Laura Young
ECB Publishing, Inc.
Kasey Hughey says there wasn't really any question that she would enter the field of nursing for her profession. It feels to her like everyone in her family is a nurse. With an aunt, grandmother (“Nanny”), older sister and first cousin all showing the way, Hughey knew she wanted to be a nurse also. She especially saw her Nanny as a role model.
“Nanny worked in hospice care. Seeing her get involved with her patients and truly love what she did for a living led me to go to nursing school,” explains Hughey.
She started preparing for a nursing career by earning an associate's degree from North Florida Community College in 2012. This allowed her to begin working in various acute care settings, including hospitals, emergency rooms and dialysis centers while she continued her education. By 2018 she had earned a bachelor's degree from the University of West Florida in Pensacola. In December of 2021, she graduated from Chamberlain College of Nursing with a master's degree and became an ARNP, or Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner.
Having reached the level of Nurse Practitioner, Hughey is able to provide additional services to patients, including diagnosing, prescribing medications, making referrals, performing certain procedures and managing care.
Not long after Hughey had her first child, she discovered through helping out at his daycare that she really, really loved working with kids. About one year ago, Hughey joined the medical team at Little Pine Pediatrics, where she gets to work with children all day long, from infancy through age 21. She has rotated to Little Pine's locations in Monticello, Madison and Perry but currently is focused on the Monticello practice with Fridays in Madison.
Hughey says that being in a pediatric practice has shown her the truth of the saying, “Kids say the funniest things.”
A sense of humor is one quality she considers essential to working with young ones, along with being patient.
“Kids can't always tell you what is going on,” Hughey says. “You have to look at the whole picture to figure out what is really wrong. I feel really fortunate that parents trust me with their children.”
It's just the right combination of joy and challenge that makes her wake up every morning still loving her job.
Hughey was born and raised in Madison County. Her husband, Jason, works for Tri-County Electric Cooperative, and their two children, Waylon (9) and Carolina (5) make for a very busy home life. As a family, they enjoy being outdoors, whether hunting, fishing or just sitting around the fire pit watching the chickens run around the yard.
She says that pursuing a degree in health care was the hardest thing she's ever done, but also the best decision she's made in her life.
“Nursing has given me job security, a good income and endless possibilities,” says Hughey, “and provided my family with a wonderful life.”
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