A Logan County native who has done much of her formal schooling in the Nashville area continues to advance in her educational attainments and professional standing.

Gretchen Burchett is now ready to become licensed as a family nurse practitioner after graduating with a Master of Science in Nursing from Vanderbilt University on Aug. 2.

She graduated with a 3.8 GPA as part of the Sigma Theta Tau honor society at Vanderbilt. She did her clinicals at the Clinic of Mercury Courts and the Family Health Center of Ashland City.

She attended Goodpasture Christian School in Madison, commuting daily from South Logan with her older brother Brandon and her mom Debbie, who was employed at the school. She graduated from Goodpasture in 2006.

Four years later, Gretchen graduated from the University of Kentucky with a degree in nursing. She worked in neonatal intensive care at UK before returning to Nashville to work in the Neonatal Unit of the Vanderbilt Hospital.

“I think my biggest accomplishment throughout this process has been working full time in the Neonatal ICU while also going to school. I am one of the unit's charge nurses and while my job can be very stressful, the combination with school was quite trying!” she tells The LoJo.

She handled it all well, making only one B throughout the masters program at Vanderbilt University, one of the South’s most respected colleges academically.

“I am going to continue working as an RN in Vanderbilt's Neonatal ICU until I find a full-time nurse practitioner job. I have been hired at the Family Health Center as PRN and will work there one day a week until I find somewhere full time. I am currently applying for jobs in Nashville,” she says.

She has taken a brief respite from work and studying while she and her mom visit Brandon and his young family in Colorado. “I am going to enjoy my next week and a half off from work and then it's back to the books to study for boards!” she says.

Gretchen is the daughter of Rusty and Debbie Burchett of Dot.