Two local women, one from Mathews and the other from Gloucester, are pursuing nursing careers inspired by their experiences with nurses during traumatic events in their own lives and fueled by the excellent nursing program at Rappahannock Community College.

Mathews native Aryah Hudgins and Gloucester native Morganne Skinner share a lot of parallels in their lives and careers. They both earned associate degrees in nursing from RCC—Hudgins in 2014 and Skinner in 2015—after which they confidently sat for, and passed, their nursing boards to become RNs. They both then embarked on nursing careers at Riverside Regional Medical Center; Hudgins in the hospital’s cardiovascular telemetry unit and Skinner in the intensive care unit.

Once employed, each lady continued her studies in order to earn a bachelor’s degree in nursing. Last month, Hudgins was awarded her BSN from Old Dominion University, and Skinner is on track to receive her BSN from Liberty University this fal...