New Nurse Practitioner in ER
Posted on Friday, December 5th, 2025
HIGHLY-EXPERIENCED NURSE PRACTITIONER JOINS EMERGENCY ROOM
Sandy Harman, DNP, Nurse Practitioner
Sandy Harman, nurse practitioner, has joined Mercy Health Love County in the Emergency Room. She provides critical care, diagnosing and treating patients who have acute illnesses or injuries.
The friendly and kind clinician has settled in since opening day of the ER on September 2. “I really like this community,” Harman said of Marietta. “People are hard-working and nice, and in the emergency room, all have been respectful toward the staff.”
“The teamwork here is phenomenal,” she added. “The staff is well-trained, competent, friendly, and takes care of patients well.” She also noted the “very knowledgeable” paramedics at the nearby ambulance station who come into the ER to assist her.
“Phenomenal” is an apt description of Harman’s career and education. As she explains, “I have 33 years in nursing, with 25 of them as a nurse-practitioner, and 16 years of education in the medical field.”
Starting as a senior in high school in Carrollton, Missouri in 1986, Harman gained licensure successively as a certified nurse’s aide (CNA), emergency medical technician (EMT) and licensed vocational nurse (LVN).
“Our family physician was one of the first nurse practitioners in Missouri. I was influenced by the way she provided care to pursue that profession myself,” said Harman, who proceeded to work her way through college.
After earning an associate’s degree, she qualified as a Registered Nurse (RN) then continued studies at the University of Missouri-Kansas City to graduate as a Bachelor’s Degree RN and subsequently a Master’s Degree Family Nurse Practitioner in 1999, and finally as a doctor of nursing practice, the highest degree in nursing, in 2010.
She has specialties in gerontology and emergency medicine. Harman gained experience at each level of licensure in hospitals and clinics, mainly in Texas. No matter her day job, she generally moonlighted in an emergency room.
Married for 40 years, she and her husband Kevin raised two sons, Andrew, now 38, and Brandon, age 34. There is one granddaughter with a second grandchild expected in December.
Her boys were ages 4 and four months, respectively when Harman started nursing school. “My goal was to provide our sons with an education,” she said. Both graduated from college and work as professionals in business and engineering.
Their mom, the lifelong learner, has not quit on continuing education. She recently completed a Harvard University course in Artificial Intelligence (AI). “I am interested in strategies for using AI to streamline aspects of my job and permit me to spend more quality bedside time with patients,” Harman said.
For hobbies, she enjoys travel, reading, needlepoint, and crochet. “I want to learn to play the piano,” she added.
Finally, Harman was asked the two questions always provided in advance to new coworkers of the hospital when being interviewed for a newspaper profile: What first attracted you to the medical field? What keeps you in it?
They prompted deep feelings for her life’s work to come out, because even with time to prepare, she could not reply without tears in her eyes. “I enjoy helping people. I’ve always been drawn to this. I stay in the field because of the people I work with and the patients. To gain trust from them when they
are most vulnerable is humbling.”