• Nurse has seen some of the dark side of humanity while helping victims

By M. Scott Carter

Transcript Staff Writer

Don’t ask Terry Gillespie about her nightmares.

You don’t want to know.

As a public health nurse for the Cleveland County Health Department, Gillespie has seen the darkest side of humanity.

Date rape. Assault. Domestic Violence. Attacks on children. Emotional and physical abuse. Gillespie — over the course of her career — has witnessed firsthand just how badly one person can harm another.

And her job, she says, is preventing that pain from reoccurring. “I try to be there for people. I want to help educate them so they can avoid being a victim.”

The former coordinator of YWCA Oklahoma City’s Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) program, Gillespie spent years treating the victims of rape and domestic violence.

A certified forensic nurse, today she works in several clinical areas of the Cleveland County Health Department, including sexually transmitted diseases, family planning, women’s health and Tuberculosis.

But it’s her work with the victims of assault that affected her -- deeply. “You might say I can relate to them on a very personal level. I understand...very well.” 

Those scars, she says, never fully heal. “You remember. You always remember. You get on with your life and you live, but you always remember.”

And although she’s no longer working as a SANE nurse, she is still trying to teach others how to prevent sexual assault and domestic violence. “These days, I might be helping someone with family planning issues, or a general health screening. My job isn’t as intense as it used to be.”

But no matter what their need, Gillespie screens each client for violence.