A Moncks Corner native is celebrating nearly three decades of service in the military as she moves into retirement.
Navy Capt. Kimberly Driggers-Taylor, daughter of Angela and Wilson Russell of Moncks Corner and Shelby Grooms and Billy Driggers of Summerville, rendered her final salute to the Navy after 27 years of service during a retirement ceremony July 26 at the Red Bank Club in Goose Creek.
A 1990 graduate of Berkeley High School, Driggers-Taylor enlisted in the Navy through a scholarship program after earning an Associate of Science from Trident Technical College in May 1992. Two years later, she earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the Medical University of South Carolina and was commissioned as an ensign in the Navy Nurse Corps.
In August 1994, following Officer Indoctrination School in Newport, Rhode Island, Driggers-Taylor reported to National Naval Medical Center Bethesda, Maryland, (known as Walter Reed National Military Medical Center today) where she was assigned as a staff nurse to the medical surgical ward, as a night charge nurse and also served as the assistant division officer of the NNMC’s Internal Medicine Clinic.
Driggers-Taylor was accepted to the Navy’s Perioperative Nurse Training Program in Jacksonville, Florida in 1997. After completing the program, she reported to Naval Hospital Charleston, South Carolina (now known as Naval Health Clinic Charleston) as a staff nurse in the operating room. While at Naval Hospital Charleston, she also became division officer of NHC’s general surgery and gynecological services in the operating room. Later, she was selected to serve as the command’s Infection Control Program coordinator.
From 2001 to 2006, she served as a staff nurse and clinical coordinator of the operating room at Naval Hospital Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. In 2006, she transferred to the Navy’s Full-Time Duty Under Instruction program, which allowed her to attend East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina, where in May 2008, she earned a Master of Science in Nursing, graduating Summa Cum Laude and was inducted into Sigma Theta Tau Honor Society. Following her graduation, she received orders to Naval Hospital Jacksonville, Florida, to serve as the division officer of the operating room.
In June 2009, Driggers-Taylor deployed to Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, Africa as one of two perioperative nurses and also served as the senior nurse executive of the Expeditionary Medical Facility. Upon her return to Naval Hospital Jacksonville, Florida in June 2010, she assumed the role as department head of the main operating room and held a variety of leadership positions, including the directorate for surgical services process improvement coordinator and command Lean Six Sigma team leader from May 2011 to June 2013.
In July 2013, Driggers-Taylor transferred to Naval Hospital Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, where she served as the chief experience officer and chief communications officer until May 2016.
In her last assignment at Naval Health Clinic Corpus Christi, Texas from June 2016 to June 2019, Driggers-Taylor served as the senior nurse executive, director of branch clinics, interim executive officer and acting commanding officer.
A Jonas Veteran Healthcare Scholar, she earned her Doctor of Nursing Practice from the University of South Carolina in December 2017. She graduated Summa Cum Laude and was inducted into the Golden Key International Honor Society.
Driggers-Taylor is certified as an Advanced Nurse Executive by the American Nurses Credentialing Center, a Perioperative Nurse by the Competency and Credentialing Institute, and a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt. Her awards include the Meritorious Service Medal, the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (four awards), and the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal.
Source: Naval Health Clinic Charleston Public Affairs
