School of Nursing and Health Studies Recognizes Kathleen Haycraft

Kathleen Haycraft (DNP ’11) empowers nurses and patients alike as the Missouri state representative for the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners and chair of the Missouri Council of Advance Practice Nurses, Missouri Nurses Association.

As a family and pediatric and dermatological nurse practitioner, Haycraft has demonstrated a passion for health care policy and a broad range of experiences in administration, educational and clinical settings.

“I enjoy engaging with legislators and administrative bodies to explain what a nurse practitioner is and what we can do for our healthcare system,” said Haycraft, who lives and works in Hannibal, Mo.  “I have a passion for patients who live in underserved rural and urban areas. I am driven by my memories of 16 years at a rural health clinic where there were not enough practitioners to care for the large volume of patients. Many of the patients were poor and chronically ill.”

As an instrumental leader working to expand access to care for all Missouri residents, Haycraft is being recognized as the 2014 Alumni Achievement Award recipient for the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Nursing and Health Studies.

Haycraft received her Doctorate in Nursing Practice, also known as a DNP, in 2011 from UMKC.

“My most profound moment at the school occurred in my healthcare policy class during an assignment entitled ‘Get Off the Porch and Run with the Big Dogs’,” she said. “This made me realize I had gotten a bit complacent. I decided to get off the porch, and I have been running ever since.”

Haycraft realized she wanted to pursue nursing when he daughter became seriously ill and was hospitalized for more than a month.

“There were two nurses who impressed me through the wonderful care they gave my daughter,” she said. “I think she is alive today because of the extraordinary care that she received from them. After that illness, I enrolled in my first track along my long path of education.”

Haycraft cares for people in her personal life, too. In addition to being a wife, mother and grandmother, she has helped displaced families settle into new lives. In the 1970s, a family of six from a refugee camp in Southeast Asia lived in her home. She helped them adapt to the U.S. and has kept up with the four children as they have grown. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, she went to Louisiana and brought back a family of four and another person. Her family held a community wedding for the couple who had missed their wedding because of the hurricane.

Her secrets?

“Keep the faith and never quit,” Haycraft said. “You may lose a few battles along the way; learn from them and laugh a lot. Your sense of humor will save you. Surround yourself with positive thinkers. Have confidence and respect others. Legislators and policy makers want to talk to you because you are the expert.”

Haycraft’s award at UMKC, and those of the other alumni honorees, one from each school and the five university-wide awards of distinction, will be presented at the 2014 Alumni Awards luncheon on April 24. For information and tickets for the event, visit the 2014 Alumni Awards web page.

| Stacy Downs, Division of Strategic Marketing and Communications