Meet Kaitlin Floyd, BS ‘14: ECMC Nurse and Buffalo Bills Superfan

Kaitlin Floyd wearing scrubs that say Allen.

Published January 7, 2022

Not all football superfans can say they’ve attended a Super Bowl game. Even fewer can say they were chosen for the experience by the Buffalo Bills.  

Last year – in the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic – Kaitlin Floyd, BS ‘14, was nominated by her health care peers to attend Super Bowl LV as guests of both the Buffalo Bills and the NFL. She made the journey to Tampa, Florida, to watch the game at Raymond James Stadium on Feb. 7, 2021.

“It was truly once in a lifetime trip that I will never forget,” Floyd says, “and a grand gesture for the tough year that was 2020.”

And those weren’t the only tickets that Floyd’s kindness and compassion won her last year. Floyd was one of six health care workers in Western New York who were chosen for a box seat to the first Bills home playoff game in 25 in a contest with Batavia Downs. Floyd was nominated for the contest by a patient’s family who was grateful for helping them through one of the toughest times of their lives.

Practicing through the lens of a patient

Coming from a family full of health care workers, Kaitlin Floyd always knew she wanted to help people. Her decision to become a nurse came after an eye-opening moment with her grandparents, who raised her. 

“I was with my grandfather at the Buffalo airport and saw him pass out," she says. “Two nurses rushed over and offered their help. That’s when I decided to become a nurse.”

As someone who battled illness herself, Floyd understands what it’s like to be a patient.

"I've been ill myself my whole life,” she explains. “I ironically received a pancreas transplant on my own floor five and a half years ago and have been a patient in just about every room. I feel like I can really relate and advocate for my patients as I have personally experienced much of what they go through.”

Floyd is a charge nurse at ECMC, where she is responsible for the general flow of her floor.

“We’re typically a kidney and pancreas transplant medical/surgical floor,” she says, “but we are half COVID right now on two separate wings. I have a full assignment and I’m also in charge of both zones. I make the assignments and delegate tasks appropriately and am also the one completely responsible for the patients’ assessments, medications and care.”

Floyd grew up in Warsaw, New York. She graduated with her LPN certificate from Batavia BOCES and then went on to complete the LPN to RN program through Genesee Community College and the RN to BS program here at UB. 

Her message for fellow Buffalo Bills fans: “Never count yourself out; you never know what will happen! A positive attitude changes everything. Go Bills!”

Story by Grace Gerass

Media Contact Information

Sarah Goldthrite
Director of Marketing, Communications & Alumni Engagement
School of Nursing
105 Beck Hall (South Campus)
Email: sgoldthr@buffalo.edu
Tel: 716-829-3209