Miss America 2016: Miss Colorado Wears Scrubs And Talks Passion For Nursing And Alzheimer’s Patient In Talent Competition

The Miss America 2016 pageant is seeing a number of different talents such as dancing, singing, and playing the piano. It’s rather rare to see a completely different talent in the pageant competitions, but Kelley Johnson aka Miss Colorado, did have one unlike any others on Sunday night. She got on stage in scrubs with a stethoscope around her neck and told of her passion for being a nurse and even of one particular Alzheimer’s patient named Joe.

A live blog was being run on NJ.com and going through everything that happened throughout the entire pageant. Most talents were just listed with the contestant’s name, but a little more description was given when Miss Colorado took the stage.

Here comes the much-celebrated nurse monologue from Miss Colorado about Joe, her Alzheimer’s patient.

Much celebrated indeed. Halfway through her monologue on Sunday evening, she had already gotten a rousing ovation from the crowd.

As reported by TODAY, Miss Colorado decided to not put on an outfit to dance around and didn’t choose to wear a gown to sing. Her baggy purple scrubs looked out of place, but worked for her as she spoke of being a registered nusre and how much she loves it.

The valedictorian of Grand View University in Iowa, Johnson spoke of a particular patient with Alzheimer’s named Joe. As she spoke of him, you could hear Miss Colorado get a little choked up while telling her story.

“Although you say it all the time, you are not just a nurse (Joe told her). ‘You are my nurse, and you have changed my life because you have cared about me.’ That’s when it hit me. Patients are people with family and friends, and I don’t want to be a nurse that ever pretends. Joe reminded me that day that I’m a lifesaver. I’m never going to be just a nurse.”

As Miss Colorado finished her monologue about being a nurse and the Alzheimer’s patient named Joe, the crowd gave her another huge ovation. It was obvious that her tale had touched the hearts of many and she wanted everyone to know that patients are people and not just a diagnosis or illness.

At the time of this writing, Miss Colorado had made it into the question and answer round, and was asked what woman she would put on a monetary denomination. She chose Ellen DeGeneres and the crowd went wild for her yet again.

The Miss America 2016 pageant often sees dancers and singers, but Miss Colorado’s monologue on being a nurse made things look and seem so different. Kelley Johnson nailed her talent portion and really got into the minds and hearts of the judges and country.

[Image via NBC News]