2022 Travel Team Feature: Kim Mobley
Operation Walk Pittsburgh’s Mission 2022 is getting closer by the minute, with it being only 4 weeks away. We are sending 74 travel team members to Antigua, Guatemala, for our seventh trip to Obras Sociales del Santo Hermano Pedro, our partner hospital. These travel team members have volunteered to offer their services by providing care to patients in need. The advance team, who will arrive just a few days before, will prepare the hospital for surgeries and meet the patients and their families.
We are excited to introduce our next team member to be featured in this travel team blog series, Kim Mobley, who is returning for her third trip with Operation Walk as the team’s charge nurse. Charge nurses play an important leadership role in hospitals, supervising other nurses in their unit. On our team, Kim supervises our nursing team in the recovery unit and is the liaison between our team members, Obras staff, and other nurses.
Image of Kim with patients at Operation Walk Pittsburgh 2021
Kim is a family person as she is the oldest of two girls, married, and has two kids of her own! She currently lives in Lakeland, Florida. However, she was born and raised in Heredia, Costa Rica. Some of her favorite hobbies include music, dancing, soccer, and working out; she is also an avid food lover. An interesting fact about her is that she is right-handed but left-footed!
Image of Kim communicating with another nurse at Operation Walk Pittsburgh 2021
Kim’s passion for becoming a healthcare worker started because of her mother, who was a nurse assistant back home in Costa Rica. She used to love the stories that her mother would tell her, specifically about how she would help others. This prompted the start of Kim’s own career in medicine. However, she did not want to pursue medical school with two small children, so she decided that nursing was the next best thing. She’s now been a nurse for almost 7 years and currently works in a Trauma ICU at Lakeland Regional Health in Lakeland, which is one of the busiest ERs in the nation. Kim has a deep fondness for taking care of people and helping them in their hardest times. She especially takes pleasure in being able to help someone when they need it the most.
Kim heard about Operation Walk through her friend, Amanda, who told her about the opportunity. This piqued her interest as she had always dreamt of doing medical mission work! More importantly, OpWalk offered a great opportunity to help others, and Kim, being a caring person, found it important to learn more and apply for the team. She believes it was her purpose to help those around her and, at the minimum, put a smile on their faces! When she heard that OpWalk was in need of translators, she applied immediately.
Bi-lingual in Spanish, Kim joined the team in 2019, her first year, as a translator, even though she’s a registered nurse. The team leaders quickly realized her potential when they saw her work with patients and other team members. Now, on her third trip back, she leads all the nurses on the patient recovery floor. She helps manage the patients, communicates with both sides of the team, plans discharge, and helps teach the discharge education classes for patients and their family members. She’s a great leader and an important asset to the team.
Image of Kim with patients at Operation Walk Pittsburgh 2021
Kim revealed that her favorite aspect of past trips was seeing the smiles on patients' faces when they stood for the first time after surgery. Moreover, she loves that she has been able to develop strong bonds with Obras staff members and their in-house nursing team. She has expressed her enthusiasm to see all the staff at Obras again, as well as this year’s patients and families. She believes all of the staff at Obras are amazing and loves looking back at each trip and her interactions with them. While reminiscing, she said that they were a little shy at first, however, after the second day, it was as if they had worked together for years. She is also ecstatic to go back to Antigua as she finds it a mesmerizing city. Its beautiful scenery, the kind people, and the “immaculate vibes” have gained a very special place in her heart.
When Kim was asked about what being a leader on the team means to her, she said:
“being a leader to me is leading by example. It is about being willing to do what needs to be done regardless of titles or positions. It’s being willing to work alongside the entire team until the job is done! It is about being the first one to say hey, what do you need me to do? And do it without complaining.”
“Op walk is my family! After one trip, I can say that we are not just an organization, we are a family! And I’m so very grateful to be a part of it!”
- Kim Mobley
Our outstanding travel team members agree to help meet a fundraising goal to help Operation Walk Pittsburgh cover the cost of supplies and equipment for the mission. Kim kindly asks that you donate to the cause in her name so that she can meet her goal to help us perform joint replacement surgeries for patients in critical need. Donors like you are the reason people in need can get the help they deserve. Will you help Kim reach her fundraising goal? Please click below to donate, and be sure to write Kim’s name in the field that asks if your donation is made to support a team member’s fundraising goal. 100% of your donation will directly support patient care and give the gift of mobility to a patient in need.