Amber Cotton, RN
Life Experience Led to Earning ADN and Top Nursing Honors
story by Van Mitchell, Staff Writer
Amber Cotton, an ER Nurse at INTEGRIS Health Edmond Hospital, experienced the loss of her mother after several years of battling breast cancer.
It was through that life experience that Cotton, who was pursuing a master’s in agriculture education at the time, connected the dots that she wanted to pursue a nursing career instead.
“After I gave birth to my oldest child, I wanted to become a lactation consultant, but realized I needed to be an RN, so I opted against it and began to pursue a masters of Agricultural education,” she said. “However, six years into cancer remission, my mom’s breast cancer returned. So, I decided to put my master’s program on hold, to focus on her and my growing family.”
Cotton, TNCC, ALS, BLS, and PALS Certified, said over time she noticed her mom’s behavior changed.
“Over the course of the next three years, we were told her cancer was “at a walk,” yet her behavior was changing and she wasn’t interested in what she usually loved to eat and do, and went to bed much earlier than usual,” she said. “My gut instinct told me to be concerned that it had spread further than we were told, but I trusted her oncologist, who insisted her cancer was barely spreading and manageable.”
In July of 2013, after a sudden onset of tonic-clonic seizures, Cotton said they discovered her mom’s cancer had metastasized to her brain and other parts of her body and was given weeks-to-months to live.
“Thanks to God, we had three more, beautiful in their own way, months with her. I was with her when she took her last breath on a beautiful, sunny October Sunday,” she said.
Cotton said with encouragement from friends and family, she pursued nursing.
“It was only after connecting the dots, by realizing I should’ve trusted my gut with my mom’s cancer and that I was interested in human health, and through the encouragement of an RN friend of mine, my husband, and my dad, did I decide to “look into” nursing,” she said. “So, I made an appointment with an advisor at Oklahoma City Community College. I lovingly like to tell people that walking into OCCC in August of 2016 to ‘Look into becoming a nurse” was like being shoved through a door-it was meant to be.”
Cotton received her BS in Animal Science from Oklahoma State University in 2003 and ADN from Oklahoma City Community College in 2020.
She will have been with INTEGRIS Health Edmond Hospital for five years in May.
Cotton was named the 2023 INTEGRIS Health Edmond Hospital Emergency Department Nurse of the Year award recipient; 2023 March of Dimes, Oklahoma Nurse of the Finalist, and was the 2022 INTEGRIS Health Edmond Hospital Emergency Department Rising Star award recipient.
“I work full-time night shift in the ED, as both a bedside nurse and Lead RN,” she said. “We nurses have a lot of responsibilities in our ED. We are the patient’s primary source of care, from the minute they walk into the doors, until they’re discharged or admitted to the hospital. We work closely with our providers, respiratory therapists, and radiology techs and focus on initiatives that aim at improving patient care and satisfaction. We also participate in quality improvement audits.”
Cotton also serves as chair of her unit’s Unit Based Council.
“My peers and I collaborate on our common goal of improving our unit’s efficiency, quality, safety, camaraderie, morale, and teamwork,” she said. “We develop ways to ensure patient safety, provide positive patient, family, and caretaker experiences, improve delivery of care, and foster teamwork. We advocate for patients, their families, and our caregivers by listening and bringing suggestions, concerns, and ideas.”
Cotton said she wants to be a calming presence during a patient’s visit to the ER.
“I love being able to care for people during their times of crisis, regardless of how acute their illness is, or whether they feel justified in coming to our ER after their diagnosis,” she said. “I want our patients to know that their concerns are important to us, and we will do our best to give them the care they need. I hope that we’re able to bring some sense of comfort, even just for a moment.”
Cotton said family time helps her to decompress from a day’s work.
“In this season of life, with kids in middle school, high school, and college, most of my downtime is spent with them and their activities,” she said. “As a family, we prioritize travel and exposure to the world. My dad lives in a beautiful part of Arkansas, so we try to hike and visit with him as often as we can. Personally, I enjoy painting, creating, reading, and being active with my kids. On my off days, I love being at home, on my little acreage-it’s very grounding and helps me recharge.”
For more information, or to join INTEGRIS Health visit:
https://integrishealth.org/careers
