Published: October 10, 2008 10:26 pm            

Nurse practitioner fulfills childhood aspiration

Lorrie Borrell knew since she was a child that she wanted to be a nurse.

Medical centers were familiar turf for the young girl, whose mother was in and out of the hospital many times.

The kindly women in their crisp, white uniforms made quite an impression on the child.

But it wasn’t until 18 years after graduation that Borrell was able to follow her dream.

She hadn’t wasted her time – marrying and raising a daughter.

But she regrets not going to college straight out of high school.

These days, the 49-year-old Richland Township woman is a nurse practitioner.

Her career is all she had dreamed it would be – and more.

Borrell grew up in New York’s Hudson Valley.

At 17, she started dating Rick, the man who would become her husband three years later.

He was in the Air Force, so the young couple moved around a great deal – even living in Germany for a time.

“I think we just kind of grew up together,” she said of the man she calls the most influential person in her life. The two have been married for 29 years.

The couple have a daughter, Jessica, who is 19 and attends the University of Pittsburgh, where she is preparing to be a physician.

“She’s my proudest accomplishment in life,” her mother said.

In 2000, Borrell’s husband retired from the Air Force and was hired as a controller at the Cambria County airport.

“I never really heard of Johnstown,” Borrell said. “I vaguely remembered that there was a major flood here, but I didn’t know anything about it.”

It didn’t take the family long to feel at home in the region, and Borrell said she can’t picture herself moving again.

“We love it,” she said. “I consider it my home.”

She cites the quiet, the beautiful hills, four distinct seasons, welcoming neighbors, the proximity to Pittsburgh and the low cost of living as reasons why she likes this area.

She works in the office of family physician Dr. Michael Comas in Windber.

“I feel very privileged to work for him,” she said. “He has been a wonderful mentor.”

Comas said he hadn’t considered working with a nurse practitioner until Borrell did her clinical rotation in his office.

“It is a huge benefit to have her here with me,” Comas said. “The patients are very happy to have her.”

Borrell also volunteers at the Johnstown Free Clinic.

“It’s a wonderful program,” she said. “It’s for people who have no insurance, the ones who kind of fall between the cracks.”

Borrell’s first job was as a practical nurse in a nursing home.

“I loved it,” she said. “It was very rewarding.”

The experience convinced her to continue her education, so she went back to school while she worked full time.

After working as a registered nurse, she enrolled in Pitt-Johnstown to earn her bachelor’s degree in nursing.

But when a nurse practitioner came to the school to talk about the program, Borrell was sold.

It’s a decision she is very happy with.

The position allows her to deal with patients one on one and allows for more autonomy.

“I can diagnose, treat acute and chronic problems, prescribe medicine and do counseling,” Borrell said.

She believes that one of the most important things she does is counseling her patients, and she strongly urges smokers to kick the habit.

Her mother smoked until about three days before she died of emphysema.

“It was very hard to watch,” she said. “It’s one of the reasons I encourage people to quit smoking.”

In addition to patient care, Borrell also keeps busy with a regional group for nurse practitioners that she started a few years ago when she realized there wasn’t one.

The Laurel Highlands Nurse Practitioner Association represents more than 70 practitioners in Cambria, Bedford and Somerset counties.

The group has about 28 active members who meet monthly to network and socialize. Speakers address the group, and discussions are held on laws that impact members.

The association also started the Marjorie Farabaugh Scholarship Fund, named for one of the area’s first nurse practitioners, who died of breast cancer a few years ago. The group hopes to provide a yearly $500 scholarship to an area student studying to become a nurse practitioner.

It is raising money for the scholarship through the Conemaugh Foundation.

Borrell says many patients through the years have made an impact on her.

She enjoyed working with the ones she called “pleasantly demented.”

“I loved to listen to their stories,” she said. “I didn’t know if they were true or not, but I loved listening.”

Borrell said her goal is to try to make a difference.

“If you can help just one person that day, then your life is worthwhile.”

        

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