NURSES MONTH
Veteran, nurse, mother From Marines to head nurse, Sabrina Braun is on a leadership journey
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| MAY 2022 | OCALAMAGAZINE.COM
“I never wanted to be a leader, leadership found me.”
idents to join the nursing profession, she and Ocala Hospital partner with high schools and colleges in the community to recruit and train more nurses. And when those future nurses join her at Ocala Hospital, they will find a boss who lives by this motto: “Patients first, employees only.” “What I’ve found is, if you give them the supplies, equipment and the staff they need, they’ll do an outstanding job,” Braun said.
Away from work, Braun is married and her husband, Robert, is a retired Army drill sergeant. They have two children: daughter Nicole, who attends Notre Dame University, and son Logan, who attends Vanguard High. She said her passion for family and nursing cross paths, at least in her soul. “Family is very important to me,” she said, adding later, “I want to have a hospital that I would bring my family to.”
Photos provided by Sabrina Braun
s a child, Sabrina Braun was surrounded by nurses. Her mother was a nurse. Her family founded the first hospital in Fitzgerald, Georgia. She says she “grew up going to the hospital volunteering.” When she neared high school graduation, she wanted to go to college and to travel. So, she decided … to join the Marine Corps. That’s right. Braun saw the Marines as a way to see the world and go college, and she soon left her home in Hazelhurst, Georgia, at age 18, to become a Marine. Hers was not your typical Marine enlistment, because she spent her nights and weekends working part-time jobs to pay for her nursing classes. Yes, she went to school at night, too. Today, now 43, Braun is married, is the mother of two and is the chief nursing officer at HCA Florida Ocala Hospital (formerly Ocala Regional). With the month of May being National Nurses Month, National Military Appreciation Month and with Mother’s Day falling on the second Sunday of the month each year, Braun checks all the celebratory boxes. These days, however, Braun is focused on nursing and, more specifically, the nursing staff at Ocala Hospital. “I never wanted to be a leader,” she said. “Leadership found me. The Marines taught me leadership – that you speak up for your people.” While she says family always comes first, she is passionate about her profession and the people who work for her. “I’m very passionate about taking care of people,” said Braun, who has been in Ocala for seven years. “And I want people who want to be here, who want to take care of the community.” In hopes of encouraging more local res-
