I was born and raised in Wyoming and have been in the Sheridan area for the past 33 years since marrying my husband, Bob. Our 3 children were raised in Sheridan, which we found to be an outstanding community to provide a sense of good moral and ethical value, constant family support and a place to always consider home!

I have had an interest in nursing as a career since I was quite young. Therefore I started my health care career approximately 37 years ago when I attended the Medical Institute of Minnesota and graduated as a Certified Medical Assistant which provided me a taste of nursing along with laboratory skills and the education of being able to run an office including dictation and bookkeeping. I continued my education in 1982 at Sheridan College and proceeded getting my licensed practical nursing license and went on to graduate with an Associate of Science degree to become a registered nurse. After graduation, I was hired as an RN for Dr. Walter Gould, a general surgeon and Dr. Kent Thayer, a urologist.

Through my 25 years of working with Dr. Gould there were multiple other urologists that I worked with in our office setting including Dr. Bob Bohus and several visiting urologists from Billings and Casper until Dr. Stephen Holst started practicing in our office. I assisted Dr. Gould with all office surgery including minor skin lesions to open breast biopsies. I was also fortunate enough to observe and assist in several operations at the hospital. I was responsible for suture removal, wound care, pre and post op teaching and giving IV therapy including chemotherapy. The urologists provided other challenges including assisting with cystoscopy, vasectomies, catheter placement and removal. I drew blood and was involved in lab procedures including urinalysis, semen analysis and cultures. The multiple jobs in an office setting provided me with a multitude of tasks and challenges daily and the above list is a small part of what was learned on the job providing continual growth and experience in the health care field.

I continued my education in nursing by completing my Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Nursing in 1995 through the University of Wyoming. At the time of graduation, I was presented with the honor of outstanding achievement in Practice, Community Service and Professional Service by the University of Wyoming School of Nursing based on letters provided from the Sheridan Medical Community. Dr. Gould retired in 2006 and in 2007 I decided to continue my education with the urging of Dr. Walter Gould and Dr. Stephen Holst to become a nurse practitioner. I was accepted into the program at the University of Wyoming and graduated in 2009 with a Master’s of Science Degree in Nursing as a Family Nurse Practitioner. During my course work with the university, I underwent two years of training under multiple specialties. They included working in adult and family medicine with Dr. Strahan, Dr. Hunter, and Dr. Batty with assistance from their nurse practitioners and physician assistants. I spent two rotations through the Women’s Prison in Lusk, the Men’s Honor Farm in Newcastle and a Women’s Health rotation in the Gillette Family Planning Services. Since leaving the Gillette Family Planning, I have donated my time to help with well health clinics at reduced rates to promote preventative and well health care for women. I also spent time in Dr. Barry Wohl’s office for a rotation in pediatric care. Once my educational experience was completed, I took the national board certification in September of 2009. I returned to Sheridan where I worked with Dr. Stephen Holst concentrating primarily on Urology for approximately 1 1/2 years. With encouragement from my family and patients, I decided that it was time to utilize more of my educational experience and therefore decided to start my own business as a nurse practitioner concentrating on family practice.

I currently am providing family practice services including well child exams, physicals, women and mens preventative healthcare, acute and chronic care for medical conditions and minor surgical procedures. This has been a very rewarding experience and I continue to grow with each patient providing time and attention to their individual needs.

My approach to patient care is to take the necessary time to get to know each patient individually and listen to their concerns. Once the concerns are expressed it is important to assess the situation and evaluate multiple options before making a plan of care that will be acceptable to the individual and is evidence based in nature.

I look forward to serving you and hopefully it will be a relationship with mutual trust and respect in caring for you and your health care needs.

Sincerely,

Debbie Kawulok, MS, FNP-BC

For Appointments Call (307) 674-1744