Nicole Legere, the new nurse practitioner at the BSMC.
Meet Nicole Legere. Talk to her at any length and you will simply have to say Wow! That is how the new nurse practitioner at the Big Sandy Clinic comes across. She is deep and not only that but she knows her subject matter, which could very well be you!
Nicole has been at the Clinic since October 1.
However, she was a nurse for fifteen years prior to her becoming a nurse practitioner.
"I guess you could say I specialize in acute care," said Nicole. "I enjoy emergency medicines and cardiac medicine. I like to be quick on my feet."
Nicole discovered a long time ago that she has a very real talent for this kind of work.
"I kind of feel that all talent is God given. I just feel like I am one of the Lucky ones," added Nicole.
She is lucky because she is doing just what she wants to do and she is doing it just where she wants to be doing it.
"My success is mostly due to my nursing experience," Nicole said. "I could never learn like I have learned just in school. Nursing gave me the skills to communicate with patients but even more importantly the skills to follow my gut instincts."
As a matter of fact Nicole even goes further than that by saying that she wouldn't trade her nursing experience for anything for that experience is what made her so good at what she does now.
Nicole lives in Havre and commutes to the Big Sandy Clinic most of the time but she is on call 120 days a year. When she is on call, she stays in Big Sandy with Helen Richter.
Nicole said that it was Helen and people like her that got her to think about working in Big Sandy in the first place.
Nicole decided to do a rotation for her school work in Big Sandy and was amazed at what she found here. She always thought she would end up in a large city to do her practice but when she left from doing her rotation here she could not get Big Sandy or Big Sandy people off her mind.
"I feel I am exactly in the right spot doing what I came to do. It is a very good feeling," said Nicole, smiling.
"I wanted to make a bigger input. That is why I went into becoming a nurse practitioner, rather than a nurse and along the way I learned that it is not always what you do for your patient. It can be just giving them a hug or holding their hand. People want people who care around them," Nicole added.
Even though Nicole's life hasn't been all roses either, she has gone through her trials and tribulations, she really thinks that right now she is at the right place at the right time.
"I feel I owe my talents to anyone who needs them, staff or patients," Nicole related.
"I didn't do this or come here alone. I have amazing people who have been instrumental in my success and although I can never repay them, I can repay them by helping people. I love to help people!
Wow! Most of us have been blessed to meet a few really great people in the medical field through the years. Meet Nicole Legere and you have met one right here in Big Sandy. She is a great fit for our suburb medical staff in this town!
