Faculty Spotlight: Kacy Allen-Bryant
By Tassy Taylor
At only 2 years old, Kacy Allen-Bryant, MSN, MPH, RN, lecturer, lovingly tended to her grandmother’s ankle injury. As a teen, she helped her grandmother care for newborns recently discharged from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
As a student, Kacy Allen-Bryant always excelled in science and math, and she eagerly participated in extracurricular activities that exposed her to STEM professions. She always knew nursing was in her DNA, and the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) was calling her name.
However, after finding her way into the NICU during her first round of clinicals, a young Allen-Bryant found herself at a crossroads.
“I wanted to be a NICU nurse my entire life. Why now?”
The following semester she was fortunate to discover her true passion, public health, through a self-esteem seminar at her high school in Bourbon County.
Allen-Bryant has been in the public health sector ever since. She has served on the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department board of public health since 2009 and as chair since July 2017. She chaired the board’s Outcomes and Evaluation Committee and was instrumental in passing a resolution to add electronic cigarettes to Lexington’s smoking ordinance. Additionally, she has been an active member of the American Public Health Association and Chi Eta Phi, Inc., a professional nursing sorority for African-American nurses.
A two-time graduate of the UK College of Nursing, Allen-Bryant is also working toward her PhD, practicing as an occupational nurse and teaching NUR 200 as well as public health clinicals at the College. Her research focuses on tobacco policies in manufacturing facilities.
Allen-Bryant sees students twice in their College of Nursing careers, their first and last semesters.
“I love seeing their light bulbs go off. Watching them evolve is the best part. I am there for their first day of nursing school and their last, and it’s incredibly rewarding to see their growth,” she says.
Among Allen-Bryant’s achievements are receiving the Torch of Excellence Award from the University of Kentucky Lyman T. Johnson Constituency Group and being named a Jonas Scholar, a prestigious designation and grant given by the Jonas Center for Nursing and Veterans Healthcare. She is also a scholar in the Central Appalachian Regional Education and Research Center (CARERC) Occupational and Environmental Health Nursing program. Allen-Bryant received her graduate certificate in gerontology in 2006 and her master’s in public health from UK in 2012.
