New nursing teacher Sharae Collins believes in communication and she wants her students to ask questions and explore. “I’m a very communicative teacher,” noted the Hazard Community and Technical College faculty member, who began Sept. 1 at the college where she graduated from in 2017.
In addition to good communication, Collins stresses to her students the importance of continued learning. “You are always learning something; you will never know everything,” Collins said, adding that the medical profession is constantly changing, prompting the need to forever be a student.
Collins has high praise for HCTC’s nursing program. “We have great faculty. We have all kinds of technology in our labs and that’s great,” she said.
Working at HCTC is fulfilling one of Collins’ career dreams. “I have always wanted to work at HCTC; when I got to know the faculty when I was a student here, I especially knew I wanted to come back and teach with them,” she said.
Christy Martin, Nursing Program Coordinator noted, “We are thrilled to have Sharae join our team. Her roots run deep in our program; she was actually a student tutor when she was in our program. Her dream was to come back to teach with us and she has some innovative ideas for teaching her specialty. She has quickly become the go to person for students who need additional tutoring.”
Since graduating, Collins has worked in pediatric, surgical, and newborn nursing.
She was employed at the Knott County Health and Rehabilitation Center for two years as a nurse aide and she was a staff nurse at what is now Highlands ARH. She has served as an HCTC adjunct faculty member.
Besides her HCTC degree, she holds a bachelor’s degree from Galen College. She plans to earn a master’s degree from Northern Kentucky University.
The 2011 Knott County Central graduate lives in Hueysville, in Floyd County with her husband, Nicholas Collins, and their 5-year-old daughter.
Evelyn Wood
Public Relations Director
