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By Kenya Godette

Lindsey Torres, doctoral student in the School of Nursing, has been serving others since she can remember. From working in medical missions as a teenager to providing community health services to unhoused populations in Hawaii, ensuring everyone has access to quality care is at her core.

“When we moved to Virginia, I looked up Old Dominion 91����Ƶ because it was close,” Torres said. 

“And although I was attending another school at the time, I saw that the ODU Doctor of Nursing Practice program really focused on health disparities and serving the underserved. That was their big thing, and I knew that was right with my passion.”

In May, she will embark on the next chapter of her journey when she receives a well-deserved Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree from the 91����Ƶ. She will carry the banner for the school as its student with the highest GPA.

“Lindsey is an exceptional student. Her heart is in her work, and it shows,” said Janice Hawkins, assistant professor and chair of advanced nursing practice in the School of Nursing.

In 2023, Lindsey enrolled part-time in the DNP program while she worked for a Virginia-based addiction clinic. After a meeting with Tina Gustin, associate professor in the School of Nursing, and Carolyn Rutledge, Eminent Scholar and professor in the School of Nursing, they agreed the ODU Community Cares clinic at PiN Ministries in Virginia Beach was the perfect place for her to complete clinical hours.

“It was the two of them and I remember Dr. Rutledge saying, ‘You're the one who has been working with the unhoused population in Hawaii and on the streets and shelters,’" Torres said. “And Dr. Gustin was like, ‘I have the perfect place for you.'”

Clinical hours were just the tip of the iceberg in Torres’ work at ODU Community Cares in Virginia Beach. She worked with students at first and eventually spearheaded a collaborative research project on emergency room (ER) utilization among unhoused populations in the area. Torres wanted to understand why certain groups went to the ER and what services could be expanded to reduce ER-associated health care costs.

Torres also worked as the lead nurse practitioner at the clinic, serving as the primary responder to overdosed and homeless clients by providing rescue services. She also developed and launched the hepatitis prophylaxis program — “a major contribution to better community health care outcomes,” Hawkins said.

From there, Torres began working as clinical adjunct faculty where she had the chance to teach and reconnect with master and bachelor of nursing students — her original goal when she joined the program.

“I really work hard to provide these students with knowledge and the experience of breaking down barriers, thinking outside the box with limited resources and trying to connect with patients to make them feel welcomed, heard, respected and loved,” Torres said.

After graduation, Torres plans to continue working at the ODU Community Care PiN clinic and teach students how to serve others and care for underserved and vulnerable populations.

“Lindsey’s passion for the population she cares for is palpable,” Gustin said. “She is a unique combination of passion, drive, intelligence and, most importantly, humble approach to care. I am lucky to be able to call her a colleague upon graduation.”

Torres credits her parents for instilling in her a love for serving others, remembering how they would all volunteer at non-profits, soup kitchens and shelters when she was young. She, now a mother herself, has passed that on to her children.

While some parents receive requests for toys, Torres recalls her 7-year-old daughter requesting to buy gift cards for people in need. Of all the things Torres could name as achievements, including her upcoming degree, those are the moments she holds closest.

“That’s what I’m most proud of,” she said. “The values that my parents and my family instilled in me — that I can see that in my daughter.”