Tammy Hood, a registered nurse in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, recently retired from North Mississippi Medical Center with 32 years of service.

Tammy bookended her career in the NICU but in between branched out to other specialties. She joined the NICU staff in May 1991 and after 17 years transferred to Surgical Services, where she served on the heart surgery team. In 2014 she moved to NMMC’s Ortho Trauma Clinic and worked there for six years.

Three years ago when Tammy enrolled in cosmetology school to become a hair stylist, she transferred back to the NICU at Women’s Hospital so she could work part-time hours.

“It was a very rewarding career,” Tammy says. “I met so many wonderful people that I wouldn’t have ever met had I not been at the hospital.”

A 1986 graduate of South Pontotoc High School, Tammy earned her associate degree in nursing in 1991 from Itawamba Community College. She completed her bachelor’s degree in nursing in 2014 from Mississippi University for Women.

Tammy and her husband, Paul, live in Mooreville, where she owns the Blown Away salon. The Hoods have two children—Dalton and Caroline—and love to travel.