Nurse, former corrections officer provides care for transplant patients, victims of violence

Before she was a nurse, Elizabeth “Beth” Wallace was a corrections officer. When a relative underwent a transplant, she was inspired to go into the medical profession.

By TJ Banes, IU Health Senior Journalist, tfender1@iuhealth.org

There’s something familiar about standing at the bedside of patient Michael Bebout. There was a time when Elizabeth “Beth” Wallace was on the other side. She was a family member sitting in the waiting room while her loved one recovered from a kidney transplant.

That experience inspired Wallace, then in her 30s, to go to nursing school.

“She’s been such a blessing. She comes in every day and gives me a smile,” said Bebout, of Fort Wayne. After graduating from Yorktown High School, Wallace worked with juveniles and adults in a Delaware County correctional facility. She was 40 when she received her nursing degree from IU Kokomo and went on to earn her master’s in clinical nutrition. She hopes to eventually earn her PhD in nursing. She’s also an adjunct professor at IU East.

And there’s more. Wallace received her forensic certification and works part-time as a forensic nurse at IU Health West. Forensic nurses specialize in working with victims of violence, abuse, and trauma. They provide both medical care and collect evidence for legal proceedings.

She joined IU Health six years ago working in transplant ICU as a student nurse. She then moved to OR and ER before coming back to transplant at University Hospital.

“From personal experience the nurses were amazing and caring and the surgeon, Dr. (William) Goggins and the OR staff were all very caring,” said Wallace, who spent time with them when her uncle underwent a kidney transplant. “I am right back here where it all started – this exact place,” she said.

Wallace works with kidney, pancreas, liver, and intestine/multi organ transplant patients.

“I see people recover and even though it’s a major surgery it’s a happy time. They are getting a second chance,” she said.

“I had a patient that had a kidney transplant and had been discharged and then came back and left me a card. I keep that card forever. It was so special to be able to care for her,” said Wallace. “Many patients are here for a long time, so you get really attached to them.”

Her advice to someone considering nursing as a second career: “I would say it was easier later on in life because I was more serious and more motivated than when I was younger.”

She’s also been able to use skills she learned in her first career such as helping people cope when facing stress and trauma in their lives.

Wallace is married to a firefighter, Ryan Wallace. To unwind, they like to go hiking and visit coffee shops.