GETTING TO KNOW A BHC NURSE
Brandy Templeton, RNC-OB Labor & Delivery
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come from a large extended family in Monroe City, Mo. My husband and I frequently spend time there and in his hometown for family gatherings, camping, boating, and fishing. I attended nursing school at Moberly Area Community College where I was a cheerleader for the Greyhounds basketball team. Columbia has been my home for the last 14 years. I was introduced to my husband by a Boone coworker. We live just outside of Columbia with our three daughters, Addison, Lyla, and Genevieve.
Why did you get into the health care field? I have always loved science, anatomy and caring for others. Working in health care has been my plan for as long as I can remember. I feel so blessed to have a job that I truly love to go to each day. What interested you in your particular specialty? I initially considered pediatrics, but during nursing school I fell in love with obstetrics. I feel so passionately about helping each family have their best birth experience and to be there to provide support when things don’t go as planned. As luck would have it, I became an OB float nurse 3 years ago and got to expand my area of expertise to include pediatrics, our neonatal ICU – or NICU – and general adult medicine. This position feels like it was made for me – I love the change of pace, learning new things, and stepping out of my comfort zone to continue to grow as a nurse. What is the most rewarding part of your job? One of the coolest things about my job as a birth instructor and a float nurse is the many families that I am able to follow from prepregnancy through labor and birth to post-partum and sometimes the NICU. It is really comforting to some patients to have that continuity of care, and I love getting to see them through their journey of parenthood. What is the most challenging aspect of your job? Supporting families through the loss of a baby is so incredibly challenging. It is an honor to be able to help them on their journey of loss and provide them with memories of their baby that are as positive as possible, but it is one of the most emotionally draining aspects of my job. What has changed in your field since you started practicing? I have seen an increased focus on patient- and family-centered care. We are striving to make changes that are not
only better medically for the patient but that better allow the birthing patient and support members to bond and learn to care for their new family. I have been a part of initiatives to bring newborn care to the parents' bedside, including skin-to-skin care in the operating room for Cesarean deliveries and decreasing separation of newborns from their parents for routine care. I believe it’s important to help parents have the experience that they desire while teaching and supporting them when their birth plans must change for the safety of mother and baby. What do you see changing in the next 5 to 10 years? For one, I hope that I won’t be wearing a mask at work every day in 5 years! I don’t know what is on our horizon, but I know we will continue to change and evolve to provide excellent care. I am so proud to be part of Boone Health as we move forward. What do you enjoy doing outside of work? I love to sew and use my Cricut to design shirts and do projects around the house. I enjoy making matching outfits for my daughters. Luckily, they’re young enough to still tolerate this. We enjoy biking and going to concerts as a family. During the pandemic lockdown, we bought a pool for our house where the girls and I spent every spare moment swimming and floating around over the summer. What advice would you give someone looking to become a nurse? It is hard work, but if you love it, becoming a nurse is so worth it. There are so many different paths that you can take as a nurse. Be ready to embrace change and technology and make sure to take care of yourself.
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