Passion for health care leads lifelong Enterprise resident, nurse practitioner to give back

Stock image, St. George News

ENTERPRISE — Washington County will soon have a new member on its team of health professionals, and it is a familiar face to anyone who visits the local community heath clinic in Enterprise.

Registered nurse Kody Holt | Photo courtesy of Spring Arbor University, St. George News

Kody Holt, a lifelong resident of Enterprise and registered nurse at Enterprise Valley Medical Clinic, is just weeks away from earning his master’s degree through an online course from Spring Arbor University’s School of Nursing. Holt will then work as a family nurse practitioner, providing quality comprehensive health care to patients throughout Washington County and the surrounding communities. Holts credits his decision to choose Spring Arbor University, a Michigan-based Christian university, as a key factor in realizing his goal of becoming a nurse practitioner.

“As a working nurse, I could not have earned this degree without Spring Arbor’s unique online nursing program that combined quality academics and a flexible schedule with a supportive Christian faith-based learning community,” Holt said.

Since 1873, Spring Arbor University, located in Spring Arbor, Michigan, has helped students pursue wisdom by offering an education grounded in the Christian faith. What began as a small elementary and secondary school in the late 1800s has evolved into a premier private Christian university that offers engaging online programs designed to meet the unique needs of busy working adults. While Spring Arbor University is not the only university to offer online degree programs, its distinction lies in a total commitment to providing educational excellence within a Christ-honoring and supportive atmosphere.

Holt says his family did not have much access to health care growing up because they lived an hour away from the nearest clinic. This led an 8-year-old Holt to develop a passion for health care that strengthened through the years. During his senior year in high school, Holt became a certified nursing assistant. He continued up the nursing career ladder to the position of assistant director of nursing. Not one to stop learning and growing, Holt applied to Spring Arbor University to pursue an advanced nursing degree.

According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, more than 3.1 million registered nurses are practicing nationwide. However, many more nurses are expected to be needed into the foreseeable future to meet the growing demand for nursing care. There is an ever-increasing demand for a rapid rise in the number of nurses holding master’s and doctoral degrees to meet the nation’s demand for faculty, researchers, advanced clinicians and nurses in leadership positions. In the next 15 years, the country is facing an expected shortage of 150,000 primary care physicians, opening up the field of nurse practitioners as a solution to a growing health care need.

Holt plans to remain in Enterprise with his wife and three children and continue working at Enterprise Valley Medical Clinic.

“Enterprise is my home,” Holt said. “Working at Enterprise Valley Medical Clinic will allow me the opportunity to increase the awareness of the role that nurse practitioners play in the delivery of quality health care to our community and meet the growing demand for nursing care.”

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