Field of Dreams: A journey from college baseball to the ER frontline

Submitted to Branson Globe

You can learn a lot about life from the game of baseball.

Cox Branson ER nurse Bryce Burtless was only 19 when he started working at the hospital – juggling life in the Lab with life at the ballpark, playing pitcher, short stop and third base for the College of the Ozarks Bobcats.

He liked the Lab because it gave him the opportunity to work in various departments, and he wasn’t sure at the time which health care field he’d choose when he graduated. That’s when an incident at a baseball game brought his fuzzy path into focus.

“I’m pretty sure it was right there in ER Room 3 that brought me to where I am today,” he says.

Burtless had collided with another player, lacerating his tongue. He broke his jaw, got a slew of stitches, broke a tooth and had a concussion.

“I’ll never forget how those nurses and physicians took such tremendous care of me,” he remembers. “I knew in that moment that I wanted to be like that for patients one day.”

Burtless returned to baseball, still juggling his Lab job with a full load of rigorous college courses.

“It took a lot of long nights and sacrifices from doing things that a typical teenager would do,” he says. “I had great support from my family and got really good at time management. School was always the priority, but I found that using my time wisely let me also enjoy life!”

When he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Human and Molecular Biology, he decided to go through Cox College’s accelerated nursing program.

“I knew in my heart I was being called to the medical field,” he says. “I also knew that being an ER nurse would allow me to enjoy the medicine side of the field while also helping the many different community populations our area has.”

He was able to earn scholarship money since he already worked for CoxHealth. He took advantage of Cox’s 20 percent tuition discount for current employees and secured several scholarships from Skaggs Foundation – opportunities he says he’ll forever be grateful for.

Burtless worked in the Lab right up until he finished nursing school earlier this month. Colleagues are still doing a double-take as he passes by wearing navy blue nursing scrubs instead of Lab red. Aside from the wardrobe change, his transition from the Lab to the ER frontline has been smooth.

“The teamwork in the ER is second to none,” he says. Every single person on this staff has been so helpful and welcoming. They work together like a well-oiled machine and I’m blessed to be a part of that.”

Burtless says he’s also blessed by a never-ending list of people in his life.

“I’m where I am today because of educators, coaches, friends, family, nurses and physicians,” he says. “The time they spent grooming me into the person I am does not go unnoticed.”

There’s one name on that list that Burtless beams about – his wife Makenzie.

“She kept our little family afloat these past two years,” he says with the biggest smile. “She works hard for kids as a first grade teacher all school year long and worked over the summer to help us stay financially stable. Even after doing all of that, she would come home and listen to me complain about all of the school work I had. She played such a big role in guiding me through my educational accomplishment.

Burtless – who is excited to be a “Girl Dad” later this year has some heartfelt advice for people who may be on the fence about what they want to do with their lives.

“You better not sit on that fence too long or you’ll get a pressure injury,” he laughs. “Go for it! I spent too long deciding what I wanted to do. I wish I would have gone to nursing school right out of the gate from C of O. Go for your dreams! If you sit too long on that fence, us ER nurses may be packing your wounds.”