2008 Most Influential Women Honoree: Cindy Whitten

Whitten credits her mother for her initial inspiration.

“She always wanted to be a nurse, but she got rheumatic fever and wasn’t able to finish high school,” says Whitten, CEO at Select Specialty Hospital. “I don’t think I really knew what nursing was. I thought it was very glamorous.”

Whitten’s mother also encouraged her to have a job she could fall back on in case she ever had to support herself.

That was good advice.

When Whitten’s first three children were 7, 5 and 2 years old, her husband walked out. He was never heard from again.

“I was fortunate because I was a nurse, so I always had a job,” says Whitten, who graduated from Wesley Hospital School of Nursing in Wichita, Kan. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing and a master’s degree in health care administration from Southwest Baptist University.

But her circumstances meant she would never have the opportunity to choose less work and more family time.

“I’ve never not worked,” Whitten says. “I did regret that. I wasn’t able to be home more.”

Two years later, Whitten met a man with two girls. They’ve been married for more than two decades now and share a child between them.

“My six children are (my) greatest love and joy and my most significant achievement,” Whitten says.

“They have enriched my life and helped me understand unconditional love that is freely given without reservations (and) the importance of each of our individual gifts and differences.”

After 37 years in nursing, she has stayed in the profession because she appreciates participating in patients’ lives.

“I love being a nurse. It has truly been a gift to me and has allowed me to be the part of so many lives at their most vulnerable point, which has enriched my life experience and given me a profound respect for the goodness of people,” she says.

Whitten has worked for St. John’s, CoxHealth and Missouri Rehabilitation Center in Mount Vernon. At Select Specialty Hospital, which handles long-term acute-care patients, Whitten combines administrative duties with patient care.

“I meet every family that’s here (and) every patient that’s here,” she says. “I get to know all of them. … I really feel the most invigorated when I can get out and deal with patients and families.”

So even though Whitten may have gone into nursing largely because of her mother, she has stayed because it’s what she wants to do.

“It was a job I was meant to have," she says. “It is a mission. It’s what I was meant to do.”

Name an influential woman, living or dead, you’d like to meet. Why?

Erma Bombeck. When I was a young mother I enjoyed all of her books, and she helped me to avoid taking myself too seriously. I loved her sense of humor. I also would like to meet Florence Nightingale.

What advice do you have for young women just getting started professionally?

Be a person of character and heart. Work on developing friendships with others and appreciating people for their unique differences. Give grace to other people and to yourself when you make a mistake.

As a young girl, what were your career aspirations?

I always wanted to be a mother and a nurse. I wanted to have children more than anything in the world, and God blessed me with six of them.

What celebrity have others compared you to, or do you identify with?

My son, Adam, says that I am the character that Joanne Woodward plays in the movie, “Breathing Lessons.” She plays a mom who runs around trying to fix things for everyone and make them happy, and it isn’t always well-received.

Tell us about your family.

My husband, Doug, works as service manager at Temperature Control. We have been married for 26 years and have six children; Robyn, Wendy, ?Jennifer, Jason, Joel and Adam.

Web Exclusive: What might be surprising about Cindy?

Answer: Not much – she says she’s “an open book” who’s transparent to those who know her, with few surprises in the wings.