Biography

Katie Salinas graduated from the University of Central Oklahoma with her BSN in 2011. She graduated with her MSN-FNP from the University of Nebraska Medical Center in 2020. Her nursing background includes emergency room nursing, school nursing, and family practice. She has worked in emergency rooms in Oklahoma, California, and Nebraska. After graduation in May of 2020, she accepted a position for Nebraska’s first ever nurse practitioner residency program, Unparalleled, through the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Ms. Salinas worked at Charles Drew Health Center in Omaha during her residency, serving uninsured, underinsured, and minority patients. After completing this residency in 2021, her family moved to Kearney, Nebraska where she currently practices part time at HelpCare Inc., a local free clinic.

Ms. Salinas has a passion for primary care, especially underserved, uninsured, underinsured, rural, and minority populations. Her experience in the emergency room showed many barriers to access to quality health care with this population and she saw a great need for primary care for these patients. Ms. Salinas loves to practice as a primary care provider, but she was drawn to teaching to share some of the pearls she has learned during her career as a nurse. She believes nursing is a complex and unique profession. It not only requires an in-depth knowledge and understanding of disease processes, but also interpersonal communication skills with patients and families, as well as professional communication skills amongst a variety of medical disciplines. She believes this is best learned through case studies, classroom discussions, simulations, and clinical experiences.

Publications

Eisenhauer CM, Brito FA, Yoder AM, Kupyzk, K, Pullen, C.H., Salinas, K., Miller, J., Hageman, P.H. (2020). Mobile Technology Intervention for Weight Loss in Rural Men: Protocol for a Pilot Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial. BMJ Open; 10: e035089. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2019-035089

Recognition

2018-2020, Intercultural Senior Center Interactive Education Initiative UNMC Chapter, Omaha, NE, Health Education Award for Primary Care Progress.