We don’t need to leave to lead in rural Virginia

We don’t need to leave to lead in rural Virginia

I was in labor with my daughter when the man who gave me an epidural changed everything. “Thank you, doctor,” I said. “Oh no,” he replied. “I’m a nurse.” I was in nursing school at the time — and, at that moment, I knew I wanted to become a nurse anesthetist. However, as a single mom anchored to Big Stone Gap, going away to school wasn’t realistic. Then I saw a small ad for something big: Virginia Commonwealth University was launching a nurse an…