W
hen patients wake up in the recovery room
at Keck Hospital, University of Southern Cali-
fornia, Tveen Kirkpatrick, RN, will be by their
side, monitoring their transition from anesthe-
sia back into clarity. It's a new role for Kirk-
patrick, who previously spent 10 years in the neuro intensive care
unit—but navigating transitions is perhaps a natural fit for this nurse.
In the earliest years of her life, Kirkpatrick was a refugee.
"Growing up, I was always reminded how fortunate we are
because their whole lives, my mom and dad had to deal with not
feeling safe," said Kirkpatrick, whose family is of Armenian descent.
After fleeing the Armenian genocide in the early 1900s, her mother's
side of the family landed in Beirut and her father's in Sudan. Her
mother, by way of Egypt, eventually wound up in Sudan, as well,
where she met Kirkpatrick's medical student father, married, and
started a family.
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In Their Shoes
RN Tveen Kirkpatrick knows exactly how it feels to be a refugee. BY KARI JONES
