As nurse practitioner, Ash opens new medical practice

While a love of caring for patients has kept her in a nursing career for many years, it was the need for more health care in the Blytheville area that led Connie Ash to pursue licensure as a nurse practitioner.

Ash recently opened a general family practice at Family Medicine Associates and is taking new patients of all ages. As a nurse practitioner, she can provide exams, physicals, diagnosis and prescriptions, much like a general practice physician.

When she decided to become a practitioner herself, Ash was in the middle of pursuing her doctoral degree in education. She already held a master's degree in nursing and wanted to be a nursing school instructor, but a need at the Great River Charitable Clinic, where she also serves as director, caused her to change her course. She is also following in the footsteps of a family medical legacy -- her great-grandmother, grandmother and mother were all nurses as well.

"Every little girl grows up playing two things -- nurse or teacher, most of us, and this, I felt, was the best of both worlds. But when the free clinic opened and we didn't have enough physicians to fill our volunteer slots, I put my dissertation on hold and went back to school to become a practitioner," she said. "Mainly I did this to be able to provide care at the clinic -- I didn't really see this [private practice] as a possibility until later. I realized there's just a real need in the community for practitioners, and I realized that I don't like pushing papers as much as I like taking care of patients."

While she is equipped to care for everyone from infants to adults, she said the most common issues she's seen since she opened up her practice are women's health issues and problems managing chronic disease like diabetes and heart conditions. She said she prefers a more holistic, lifestyle-based approach to caring for her patients.

"We have a bigger need here for chronic disease care and prevention than anything else. We don't do enough in this community, education-wise, to prevent these things," she said. "Health care is built on a system of reaction. You don't go to the doctor until you're sick. We need to be proactive and maintain health instead of treating illness. It's better for everyone -- the cost and the outcomes are better. My philosophy on health care is more preventative and holistic -- if someone has diabetes and you give them a pill, that magic pill is only going to work for so long. It's more about making lifestyle changes."

What she loves the most about what she does, she said, is connecting with people.

"It's never boring," she said. "I learn as much from them as they can learn from me. It is an awesome, awesome career."

Ash can be reached at Family Medicine Associates in Blytheville, or on her Facebook page, listed as Connie's Family Practice. She also maintains a health care blog at www.conniesfamilypractice.blogspot.com.

sharris@blythevillecourier.com