Ann S. Moore

Location: Hawthorne Inn and Conference Center

Interview by Michael S. Williams
Videos by Jonathan Harmon

Class of 1972

According to Ann Shirley Moore, most people had no idea it had been decided that significant changes were coming to Kate Bitting Reynolds Memorial Hospital. "As a student, we didn't know it was closing," she said. Moore was part of the final class to enter the nursing school and graduated from Forsyth Memorial in 1972. She has worked in the field in several roles for more than five decades.

A native of Catawba County, North Carolina, Moore would go on to earn a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Winston-Salem State University and Master of Science in Nursing from UNC-Chapel Hill. During her schooling and career, she saw the shifts that took place due to desegregation and admitted that "it was a little nerve-racking" at times, but the lessons from Kate Bitting taught her that "deep down in your heart [you have to] do the right thing regardless of the situation."

As a nursing instructor, she has always emphasized to her students how a nurse is supposed to treat patients no matter what. "In critical care," she said, "there's too many things hanging by a balance."