Soul of 78- Sarah Katherine Warren
Surgical ICU Nurse, Grandview Medical Center
Words by Cooper Kirkpatrick | Image by Justin Hunter
Ask Sarah Katherine Warren what led her into nursing, and she will tell you it started long before she ever donned her first set of scrubs. “Ever since I was five, I knew I wanted to be a nurse,” she says. “I feel like it was a calling from God. I feel like He wanted me to be there for people in their time of need and to make them feel at home while they’re away from home.”
The story goes back to her own birth. Complications nearly took her life, but a team of nurses worked tirelessly to keep her alive. That story stuck with her. So did her aunt and uncle, both nurses whose influence helped shape her path.
By high school, Sarah Katherine’s interest had turned into something more than curiosity. She thrived in her health education class and saw how naturally the work fit her. Encouragement from her family sealed it: this was what she was meant to do.
After graduation, Sarah Katherine began her studies at Huntingdon College, where she played tennis for a year. However, when she discovered that the school didn’toffer a nursing program, she transferred to the University of Alabama at Birmingham to pursue her degree. Health issues soon interrupted that plan. Struggling with pseudo-seizures, she had to step away for a season. It was a difficult decision, but one that ultimately set her on the right path, and she’s grateful to share that those health challenges are now behind her.
When she later enrolled at Bevill State Community College, everything began to fall into place. “Bevill was exactly what I needed,” she said. “My professors, my parents, and my faith helped me keep going.”
She graduated in 2019 and found her way to the Surgical Intensive Care Unit at Grandview Medical Center in Birmingham, where she continues to work today. Her best friend, Alyssa, helped her get her foot in the door and introduced her to a manager who saw her work ethic and dedication to patients and decided to hire her.
In January 2022, Sarah Katherine and one of her closest work friends, Audrey, decided to take their nursing skills on the road. The pair spent more than a year working as travel nurses, with assignments in Nashville, West Virginia, and Guam. “We had a blast,” she says. “I learned how to adapt to city life, ‘country’ country life, and island life. We made lifelong friends at each place and got to experience different cultures especially in Guam.” The experience, she adds, strengthened her adaptability and empathy, qualities that continue to shape her approach to patient care.
Now, as a charge nurse at Grandview in the Surgical ICU, Sarah Katherine’s days are full and rarely predictable. She’s responsible for assigning nurses, managing schedules, and balancing the constant movement of patients and staff all while caring for her own assigned patients. “In nursing, you can write down your perfect day, but writing it down is about as far as it gets,” she laughs.
Even when things don’t go as planned, Sarah Katherine maintains her perspective and thinks about the nurses who once helped her fight for her own life when she was born. That story still drives her today.
“I take care of my patients the way I would want myself or my family to be taken care of,” she says.
And that’s really what it all comes down to: faith, gratitude, and the belief that the best care comes from the heart. 78