Published on July 14, 2023
Read Time: 3 Minutes
Three Things to Know
- After 45 years with Phelps Health, Family Nurse Practitioner Carol Teague has retired, marking the end of her dedicated career in healthcare.
- Throughout her career, Carol witnessed significant changes in healthcare, including the transition from written to electronic medical records (EMR).
- In retirement, Carol is looking forward to helping her husband with their business and pursuing hobbies like reading and cross-stitch.
July 14, 2023, marked Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) Carol Teague’s final day of practice. After 45 years with Phelps Health, Carol is ready for her next chapter: retirement.
“Since I was young, I have always wanted to be a nurse (except for the 2 weeks that I wanted to be a flight attendant),” said Carol, who was born and raised in Salem, Missouri. “I worked as a candy striper (unpaid nursing assistant) at Salem Memorial Hospital in high school and loved it.”
After graduating from Missouri Baptist Hospital School of Nursing in 1978, Carol began working as a nurse in Pediatrics at Phelps Health (then Phelps County Memorial Hospital). She went on to complete her Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), followed by her Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) and eventually her FNP degree, through the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL).
In 1997, Carol began working as an FNP at Phelps Health – St. James, where she would see patients of all ages up until her retirement this month. Throughout her 45 years of practice, she’s observed various changes in healthcare, with the most significant being the switch from written to electronic medical records, or EMR. The field of pediatrics also has changed, for the better.
“Pediatrics holds a special place in my heart, as I dedicated around 20 years of my career to working in the hospital's Pediatrics Department,” Carol said. “[When I started], it was a 14-, then a 20-bed unit, and many of the kids were very ill. Immunizations and newer medications have significantly decreased the number of children who require hospitalization.”
For those considering going into family practice, Carol shared this advice:
“Family medicine is diverse and spans birth to death,” Carol said. “It is not a focused specialty; you have to stay up on more than one specialty. I have enjoyed family practice because of this variety. As a provider, my first priority has always been to provide exceptional care to my patients and their families, and to do so in an ethical manner.”
For Carol, retirement is bittersweet.
“I will miss my patients and their families the most, as I have known many of them for 25 years,” Carol said. “I have taken care of kids since they were young and now see their kids.”
Carol is excited to see where retirement will take her, however.
“Retirement means more family time, as driving from Salem for 45 years took a lot of time out of my day (50 minutes to my house),” Carol explained. “I plan on helping my husband at our archery/gun business, spending time reading and working on counted cross-stitch.”
The family nurse practitioner is not only a Phelps Health employee, but a patient and an advocate, as well. She has no plans to shop around, when it comes to healthcare.
“Phelps Health is a major asset to this community and the surrounding communities,” Carol said. “Patients and their families value being able to stay local for a variety of services. I, myself, have had surgery and been hospitalized at Phelps Health, both of which were positive experiences.”
Pecos Coble, DO, senior vice president and chief medical officer of the Phelps Health Medical Group, thanked Carol for her years of service on behalf of the Medical Group. In honor of her retirement, Phelps Health donated $2,000 to the Phelps Health Comprehensive Breast Center Mammography Fund, through the Phelps Health Mission Fund.
