BRIAN AYERSMAN

Working with veterans fueled desire to work in mental health care

KAYLEE SCHUERMANN

For the Globe Gazette

Brian Ayersman was presented with an unexpected life obstacle, and in it found a calling to help others.

Ayersman is a board-certified psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner at the Community Health Center in Mason City. He got his associate’s degree from Mercy College of Health Sciences, his bachelor’s at Chamberlain University and his master’s at Walden University.

In his position, Ayersman works with people of all ages to diagnose their mental health struggles and find them the proper medication plan.

“We’re faced with so many challenges with mental health on top of it,” Ayersman said. “Depression is so hard to deal with. We all have it, it’s just to what level, and can we manage it?

“It’s helping people get over that hump and live a productive life where they can keep employment, keep their family together, spend time with their kids and have the energy to do so.”

Ayersman came into the field when he was 38 after the factory he was working at eliminated his job.

“It was more of a calling than a plan,” said Ayersman. “I don’t remember one day in my life where I thought to myself, ‘I’d like to be a nurse.’ It was a calling that I didn’t question, and the next thing I knew, I was signing up for nursing school.”

During his undergrad years, his advisers encouraged him to go into mental health care. While studying, he worked at Veterans Administration of Central Iowa Health Care in Des Moines. Ayersman explained that working with veterans in this capacity was his way of serving the country.

One of the most memorable moments in Ayersman’s career occurred when one of his patients came in with suicidal thoughts and substance abuse. The veteran attributed his decision not to take his life to Ayersman, who had long conversations with him regarding life and his family.

According to Ayersman, when you work in mental health care you must get to know people, including who they are, what’s important to them, their family situation and dynamics, their history, their entire lives.

Finding out this information will help a nurse truly understand what someone is going through and provide a proper diagnosis.

“You just never know how a simple conversation can affect a life,” Ayersman said.

His favorite part of his job is seeing people get better and lead better lives.

“I love seeing them get to live happy, productive lives, going from needing to see me once a week to not having to see me but every three months,” said Ayersman.

Ayersman recommends health care to anyone passionate about caring for others.

“The good thing about nursing is if you try it and you don’t like it, there are so many other paths that you can go down,” Ayersman said. “I don’t think you know what your passion is until you sample a bunch of things.”