Life is busy for former Arkansas State University-Beebe student Natalie Martin, who is a Registered Nurse and Population Health Department Manager at OrthoArkansas.
Martin, from Beebe, is also the wife of Chad Martin, owner of Martin Construction and Excavating and Antioch Iron, and the mother of two young daughters, Macy and Baylor. Macy will be in second grade this year and Baylor is pre-kindergarten, both at Beebe Public Schools.
“I grew up in Floyd, attended Beebe Public Schools, had a Vilonia telephone number and a Searcy mailing address. I have always struggled with the ‘where are you from’ question for obvious reasons,” joked Martin. “But anyone who knows me, knows that I am proud to call Beebe my hometown.”
Martin attended ASU-Beebe from 2003-2004, where she studied health sciences. “I was an ASU-Beebe Ambassador and loved every second of it,” said Martin. After that first year, she transferred to Arkansas Tech University and then in 2007, she graduated from Baptist Health School of Nursing as a Registered Nurse.
Then, while working full-time as an RN at Arkansas Children’s Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Martin continued online studies at Arkansas Tech University to earn a bachelor’s degree in nursing in 2008. In addition to completing exams with the National Board of Nursing, she was certified in Pediatric Advanced Life Support, Neonatal Advanced Life Support and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation. She served as a preceptor in the NICU at Children’s Hospital, later achieving level IV Registered Nurse. Martin was nominated by families of patients and her coworkers to receive the Daisy Award, which is based upon exceptional service to the patient.
Since 2013, Martin and fellow team member and best friend Labray Merkel, have worked in Population Health Management. “We have worked with a variety of populations of people to achieve what is called the ‘triple aim’ in decreasing costs, improving outcomes, and increasing patient satisfaction. This includes conditions from joint replacements to lung cancer to congestive heart failure,” said Martin. “We have been highly successful and our programs have continually been named in the top performing programs nationally. Our latest and current population is a Medicare program called ‘Bundled Payment for Care Improvement,’ in which we are responsible for five different populations of patients at three separate hospitals.”
Even though Martin is busy with work and family, she is also invested in her community. Martin is a member of the Beebe Chamber of Commerce and is a sponsor for the Beebe Public Schools football program. The family attends Union Valley Baptist Church, where she serves on the Long-Term Building Committee, Vacation Bible School and Operation Christmas Child.
“I initially chose ASU-Beebe because the college offered personalized attention for the student,” said Martin. “ASU-Beebe provided the opportunity to work part-time to earn money while meeting academic goals. Both the academic and personal flexibility I found at ASU-Beebe is unmatched! It was a great school-life balance for me with the added bonus of affordability, while still providing the needed elements of traditional college.”
Additionally, Martin’s grandfather Dearl Stroud attended ASU-Beebe in 1949, the year after he graduated from Floyd High School. Her older brother Nathan Nailling, who is a Certified Public Accountant and Vice President and Trust Officer, also took classes in his undergraduate coursework at ASU-Beebe before graduating with his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Arkansas.
Martin offered advice to other students: “Don’t get overwhelmed if your plans fall apart, even multiple times. Keep pushing and keep giving the effort because nothing worth doing is easy! God has perfect timing. Know that sometimes it takes patience and faith but it is worth the wait. Find what works for you to help you study. For me, keeping things simple by writing things down on blank pieces of paper or index cards using different colored pens and sometimes even drawing pictures helped me to learn and remember things more easily. Keep it simple, work hard, and make it fun and it will all work out.”
“The successes our former students have achieved in their professional and personal life after their time here at ASU-Beebe make them exceptional role models for current and future students,” said Rose Mary Jackson, Associate Vice Chancellor for Institutional Advancement. “We value our alumni and take great pride in the opportunity to highlight them.”
Arkansas State University-Beebe Alumni Stories is a project of the Alumni Association with the goal of sharing and preserving the ASU-Beebe historical and educational experiences of former students. If you are an alumni and would like to share your story, contact Institutional Advancement at (501) 882-8855.
For more information on the ASU-Beebe degrees and certificates available, call (501) 882-3600 or view the website at www.asub.edu.
Founded in 1927, Arkansas State University-Beebe is an operationally separate, two-year institution of the Arkansas State University System. With campuses located at Beebe, Heber Springs, Searcy, Little Rock Air Force Base and online, the university offers associate degrees, certificates and non-credit training for business and industry.
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