Skip to main content

GNMSS Nurse Practitioner Kristin Ferguson to start seeing patients Dec. 5

GNMSS Nurse Practitioner Kristin Ferguson, APRN

Greater Nebraska Medical & Surgical Services (GNMSS) Family Medicine in Alliance has a new Nurse Practitioner. Alliance resident Kristin Ferguson, Adult-Gerontological Acute Care NP-BC, will begin seeing adult patients 19 and over on Monday, December 5. Her first day at the hospital was November 16, spending the days until Dec. 5 taking orientation, electronic health care system training and learning the clinic processes. For the time being she will be practicing medicine exclusively at GNMSS Family Medicine in Alliance.

Ms. Ferguson, a native of Hemingford, began her nursing career right after graduating from Hemingford High School in 2004. “I learned early on that I liked to help people,” she said. “So right out of high school I took a class to become a Certified Nursing Assistant at WNCC Alliance. I began work at the Good Samaritan Society nursing home in Alliance. I found that I really enjoyed taking care of the residents there, and I hold a special place in my heart for elderly patients.”

She received her Practical Nursing Diploma in 2007 from Western Nebraska Community College in Alliance. Soon after she became a LPN staff nurse at Regional West Medical Center (RWMC) and continued her studies. In 2010 she received her Bachelors of Science in Nursing from the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) College of Nursing in Scottsbluff. In 2012 she began working in the RWMC Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and learned a new interest in caring for acutely ill patients. It sparked her interest to then continue her education focusing on Adult-Gerontological Acute Care Nurse Practitioner studies at UNMC, receiving her Masters of Science in Nursing in May 2016. Ms. Ferguson stated, “I really enjoy taking care of people who have acute illnesses ranging from acute care in a clinic setting, to the hospital setting or even in ICU.”

Ms. Ferguson said she sought employment in the Nebraska panhandle and very much wanted to practice at Box Butte General Hospital after becoming a Nurse Practitioner. “We’ve lived in Alliance a long time,” she said. “I’ve been commuting to Scottsbluff for seven years. That gets kind of old when you tack on two hours of commute time to a 12 hour shift. I’ve had several clinic rotations at BBGH and I loved the people and my time here (her outpatient rotation was with GNMSS’s Stephen VanNoy, PA-C, and her orthopedic rotation was under GNMSS Orthopedic Surgery and Sports Medicine Clinic’s Dr. Bryan Bomberg). I always knew I would return to Alliance to work. I just wanted to work at RWMC to really become confident that I had good skills to bring back to a community that has been my home town for a long time. Also, the time I spent going through my Master’s degree had me away from home a lot and my kids were really starting to miss me. I learned a great deal from the Physicians and Nurse Practitioners who trained me and I’m ready to bring that knowledge to my work at BBGH.”

Asked to expand on why she can’t see patients under 19, she said it was due to her wanting to specialize as an Adult-Gerontological Acute Care Nurse Practitioner. “Doing that means I can’t see anyone not considered an adult, hence the 19 year old age limit,” Ms. Ferguson concluded. However, as part of her signing agreement, she will begin a program next year for her Family Nurse Practitioner degree, in order to assist with the pediatric population of Alliance.

She and her husband Brent (an employee with BNSF) have two children, Kaden and Quinn. Of note, she is the second Nurse Practitioner joining the GNMSS team who is a Hemingford High School graduate. Ms. Abby Vogel, APRN-BC, joined GNMSS in May of 2015.

Box Butte General Hospital is an equal opportunity provider and employer.