Meet Karine Khachatryan

Today we’d like to introduce you to Karine Khachatryan.

Hi Karine, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I am an Armenian immigrant from the Soviet Union. In 1987, the U.S. extended our family the opportunity to move to the United States. As a result, my husband, 13-month-old son and I moved to Glendale, California before the USSR collapsed. My husband and I made the decision to move to America so that our children could have a better, brighter future.

When we moved to the United States, I continued in my career as a journalist. I volunteered at two local Armenian newspaper organizations called “Asbarez (Horizon)” and “Nor Hayastan (New Armenia).” During that time, I served as a TV reporter for an Armenian TV channel called “Hayer (Armenians).”

Soon thereafter, my husband proposed that I attend college to pursue a career in nursing. We always regarded the field of nursing as an honorable career, serving and helping communities in need. The first hurdle was to learn the English language. The second was higher education. When I was a child, my family always valued the pursuit of higher education; and the pursuit of higher education knew no age or gender. In addition to learning the English language, there were several years where I attended various colleges and universities to bolster my education.

Eventually, I became a healthcare provider at Adventist Health Glendale Medical Center. I worked as a bedside nurse in the trenches for several years. Eventually, I became the house supervisor at Adventist Health Glendale Medical Center. Not having been satisfied with being relegated to service as a nurse, I concurrently serve as a professor of nursing at West Coast University. As a teacher, I derive tremendous joy from being a mentor to nurses in training and being able to help them achieve success in their careers.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Absolutely not. It was not a smooth road. I took a slow deep breath to reflect on this answer. I faced great economic barriers, issues with transportation to and from college and the hospital, child care issues, lack of sleep, raising two children aged 1 and 3 while learning English. I had to balance a rigorous schedule between school and work while also tending to my responsibilities as a wife and mother. Meanwhile, my husband had to change his work hours so that he would work the graveyard shift and take care of our children during the day while I furthered my education. We had no family support, whether monetarily speaking or otherwise.

I vividly remember when I sat in my ESL (English as a Second Language) class, with bare minimum comprehension of English, as my teacher lectured on “transmissive methods.” All I remember was my enthusiasm and motivation to be as attentive as possible, despite my inability to grasp what my teacher said. I studied countless hours outside of school with my $40 handy Armenian-English dictionary, which served as an integral tool to help me master the English language.

I never knew how to drive until I lived here in the United States; I was 33 years old. Navigation through different cities during a time when Mapquest and Google Maps did not exist was extremely challenging. I recall a time where I had to drive to a distant hospital for my clinical rotation. My husband and I put the kids in the car, and he drove me to this hospital while using a road map so that I could learn how to get there the next day. Once I learned how to drive, I eventually drove myself through freeways to various cities and hospitals for both school and clinical practice. I even remember a time I had to drive to Cal State University but took a detour and was lost in downtown LA on a one-way street. I was frightened because I was not only late for my class, but I was in an area that was unsafe, with no cellphone (because they did not exist). Luckily, I saw a police car and approached the police officer whom I followed to get me out of the downtown area on the road back to the freeway. These are just some instances of the types of hardships I experienced to get where I am today.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a Registered Nurse. My professional career is a unique field that requires a specific amount of advanced training and education, including some level of post-secondary education. My nursing career progressed into different and more advanced roles over time. In the beginning of my nursing career at bedside, I served the geriatric population. I had face to face patient interaction, provided bedside nursing care, including emotional support to patients to aid them in the recovery process. Over time, I gained tremendous experience as a nurse, whether as a public healthcare nurse, a home healthcare nurse, or as an acute care nurse. Once I attained and fulfilled my goal as an RN, I pursued a career as a teacher for the Bachelor in Nursing (BSN) program at West Coast University. I wanted to make a real difference in students’ lives by sharing what I learned in my years of practice at the front lines; to impart a good work ethic, quality and precision in practice. It is important to me to help cultivate the next future of quality nurses so that they can continue to provide excellent healthcare services to patients.

What I am most proud of:

(1) I am proud that for the past five consecutive years, I volunteered on a medical mission trip to Armenia to provide quality medical treatment to the underprivileged population. Going to an underprivileged country to provide healthcare was a difficult undertaking. I served as one of the steering committee members of this mission trip. This was an immense learning opportunity for me that humbled me, added to my character, provided me wisdom and filled me with hope. This mission opened my eyes to the severe lack of access to healthcare in underprivileged and poor parts of the world. It was a humbling experience and I hope to continue to volunteer in future mission trips to serve the communities in Armenia.

(2) I am a proud mother of two: it has been very fulfilling for me to excel in my career while also raising two exceptional children. My son Denis Keshishyan is an Acute Nurse Practitioner and works in the healthcare system. My daughter Romina Keshishyan is an attorney and has her own law firm.

If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
Back in the day when I lived in Armenia, I was into writing. My first article was published in one of the local city newspapers when I was in the 8th grade. Since then, my career path continued in that direction. I was a local newspaper columnist, where I interviewed people from various fields and wrote poems.  I became a member of “Young Writers of Armenia” and got two poems published in a book. I had drafted 150 poems and submitted them for review for publishing. However, my life plans soon changed thereafter when I got married and moved to the United States. And the rest is history.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kkhach1
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/karine.khachatryan.946/