When Pearl M. Murphy, RN, was a child, her mother Eunice Jean Murphy worked as a nursing assistant and she had a friend, Nurse Jessie, who worked in the same hospital with her. She was really impressed by how Nurse Jessie acted and presented herself to others, so she wanted to emulate her when she got older. Ms. Murphy began her nursing career as a staff nurse in the medical-surgical unit of Southern Hills Hospital in Portsmouth, Ohio, in 1973, remaining in this position for two years before moving up the ranks to staff nurse in the psychiatric-alcohol unit from 1975 to 1979 and psychiatric unit from 1980 to 1987. She then transferred to Mercy Hospital in Portsmouth for one year before becoming a staff nurse in the diabetic unit at Scioto Memorial Hospital, now known as Southern Ohio Medical Center, in Portsmouth from 1988 to 1989. Since then, she has been a staff nurse in the medical-surgical vascular care unit at Southern Ohio Medical Center in Portsmouth. In addition to this tenure, she was the nursing assistant program coordinator and an instructor at Scioto County Career Technical Center from 1991 to 1992.
Prior to the start of her career, Ms. Murphy pursued a formal education at Scioto County Career Technical Center in Lucasville, Ohio, earning a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) certification in 1973. She then attended Hocking College in Nelsonville, Ohio, where she received an Associate Degree in Nursing in 1980, and went on to attain a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Ohio University in Athens in 1989. In addition to these academic honors, Ms. Murphy is a certified medical/surgical nurse through the American Nursing Credentialing Center.
Outside of her primary trade, Ms. Murphy keeps up with trends in her field through her affiliations with the Ohio Nurses Association and the Order of the Eastern Star. In light of her accomplishments, she was selected for inclusion in the third and fourth editions of Who’s Who in Medicine and Healthcare and the 53rd, 57th and 58th editions of Who’s Who in America. Today, Ms. Murphy has been known to enjoy camping, hiking, fishing and working in her church in her free time.
