A local native and registered nurse has shared her story of how she came to be a nurse as well as a foster mom, along with her recent vaccination for coronavirus. Alissa Broughton, who graduated from Stanley-Boyd in 2001 as Alissa Wanish, was

the second person to receive

the COVID-19 vaccine at

Our Lady of Victory Hospital, having earlier received an associate’s degree in nursing from Wenatchee Valley College in Wenatchee, Washington followed

Art and Alissa Broughton with their children. Submitted photo.

City Administrator Clerk-Treasuer Nicole Thiel works with Holly Hatlestad at Monday’s Council meeting. Staff photo.

FROM PAGE 1 by a bachelor’s in nursing a couple years later. “I was vaccinated December 28th,” she said of protection from COVID-19. “I feel like the vaccine will help in ending the pandemic. I feel that it is safe. Together we will get through this,” she said as the second person to be vaccinated locally. Healthcare workers are among those receiving the vaccine _rst, as being on the front lines of the _ght against COVID. Recently recognized for her accomplishments by another publication, Broughton went more into just what got her into nursing, along with being a foster parent together with husband Art. “I enjoy working with people and was a nursing assistant before I was a nurse,” she shared of how she came to where she is today. “I knew I wanted to make a bigger difference.” Now in her sixth year as a registered nurse at Our Lady of Victory Hospital in Stanley, it was during Broughton’s years in nursing school that she and her husband had their two biological children, also choosing to adopt a son. Now a foster mom who lives in Stanley after growing up in Boyd, adoption and foster parenting were a natural turn of events for the couple, given that Broughton was adopted herself as a child. “We got involved in foster parenting because I was adopted and we wanted to give back and give children a life like I had,” the foster mom, nurse, and long-ago Stanley-Boyd graduate shared of the family’s journey. Broughton’s friend and co-worker Lacey Chapek had more to say when asked about Broughton. “She is an amazing nurse, an incredible mother, and the most awesome best friend,” Chapek said. “As for my friend, she cares like a sister and my mom considers her a daughter,” Chapek said. “She (Broughton) truly is a get-it-done person, whether at work or home.” What’s more, she lives in Stanley-Boyd!