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Alex, Kimberly and Karston
Kimberly Hannon has spent most of her life as a single mom. Over the last two decades she’s balanced the hard work of raising two children with a successful career in nursing.
“Being a single mom has been a challenge,” she said. “I’ve always been working not only for myself, but for my kids. But figuring out how to be independent and do a lot of things on my own has made me reach for my goals even more, just to show that I can do it.”
Hannon was 15 and a sophomore at Dublin High School when she became pregnant with a daughter. She transferred to the Paradigm Accelerated School to wrap up her coursework and graduate early, and finished high school in 2003.
After graduating, she worked part time jobs around town and focused on raising her daughter. She moved out on her own when she was 17, but her parents continued to help her out with childcare. “They were really my rock,” she said. “They helped watch my kids and helped in any way they could, and if it wasn’t for them I don’t know what I would have done.”
Hannon had another child, a son, at age 20, and when she turned 24 she decided to go to nursing school. She graduated with her LVN license in 2010. “Since I was a teenager I always wanted to be a nurse,” she said. “I wanted to help people and just have that heart.”
Once she graduated, she worked first in home health, and then as a nurse at several nursing homes in the area. She started out her career in nursing homes working in Comanche and Hamilton, then at Golden Age Manor in Dublin. She stayed there for six years until they closed, and then found a new job at Stephenville Nursing and Rehab. She’s now been there for three years. “I work the day shift Monday through Friday,” she said.
Most of her time is spent caring for patients and making sure all their documentation is up to date. “I just like being there and getting that special bond with the patients,” she said. “A lot of my residents moved from Dublin into that facility when the one in Dublin closed, so I still get to see them and take care of them. It’s very rewarding”
There are also many challenges that come with working in nursing during the pandemic. “Some days are harder than others,” she said. “When the [coronavirus] hit, it was very hard on the residents.”
Hannon — like everyone in the healthcare profession — had to change the way she did things to accommodate new precautions. “For a while residents’ families weren’t allowed in, and they could only have window visits or phone calls,” she said. “It’s been a tough couple of years. We’re just now starting to be a little more flexible.”
Hannon hopes to stay at the Stephenville facility for a while. “It’s a smaller facility and it feels kind of like a family,” she said. “I like being in such a close knit group.”
She also plans on going back to school at some point to earn her RN. “Right now I’m content, but once my son graduates I’ve thought about going back to school and maybe picking up agency work and being a traveling nurse,” she said.
When Hannon isn’t working, she enjoys spending time with her family. “My kids and I take small family trips, or just go to the pool or the movies,” she said. “I try to focus my time on them now that they’re getting older.”
Her daughter Alexandra is 19 and graduated last year from Dublin High School. Her son Karston is 14 and a sophomore at Dublin. Her father, Kenneth Schronk, passed away five years ago, and her mother, Kelly Schronk, still lives in Dublin.
Hannon’s advice to Dublin students is to try many different things to see what is important to them. “I didn’t do a lot in school, and I always wanted my kids to do more,” she said. “Try everything you want to, and then do what you feel comfortable doing. That’s how you should live your life.”
Editor’s Note: This column chronicles what Dublin graduates have done since high school. If you have any suggestions for other grads, email publisher@dublincitizen.com.