Kim A. Kim
Certified Diabetes Nurse Educator & DNP Student
Join Kim Kim and NAHN Virtual Summer 2023 Book Club on Saturday, August 19th, 12 PM EST to discuss Tanya Kateri Hernandez’s book, Racial Innocence Unmasking Latino Anti-Black Bias and the Struggle for Equality. Email hartfordnahn@gmail.com for zoom link or questions.
Kim Kim was born and raised in Hartford, Connecticut in a Cuban-American household. Between the age of 18–24, Kim became a caregiver for her mom following her stroke and later for her daughter who had a brain tumor. These experiences led her to pursue a career in nursing by starting as a nursing assistant.
The way nurses made us feel safe and cared for, I wanted to give that back.
In her mid-20s, she worked to balance her nursing school program with working full time and taking care of her daughter and was able to graduate at age 30. She began her nursing career as a medical-surgical and telemetry staff nurse in 2009.
When I met my first Latina nurse educator in my Nursing Foundations course, it helped me understand that I could not only be a nurse, but also in nursing education or leadership, because I saw her do so.
In 2011 Kim returned to school for her Master’s in Clinical Nurse Leadership and transitioned to a role as a community health navigator in 2013, going on to work as a certified diabetes nurse clinician and specialist. In 2015 she began teaching as an adjunct clinical instructor and educator at various Connecticut schools of nursing. In 2019 she became the elected chapter president of the National Association of Hispanic Nurses in Hartford, and concluded serving her appointment on the board of directors and as the co-chair of the NAHN DEI Committee this year. Kim was also featured in the 2021 Reckoning with Racism in Nursing series, where she passionately shared healthcare disparities she personally witnessed during her career and posed the question:
We’re the most trusted profession but amongst whom?
As an advocate for implicit bias training and competency in nursing, she continues her work in health equity and DEI in nursing by serving as a commissioner on the National Commission to Address Racism in Nursing, the President-Elect of the Association of Diabetes Care and Education Specialist Connecticut Coordinating Body. This year she co-presented at the NAHN 48th annual conference on a presentation titled De Allados a Cómplices (From Allies to Accomplices) and also enrolled in a doctorate of nursing practice program to specialize as a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner.
More About Kim
View Kim’s Nurses You Should Know Video here
View her Reckoning with Racism in Nursing Video here.
Connect with Kim on LinkedIn.
Sources
The information above was sourced from Kim Kim and the National Association of Hispanic Nurses.
Learn More
To learn more about inclusion in nursing and be part of the national discussion to address racism in nursing, check out and share the following resources:
Know Your History
- Nursing CLIO to engage with historians and scholars committed to deep work around historical accuracy in healthcare and nursing.
- American Association for the History of Nursing to attend monthly webinars on topics of nursing history, view the calendar here.
Examine Bias
- NurseManifest to attend live zoom sessions with fellow nurses on nursing’s overdue reckoning on racism or to sign their pledge.
- Breaking Bias in Healthcare, an online course created by scientist Anu Gupta, to learn how bias is related to our brain’s neurobiology and can be mitigated with mindfulness.
- Revolutionary Love Learning Hub provides free tools for learners and educators to use love as fuel towards ourselves, our opponents, and to others so that we can embody a world where we see no strangers.
Support & Advocate
- National Coalition for Ethnic Minority Nurse Association to stay engaged with topics relevant to nurses of color.
Help us paint the internet with nursing’s diverse origin stories. Follow this Medium publication, NursesYouShouldKnow on Instagram, LinkedIn, or Facebook, or @KnowNurses on Twitter to share and re-post our articles far and wide.
