(Digital Editor's Note: This article was published first in the July 2023 edition of the print version of The Stand.)
“Please let me pray for you.”
Those words highlighted a recent visit with Dr. Jessica Peck, host of the Dr. Nurse Mama podcast. In fact, it took the good doctor only moments to diagnose the depth of burdens this writer was carrying and prescribe hope and healing through her offered prayer.
The interview could have ended there because Peck had exemplified her online ministry without answering one question. Her Christ-filled compassion will lead listeners to appreciate American Family Radio’s newest podcast host.
Just a regular mama
Quite content with her life, Peck never set out to host a podcast.
“My husband and I will celebrate our 25th anniversary this year,” said Peck. “He’s a rocket scientist, and that causes a lot of jokes around our house.
“Our oldest daughter is a journalism and religion major at Baylor, our second daughter is about to attend nursing school, and we have two teenage boys at home.”
Beyond the home front, most of what Peck has accomplished as a nurse practitioner, professor, author, and podcast host, has clearly been orchestrated by God.
“A lot of people look at me now through the lens of my credentials,” she said. “They see my accomplishments and things I’ve done. That’s where I am now, but it is not where I started. Not even close.
“I was the first woman in my family to get a university degree. My parents had never gone to college, so they were not equipped to equip me for that journey. As a woman during that time, all I could see myself being was a nurse or a teacher.”
Reluctant nurse to nurse practitioner
Consequently, Peck started nursing school while working three jobs and barely maintaining a passing GPA. Then, the pediatrician’s office where she worked required her to get a bachelor’s degree in nursing.
Peck continued: “I was too scared to do it. But my husband, who had an engineering degree, said he would go with me and get his master’s degree while I got my nursing degree.”
“Then, he pursued his second master’s degree while I got my first,” Peck laughingly added. “By the time I started working on my doctoral degree, he said I was on my own.”
At the request of a doctoral professor, Peck published a paper on nursing policy. It garnered invitations to serve with various professional organizations and other opportunities to speak and write.
Professor to podcast host
But her platform completely changed trajectory when a friend who worked with an anti-trafficking agency asked Peck to help write continuing education documents.
She instantly replied, “Absolutely … not! I know nothing about trafficking.”
But the Lord convicted her, and she began wholeheartedly researching the topic. God used that research to finetune Peck’s leadership skills, eventually taking her to Baylor University in the fall of 2019 as a clinical professor.
“I had never worked with a faith-based organization before,” Peck stated. “It opened a world of possibilities for me. That’s when I stepped out on this podcast platform and wrote my book, Behind Closed Doors: A Guide to Help Parents and Teens Navigate Through Life’s Toughest Issues.” (See review on p. 30.)
The Dr. Nurse Mama podcast mission is simple: To engage, encourage, equip, and empower families to raise holistically healthy kids.
