CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Belinda Caver-Ballard is a certified family nurse practitioner and the owner of Restoring Health Clinic.
Caver-Ballard, 61, who had a long-time dream of being a nurse practitioner, fulfilled her dream after raising her family. Every day, she lives her passion for helping people learn about their health and wellness.
CNow: When did your dream to become a nurse practitioner begin?
Caver-Ballard, who grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, was a young child when she saw actress Diane Carroll playing the part of a nurse in a show called “Julia.”
“I’m a little Black girl watching TV, and this beautiful Black woman in a white dress is a nurse working in a doctor’s office,” Caver-Ballard said. “She’s clean and beautiful, and listening to her talk to a person would make them feel better. From that point on, I wanted to be a nurse. My ultimate goal was to be a nurse practitioner.”
CNow: What was your motivation and process to reach your goal?
“Being a nurse practitioner was something I longed, all my life. I think I wanted to prove to myself it was something I could do. I didn’t have the confidence at first that I could.”
Caver-Ballard was a medical transcriptionist for 10-15 years. It took time and many unexpected turns as a military spouse and mother before she reached her goal.
“I graduated nursing school at 35, married with three kids; my husband, Osborn, encouraged me to do that,” she said. “I worked during the day as a medical transcriptionist and went to school in the evening. After a year in the program, my husband, who was in the military, got orders to move to Tennessee.”
Due to the type of program at Hartnell College in Salinas, Calif., Cave-Ballard couldn’t transfer while doing clinical, so with the support of her husband, she stayed in California to finish school.
After moving to Clarksville, she went on to get her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Phoenix and her Master’s Degree in Health Informatics.
While coming far, she still wasn’t satisfied. A nun on a bus even told me to go and do it.
“My husband said, ‘You want to be a nurse practitioner, so just do it,’” she said. “I went to Middle Tennessee State in Murfreesboro and I did it with the help of God. … My faith in God helped me to keep going. God, my perseverance, my husband, family and friends supported me, so I say we made it. We reached the goal.”
CNow: What do you like about your profession?
“The reason most people get into nursing is because we have a nurturing heart and we want to try to help people. … When you help one person, to me it’s still worth it. I love to talk to my patients, come to an agreement together on what is best for them, and compromise on the things that aren’t.”
CNow: When did you open your business?
After becoming a nurse practitioner in 2017, Caver-Ballard was working in a doctor’s office. When the doctor became ill and retired, she decided to move on.
Encouraging her to open her own business was her now-office manager, Joann Garland. Garland worked in the doctor’s office where she and another Black nurse practitioner, Stacy Michelin, worked.
“I took that leap into business ownership and I thought ‘Let’s go find a place’ and did the paperwork and never thought anything else about it,” Caver-Ballard said.
Restoring Health Clinic, a name created by her daughter Natalie, located at 2237-A Lowes Drive opened in December 2018.
CNow: What advice would you give others who have a dream to accomplish?
“I try to encourage young people to start early even if they have an inkling of what they want to do, and when they do decide, it is never too late to accomplish your dreams and get your education.
“Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t. If it’s a dream that you have, then follow it. I truly believe in praying about it. If we walk out and do things on our own, we will get ourselves in trouble. If it’s (God’s) will, it will happen.”
CNow: What are some things you’d like people to know about you?
Caver-Ballard’s husband, Osborn, retired from the military after 22 years in the service. She has three grown children and eight grandchildren.
In her spare time, she loves to cook, especially seafood gumbo.
Celebrating Black “HerStory” is a Black History Month series celebrating women who are living their dream and making a difference as professionals and entrepreneurs.