If there is a perfect example of the word âperseverance,â it is in the efforts of trained, dedicated nurses these many past months, and Kim Miller, RN, a charge nurse in the Paris Regional Medical Center emergency department, is a solid representative of that profession in these trying times.
Miller grew up in Roxton and still has family there. She and her husband, Mark, married for 36 years with three children and three â soon to be four â grandchildren, live in Fort Towson, Oklahoma, âout in the boonies,â as she describes it. Her drive to work each day takes about 45 minutes.
âI never had that âa-haâ moment, where I just knew I had to be a nurse,â said Miller, recently. âI had been working in a bank, my son was going to start school soon and day care was going to be expensive, so after being a stay-at-home mom for a couple of years, I decided to do something that would help my husband pick up the slack and entered nursing school at Paris Junior College. That was God working his way through our lives, because within a year of getting my LVN certification, my husband got hurt and wasnât able to work anymore. I entered nursing because it was an opportunity for better pay and advancement, but I found I enjoy the work. There are days when itâs frustrating, days where you get mad, but at the end of each day you know youâve done something worthwhile.â