Nursing a business to its full potential. (Home Health Care) (company profile)

Nancy Dobson Martin may prefer the purples and golds of her business wardrobe to the starched whites of her R.N. uniforms. And maybe in the past few years she's administered more budgets than shots. But as business woman, Martin is a strong advocate for nurses.

"I'm proud to be a nurse," she says, raising her voice and tapping her red fingernails on the tabletop as to leave no doubt that she means it. She could talk all day about the value of the people whom society expects "to do a lot of stuff for a lot of hours in life an death situations and pay them less than three trimmers."

Martin drew upon her reserve of toughness -- and years of home care nursing experience -- when she turned entrepreneur in 1983. She opened Home …