Katherine L. Rigdon, PhD, RN

Dr. Katherine Rigdon began her career as a Registered Nurse over 30 years ago. She has experience in acute care areas such as medical-surgical, obstetrics, and pediatrics as well as community and public health settings where she held leadership roles as an inaugural bioterrorism surveillance nurse after 9/11, occupational health coordinator for a large healthcare organization, and as one of the first nurses for a multi-school system in her area.

While working on her graduate degree, she created, implemented, and published the results of a computer-assisted instructional program for teaching portion size versus serving size to patients with health co-morbidities. During her time as a doctoral student, she was nominated as “A Rising Star of Research” and was invited to present her research at regional and international conferences.

Even though Dr. Rigdon thrived in a multitude of clinical settings, she found her love for nursing education two decades ago. She has experience educating students in traditional classrooms, in clinical areas, and in healthcare simulation about the fundamentals of care, medical-surgical care, and specialty areas such as obstetrics, pediatrics, and mental health.

Dr. Rigdon believes in supporting student needs to facilitate an optimum learning environment that is engaging, interactive, and relevant to quality nursing practice and clinical judgment. She feels she owes it to her students to bring a positive attitude, consistency, and high expectations to the classroom to inspire her students to achieve their educational and career goals. Dr. Rigdon’s philosophy is multifaceted and is based on caring for what matters: modeling professionalism, guiding students to learn, providing caring and compassionate care, and impacting the communities that nurses serve.

Favorite Quotes:

“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”  -Mahatma Gandhi

"Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right." — Henry Ford

"The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be." — Ralph Waldo Emerson

Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing 
University of Mississippi Medical Center

Master of Science in Nursing 
Community Health Focus
University of Southern Mississippi

Bachelor of Science in Nursing 
University of Southern Mississippi

Associate of Arts in Nursing 
Meridian Community College