Indiana University School of Nursing student Graham Ruselink has always been driven by a desire to serve her community. Her passion for connecting with people and helping them through difficult times is what initially drew her to pursue a career in healthcare. Now, through the IU School of Nursing Fort Wayne Accelerated BSN program, she’s expanding her education and connection with her community through clinical training and volunteer work.
Ruselink earned her first degree in sociology at the University of Cincinnati. She began as a pre-med student, but while working as a patient care assistant, she grew to admire the nurses around her and wanted to have the same hands-on relationship with patients. Because of her interest in how people’s circumstances shape their life experiences, she changed her major to sociology and completed a pre-med minor.
During her time at the IU School of Nursing, Ruselink has found her sociology education to be a strong foundation for working with patients, especially when it comes to her clinical training and volunteer experiences in the Fort Wayne community.
Caring for Mothers and Babies in Need
In January, Ruselink began her clinical rotation at Healthier Moms and Babies, a nonprofit organization that provides counseling, education, and resources for new and expecting parents in need. Ruselink’s learning about the United States’ infant mortality rate during her undergraduate studies is what drew her to the organization.
“I wrote a paper on the infant mortality rate and how astronomical it is for a country like the U.S.,” she said. “We are so well-developed. There are issues with our healthcare system, but we have a very grounded healthcare system compared to other countries. Yet our infant mortality rate is really high.”
The need for improved healthcare for pregnant women and their newborns in Indiana is apparent by the sobering statistics of infant mortality. In 2023, Indiana ranked 13th in the United States for the highest number of infant deaths with 6.51 per every 1,000 births, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.
“I decided I wanted to work with moms who are underprivileged,” Ruselink said. “I wanted to see what I could do in my community to combat those rates.”
Clinical experiences with Healthier Moms and Babies helps students participate in bridging gaps in access to healthcare that affect these outcomes. The organization provides care for patients from the time they find out they’re expecting until the baby is around 2 years old. The families meet with the same team during this time, which allows them to form unique and strong bonds with their nurses.
“It was so cool to see this friendship dynamic, and the level of trust the mothers had to ask questions and share their concerns,” Ruselink said. “Getting to be a safe place for the moms was really sweet.”
After completing her time at Healthier Moms and Babies, she began volunteering at Matthew 25, another nonprofit organization in Fort Wayne that provides healthcare to residents who face barriers to receiving medical services. Her work there focused on routine checkups and addressing patients’ specific health concerns.
Many of the patients Ruselink saw were Spanish-speaking, which presented a barrier to communication, despite her background in Spanish classes and study abroad experiences. She found ways to communicate with patients and learned that sometimes the most impactful thing she could do for a patient was just to provide support during difficult times.
Ruselink recalls one patient who came to Matthew 25 for a Pap smear. To help calm the patient’s nerves during the procedure, she held her hand—a small gesture of compassion.
“Just us being there next to her, holding her hand, not telling her it was going to be okay, but just being present was a game changer for her,” she said.
A Future Built on Service
Now in her final semester, Ruselink is beginning to plan for life after nursing school graduation. As an IU Health Scholar, she’ll work for IU Health for two years after she earns her degree. She hopes to continue to do pre-, intra-, and post-operative nursing to care for patients having operative procedures.
Ruselink’s ultimate goal is to bring healthcare to underserved communities around the world.
“Ultimately, I just feel this social responsibility to make our community better,” Ruselink explained. “I recognize my privilege to get an education and go to nursing school. What am I doing, in turn, to help the need that exists?”