Shawnee State Alumna Serves Her Community as a Nurse Practitioner

After attending another university for a year, Brittany Bolton chose to return to her hometown and transfer to Shawnee State University. Deciding to make a change in her career path, she applied to SSU’s Associate Degree in Nursing program.

“Shawnee was amazing,” she said. “I really enjoyed the program and I really enjoyed the campus – I wish I would have just started there.”

Graduating with her ADN in December 2014, Bolton went on to pursue her bachelor’s degree in nursing and then her Master of Science in Nursing to become a nurse practitioner.

“I really love establishing that relationship with the patients and being able to continue their care and stay involved,” she said on her decision to become a nurse practitioner. “It’s my favorite part of nursing because the patients impact you just as much as you impact them.”

Working at Southern Ohio Medical Center’s West Portsmouth Family Practice for a little more than a year, Bolton recently celebrated the opening of the hospital's Northwest Family Practice in McDermott, Ohio where she is currently serving as the facility’s only nurse practitioner.

“This is where I see my career,” she said. “I am very thankful to be in my community and close to my alma mater. Being the only provider here, I have a lot of responsibility, but I know that I have resources I utilize and a community of supporters to reach out to.”

Never imagining herself as a nurse, Bolton now cannot picture herself being part of any other career. “You have bad patients and you have good patients, but the thing is learning from the bad experiences to influence the good,” she said. “There is a learning experience from every single patient that you deal with and it just makes you a better nurse in general.”

Currently working on her Doctorate of Nursing Practice degree, Bolton recognizes the need for nurses not only in her area, but also across the nation.

“Nursing is a much-needed field, but the nursing shortage is significant,” she said. “The program is hard, but don’t be intimidated. Put everything you have into it and you’ll get everything out of it.”

To learn more about the nursing programs at Shawnee State University, visit shawnee.edu/ nursing.

Brittany Bolton