Nursing’s Alumna of the Year opens free-standing birth center to provide a home-like environment for women in labor.
April Clyde, the UNLV School of Nursing’s Alumna of the Year, opened Serenity Birth Center, the first free-standing birth center in Southern Nevada. (Photo by Michael Roberts)
April Clyde
’00 BS Nursing
School of Nursing Alumna of the Year
As she began her final semester in UNLV’s School of Nursing, April Clyde was brimming with excitement and optimism in equal measure. She was nearing the completion of her bachelor’s degree, and already had zeroed in on a career in labor and delivery.
Now it was time for the fun part: gaining hands-on experience by shadowing a professional in her chosen speciality for the entire semester.
Paired with a labor and delivery nurse manager at a local hospital, Clyde was eager to see the skills she learned in in class in action. She was hopeful that, by semester’s end, she would show enough aptitude to be recommended for a permanent position.
“At the time, it was uncommon for a new graduate to be hired onto a specialty floor like labor and delivery,” April says. “So I knew the odds were against me. Still, I thought if I worked really hard and proved myself, I could be the exception.”
Unfortunately, it took all of one shift before that dream was shattered.
“At the end of my first day, the nurse manager bluntly told me: ‘My unit has never hired a new graduate, and you will not be the first,’” she says. “I was crushed.”
Understandably, that emotion lingered for a spell. Eventually, though, it gave way to another one: motivation.
Learn more about April and her career journey on UNLV Today: https://www.unlv.edu/news/article/call-midwife-april-clyde-delivers-maternal-care?utm_source=unlvtoday&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=unlvtoday-20230928
