Each month for a year, Kailyn “Kal” Elliott made the 5,500-mile round-trip flight from Seattle to Miami to complete his Doctor of Nursing Practice (D.N.P.) degree at the University of Miami School of Nursing and Health Studies. It was a long haul, but nothing compared to Elliott’s journey into adulthood, which he describes as “a bit of a Charles Dickens novel.” Like the famous British author of Oliver Twist and David Copperfield, Elliott transformed a past full of challenges through imagination, intelligence, and resilience.
“I’m originally from Kansas, didn’t have the greatest childhood, grew up in the military, bounced around every six months to a year,” said Elliott, who graduates December 12. “I ended up going to 21 different schools between kindergarten and high school.” From there, it got worse. “I was kicked out of my house for being gay at 15,” he said. “I was homeless. I was actually on the street, off and on, for 10 years.” Elliott persevered, working as a waiter, then sommelier, then carpenter. It was after Hurricane Katrina, though, while volunteering for Habitat for Humanity alongside two retired nurses, that he truly began to frame his future. “They really inspired me,” he said, “and they convinced me to go into nursing.”
After completing his B.S.N. and working as a registered nurse, Elliott started medical school at the University of Washington in Seattle. He also was awarded a National Institutes of Health grant to help improve health literacy materials at a Level 1 trauma center. But three years in, the COVID-19 pandemic and other factors led him to leave med school. Instead, Elliott began contracting nursing services to a correctional institution and returned to school, earning master’s degrees online in both nursing and business. In addition to being an advanced practice RN and board certified family nurse practitioner, he has his Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and Project Management Professional Certification. “I was dealing with uncertainty for so long that I find security in being in school,” he said.
Elliott reports he was recently promoted to director of clinical operations for Providence Swedish Hospital’s Western Washington region, covering a dozen facilities. He hopes to harness leadership tools gained from the D.N.P. program in Miami to care for his fellow nurses by ensuring they and other caregivers have the resources and streamlined processes they need to spend more time with patients.
For his final school project, “Improving Patient Education Material to Align with Health Literacy Standards,” Elliott provided a “roadmap” for Jackson Health System’s health literacy group. Health literacy, which is “the ability to read, understand, and actionize health information, is arguably the best predictor of health outcomes,” he said. Hospital discharge instructions, for example, should include pictures only if they add informational value to what’s being explained, contain a checklist, avoid long words, and use medical terminology only if needed and accompanied by a definition in simple terms. A summary section is important as well, he added.
Elliott assessed Jackson Health’s top 100 pieces of educational material for patients using the AHRQ (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality) and standard readability scoring tools. His main contacts—Dr. Carol Biggs, senior VP and chief nursing executive, and Mavel Fortaleza Arinal, M.S.N., M.H.A., RN, director of clinical practice and regulatory compliance—made a huge impression on him. “They’re eager to do better,” he said. “Dr. Biggs embraced my project wholeheartedly. It just speaks to who she is as a leader—the kind of leader I would like to be.”
With his graduation and work promotion underway, Elliott is happy he chose the University of Miami for his nursing doctorate. “I would absolutely do it again,” he said. “I love that from the jump you get to really dive into what you’re interested in. Everyone has been so helpful and accommodating. I was sold on this idea that the school is invested in producing future leaders of nursing, and everything I’ve experienced supported this, from the classwork, to their guest speakers, to the work we did. It was very affirming.”
A week before Thanksgiving, Elliott officially “handed off” his project at Jackson. “Working with Dr. Biggs was worth the price of admission alone,” he said. “I have found a new mentor and hero in the business. She puts action to her words.”
Kal Elliott is one of 48 graduating D.N.P. students set to present final posters at the school on December 11. For more information on graduate programs, email BeACaneNurse@miami.edu, call 305-284-2508, or go to sonhs.miami.edu/academics.
