Kathy's Story

I'm a Nurse Practitioner, and the majority of my career has been with people with intellectual disabilities and then an aging. When I was a kid, I always wanted to be a doctor, and I don't even know why that was. I have two uncles that are doctors, so I was set to be a pediatrician. I mean, they encourage me, but my father at the time thought education was wasted on girls. I mean, I was encouraged to go on, you know, for things either pre-med or, you know, going to the nursing for UMass, you know, program. And, but my dad, you know, because it was okay, my uncle's gonna keep an eye on me in the Pittsfield area.

It was a three-year program in Pittsfield, and then I was working in a hospital. And then when my first husband was going to UMass, we moved back here now. So the minute I graduated from Saint Luke School nursing, I started at different community colleges, taking courses, and I had ended up going to Elms College and get my baccalaureate. I worked at Belchtown State School. It was people with intellectual disabilities.

And I knew I wanted to stay in nursing and do something. And I, you know, not that I didn't want to teach, but I wanted to go into a little bit more some kind of clinical nursing. And I knew about the nurse practitioner program. So at the time, the first year when I was at the state school, they would send people to PNP program. And back then, it wasn't even a college; it was a “continuing ed program.” The first year I put in for, they didn't accept me. So the next year, the man who was my boss at the time, he encouraged me to go. And of course, everybody was saying, “Oh, she's part of the agreement when they sent you to school with you, you have to work for the state for a year after.” And I was committed to doing that because somebody believed in me. So I started, and I worked. I've worked with people with intellectual disabilities.

As an NP, there's something about you make a difference, you know, especially when you work with marginalized, or people that are typically devalued. And it was really, it was really an eye opener. And as an NP, I could just do about anything there because the Doc, he was glad to have me do the work. And I was, I was relishing doing the work, you know, trying to figure things out. And I learned a lot, especially in real life, where it's complicated. It's not like what the books say to you, you know, it's really complicated. And I can remember that was in my nursing, basic nursing and was really difficult.

And, but, you know, you persist, and you're right, your classmates and people are really good, they can be, and there's something about the camaraderie of being together in the same boat. But, you know, I, that's why I really like people's stories and spending time and being in the moment with people. But, you know, there's something about being there and learning and stuff that I learned was just, oh, it's just made me much more critical thinker.

But now, you know, retrospectively, I'm so glad I'm a nurse. I am so happy I'm a nurse, you know, and what I hear for, you know, primary care and specialists, it's, it's a crazy world out there. It's just difficult. In fact, a lot of people say, you know, I come up and, you know, I'm not afraid to approach difficult situations. But you really, I mean, I, I love being a nurse.