Professor Jo Ann Sizemore is retiring after 21 years as a faculty member in nursing.

“I love students and watching them grow,” Sizemore said, but she is leaving the classroom to help take care of a grandchild.

Jo Ann has enjoyed teaching. “We have had some really good students. This work is very fulfilling. I especially enjoy seeing the students after they graduate,” she said. She remembers when her father was dying, she saw her former students on the “code team” and former students were with him when he passed away in 2003. “Two of my students came to me and hugged me and that meant a lot,” she said.

HCTC President Dr. Steve Greiner noted, “Jo Ann is known as someone who is always willing to provide assistance to others and to give a word of encouragement. She had made a positive difference in the lives of her students and in turn their patients.”

Students give high praise for Jo Ann’s work. As one student wrote, “JoAnn's clinical was very fulfilling. She expected us to work and do patient care, but she made it an environment where we enjoyed doing it. She was always available to make sure we didn't have any problems. She would drop by the patient rooms while we were giving care and check up on us. She would always ask how we were doing and if we needed anything.”

Another student expressed, “Jo Ann is wonderful! I can honestly say that there is not one thing that I could possibly complain about or suggest that she do better. She is very thorough and doesn’t care to go out of her way to demonstrate anything and everything as well as explain to help you to understand or better your nursing care. Jo Ann has been the role model nurse that we all look for in a hospital/nursing home. Jo Ann is great!”

Prior to working at HCTC, Jo Ann was employed for Hazard ARH in the Labor and Delivery Unit and in the Operating Room, work she very much enjoyed and she shared those experiences with her students.

Jo Ann holds a bachelor’s degree from Berea College and master’s degree from the University of Kentucky.

She lives in Avawam with husband Albert Sizemore, a retired electrician. The couple has three children, including twins, Todd, who works as the Facility Manager for UK College of Pharmacy in Lexington, and Suzanne, who will be joining the London’s Women’s Care group as a doctor. Son Brent teaches European History in Clark County Schools.