of sexual and/or physical abuse. That center still provides care and has served over 3,000 children and adolescents since it was established. 

Young has also worked alongside the Arkansas State Police Crimes Against Children Investigation Unit to establish children’s SAFE exams and to explain physical findings for investigators. Additionally, her testimony and evidence in these cases have helped to offer important concrete support to influence those involved in the cases about the abusive situations the victims were a part of. She has had the opportunity to show findings from her work regionally, nationally and internationally.

Young earned her master’s degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City as an adult clinical nurse specialist, and then completed a post-master’s degree as a family nurse practitioner from the University of Tennessee-Memphis Health Sciences Center. Her doctorate of nursing science with a clinical focus was also awarded at the University of Tennessee.