Nurse Practitioner Jody Brown already knows CCH and the Gillette community. The Walk-in Clinic’s newest Advanced Practice Provider has 25 years of experience as a registered nurse, most of it in primary care and family medicine. She also worked as a nurse in Campbell County Medical Group’s Neurology Clinic before leaving the area and moving to Colorado.
Jody had wanted to go back to school to become a nurse practitioner for many years, but the timing just wasn’t good when her children were small. After moving to the small town of Parachute, CO, she took advantage of a joint program with Regis University and the Colorado Center for Nursing Excellence and received a fellowship to complete her Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) and Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) degrees. The program was designed to “grow” nurses from rural and underserved communities to become advanced practice providers. She’s been a nurse practitioner for about three years.
“Being a provider gives you a different perspective than being a nurse; though my nursing experience, especially the years as a nurse in a family practice clinic, has been key to my success as a family practice provider.” says Jody. “After being a nurse for 20-plus years I found that as I advanced my career, it took me further away from direct patient care, and becoming a family nurse practitioner has brought me back to the direct one-on-one care that made me want to be a nurse in the first place.”
Jody recently came back to Gillette to be closer to family, and to take advantage of vocational opportunities for her son. Practicing at the Walk-in Clinic gives her the opportunity to treat injuries and illnesses and do some procedures she might not otherwise do in a family practice clinic setting.
“I also like the approach here at the Walk-in Clinic”, said Jody. “It is similar to what I had when I worked here before, led by providers who consider everyone part of the team. I firmly believe that camaraderie makes for better care.”
Jody and her husband Michael have three children, Alex, Brooke and Jim. She also enjoys a relationship with her bonus daughter Sami, who lives in the area and has given Jody her first grandchild, Kashlyn. When she’s not practicing at the Walk-in Clinic, Jody is enjoying reconnecting with her friends and family in and around Gillette, and spending time with her two rescue Rottweilers.
Original source can be found here.
