NPWH highlights member, Carolyn Sutton, WHNP-BC.

What is your certification?

I was in the first group to take the NCC WHNP certification exam. My certification is current and I continue to proudly use the WHNP-BC credential after my name.

How long have you been practicing?  

I attended a certificate-granting Women’s Health NP program in 1980.  I completed my MS in Nursing in 1985.  When the Texas Board of Nursing changed the entry level requirement for advanced practice to a graduate degree, I was grandfathered in and have been going strong since!

What kind of practice do you work in? 

I worked at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas as a Faculty Associate in the Department of OB-GYN for over 40 years.  During my tenure, my advanced practice roles included that of NP program director/educator, clinical director of a large family planning program that employed over 40 NPs, and clinical practice manager for the department’s ambulatory faculty OB-GYN private practice.  All of these professional experiences were rewarding in so many ways.  But, the last 10 years as an Advanced Practice Provider working in our gynecology practice has been my most fulfilling.  Working with women of all ages and phases of life to improve their health and well being has been a joy.  I was especially passionate about contraceptive care and management and allowing reasonable access to all available methods.  I just recently retired from UT due to a health set-back and I miss my colleagues and patients a lot.  But, as fortune has it, I will be returning shortly in a part-time position to help develop a model program for tracking/surveillance of abnormal that can ultimately be replicated anywhere on campus that Pap smears are performed.  So, I’m still kicking, just not quite as high as before!

What is one fun fact about you?  

My husband and I just celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary.  We met on the UT campus in Austin shortly before my 18th birthday and we just clicked.  We were young and silly and had no idea we were at the beginning of a long, sweet journey.