The journey from furniture salesman to Sevier Valley Urology Nurse Practitioner

Josh Penman has lived in Sevier Valley in Utah for close to 15 years now. “I am from Circleville, in Piute County,” said Josh. “I love small towns. We live in Annabella now, right down the street from my wife’s parents. We have three boys, and one girl and love living in an environment where your kids can play in the street, and you all know your neighbors.”?

Before becoming a nurse practitioner, Josh and his wife experienced the most tragic event a young parent could go through. “I would have had four boys, but my second son passed away,” said Josh. “He was born a healthy boy as far as we knew. We brought him home, when about two days later he wasn’t feeding well. He ended up passing away a day later. The best that could be determined was our son had a hole in his intestine from a very rare bacteria.”?

How does one get through something like that? “Faith,” said Josh. “We have faith we’ll see him again. We had incredible family support, neighbors that were there for us, so many people that helped, including those at the hospital in doing everything they could for all of us. We still celebrate our son’s birthday, and live close to the cemetery where he’s buried to be able to visit and remember him.”?

At that time, Josh had been working as a furniture salesman, something he described as a dead-end job. “As I watched how people in healthcare really cared about us, helped us, supported us, in an extremely difficult time when our son passed, I knew I wanted to be the same kind of help to others,” said Josh. He and his wife decided to go back to school at the same time to get their degrees in healthcare; his wife becoming an RN, Josh becoming an RN, and then recently becoming a nurse practitioner for Sevier Valley Hospital Urology.?

Watching the interactions with nurses and the compassionate work they do help inform his work as a nurse practitioner. “Everybody who's seeking medical care has questions or concerns about their health or somebody else's health, and they want to be heard, and truly seen, and valued,” said Josh. “I knew this was absolutely the right path for me. Being a nurse practitioner, I can fully focus on each patient and be able to spend that important time with them, helping them and making sure they are getting what they need to be well.”?

One misconception about his role is that people in a rural area may believe they must go to a bigger city to get better care. “Sometimes people don’t realize you can get the highest quality healthcare you need, right here, in southern Utah,” said Josh. “I am more readily available because I live here and work here. When you're a part of the community, you understand the community well and what the needs are.”?

Anyone can call and make an appointment with Josh. “I’ll be doing all the clinical care, and Dr. David Adams from St. George performs all the procedures and oversees the clinical care,” said Josh. “It’s important to note that if anyone is hesitant to seek the care of a nurse practitioner or physician’s assistant versus a medical doctor, the level of quality care is still there. As a nurse practitioner I have the same resources and can focus on the patient in full in a clinical setting for the very best, most comprehensive care.”?