Caleb Griffin

SENIOR SPOTLIGHT

Caleb Griffin, Class of 2023

Hometown: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Degree: Bachelor of Science in Nursing

Faith and learning came together in a life-influencing way for OBU nursing student Caleb Griffin in Ecuador. Now he’s poised to carry that forward.

Oklahoma Baptist University students participated in a weekend excursion to Peru to visit Machu Picchu and Rainbow mountain that connected them with an Ecuadorian internship related to their major.

This was a study abroad/GO trip mixed together. Caleb got to go to a hospital in Quito the summer before he started nursing school. He had no experience in patient care yet.

However, this opportunity allowed him to be in the hospital setting for the first time and shadow nurses within an international healthcare system.

This year, the trip to Kenya, Caleb’s third GO trip, was specific to nursing and consisted of four nursing students.

“We got to care for patients both physically and spiritually which is something I want to strive for in my everyday practice here at home,” Caleb said.

On this trip, they were able to apply everything they have learned so far from assessment to pharmacology to mom and baby care.

“We were partnered with two nurse practitioners who live in-country in the clinics that we worked in,” he said. “They have 30 years of ER experience each and the insight that they shared with us is invaluable.”

The Avery T. Willis Center for Global Outreach provides support and opportunities for students to reach out to people in Shawnee, Oklahoma City, the United States, and all around the globe through what are commonly referred to as GO trips.

Through global and local outreach, a student’s global perspective will be challenged through the integration of your faith and education. Caleb’s other GO trip was to Israel, a Passages/Educational experience, in summer 2022.

“Collectively, these trips have reminded me how small the world truly is and that we can share Jesus everyday no matter where on the Earth that we are,” he said.

In his pursuit of a nursing degree, Caleb said OBU has done a tremendous job at providing students with the foundation of knowledge that exceeds the minimum that they need to be successful nurses right out of college.

“OBU is preparing us for our career by pushing us to the edge of our current practice,” Caleb said. “The best example of this is through simulation lab. The goal in lab is to learn. It is okay to make mistakes, we can restart the mannequins. By pushing us to the edge in sim, we are less likely to be overwhelmed by something wild that we may come across in clinical practice because of what we have already experienced.”