You At Your Best

SpoNSoR CoNTeNT From the desk of Dustin Richards, Au.D., owner and audiologist of Wolfpack Hearing Clinic in Fayetteville. We are nearing the 3-year anniversary of opening our own private practice in mid- 2016. We joke as a team that sometimes we miss the "old days" when we were sitting up front patiently waiting for the phone to ring or someone to walk through the front door. Fast forward to today and we are beyond humbled to have been awarded Best Hearing Clinic, Best Audiologist, and 3rd place among all businesses in northwest Arkansas for Customer Service by the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. We can't thank our community enough for helping our dreams become reality so quickly. I can name many influences in my journey, but today I am thinking about my mother, Moey Richards. She recently retired as a registered nurse (RN) after working over 20 years in the Little Rock area near where I was born and raised. As the youngest of five children, I had just started grade school when my mother made the decision to go to nursing school. She continued to work late hours on the side to support us financially. As you might imagine, money was tight, and she was stretched to the limit. I vividly remember the hard work she put in with a goal that she was going to meet no matter what. When she finished school and became a nurse, the stress didn't let up. She worked 60+ hour weeks to provide for us and pay back her student loans. Furthermore, her attitude toward nursing was not just a paycheck. She was passionate, and was recognized multiple times for her quality of work as an RN. And if you have any nurses in your family, you know how high the demands are. To this day, I've never seen any person work as hard as my mother did. We have her to thank for our work ethic. From day one, we promised that Wolfpack Hearing Clinic would be known for only the highest quality of service in hearing healthcare. We're grateful for our awards. But our staff is in mutual agreement that the recognition only adds to the pressure to improve. Like my mother, we can never become complacent, because more and more people now depend on us for the ongoing care that better hearing requires. Honoring a special nurse Chances are, you personally know a nurse. Nursing is one of the fastest-growing and longest-running occupations in the United States and Canada. The New England Hospital for Women and Children, established in 1862, was the first nursing school in the United States. The first formal nursing training program in Canada was established in 1874 at the General and Marine Hospital in St. Catharines, Ontario. The American Nurses Association was started in 1898. The Canadian Nurses' Association, formerly the Canadian National Association of Trained Nurses, was developed in 1907. These associations are national professional associations representing the hundreds of thousands of nurses across the country and are instrumental in legislative policy and the influences of health care on nursing professionals today. Did you know? Community blood Center of the ozarks www.cbco.org bentonville 479.464.2506 springdale 479.927.1200 SaVe a LIFe eVeRy DRop TeLLS a SToRy NWa NeWsPaPeRs llC Is a PRoUD sPoNsoR of CoMMUNIty blooD CeNteR. 12 | YOU AT YOUR BEST | nwAdg.cOm/YOUATYOURBEST mAY - BEST nURSES | SATURdAY, ApRil 27, 2019 Located in East Fayetteville 2630 E Citizens Dr. #7 (479) 957-9300 wolfpackhearing.com Our patients succeed. You will, too! Best BestNWA.com of Northwest Arkansas the

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