Mackenzie Brown, Emergency room nursing supervisor at Mercy South
Photo provided by Mercy
NURSING PROGRAM: BSN at Chamberlain School of Nursing
AREA OF FOCUS: Emergency room
YEARS OF SERVICE: 3
Mackenzie Brown was 13 when her mother passed away and 16 when her father died.
The patient care and support she and her siblings experienced at during each of those incredibly trying times was immeasurable. It was also the impetus behind her deciding to become a nurse. But it took another 12 years for her to realize that dream.
Inspired from a young age
The youngest of five, Brown went to live with her 23-year-old sister after her father鈥檚 death. Family and friends helped to keep her on track. She graduated from high school, became a certified orthodontist assistant and worked in the dentistry field for the next nine years.
鈥淚n the back of my mind, though, there was always that memory of the compassion and sympathy of the nurses who cared for my parents and supported me and my siblings through those incredibly trying years,鈥 Brown said. 鈥淭hey were just amazing. Their familiar faces were in and out of our lives over a long period of time through illness and death. And I finally realized that I really wanted and needed that interaction with patients at a different level in a hospital setting.鈥
She enrolled in nursing school and spent the next three years juggling her part-time job with class work and clinical rotations, one of which was, ironically, at Mercy South.
鈥淲hile I enjoyed bedside nursing, I think my heart was always in the ER. It just hits a chord for me,鈥 Brown said. 鈥淚n the ER you are pretty much immersed in a patient鈥檚 situation and very hands on. While working with them, I try to display the same compassion, empathy and support in the same way it was displayed to me and my family during our most critical moments.鈥
Taking on a new role
Today, Brown marks her third year as an ER nurse at Mercy South, and second week into her new role as supervisor. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been an incredible journey to get to this point,鈥 Brown said. 鈥淚 love my job, and my co-workers are fantastic. We鈥檙e like a little family here in the ER unit. My directors have helped me grow and if it wasn鈥檛 for them and their support, I would not be in this leadership position. They have built me up, taken me out of my comfort zone and made me a better person.鈥
Brown attributes this support to the Mercy mission, which is founded on compassionate care and exceptional service, something that is implemented throughout its entire health and human services ministry.
鈥淚 feel like we are helping these patients out on the most critical days of their lives, treating everyone who walks through our doors as an equal and being that shoulder for them to lean on,鈥 she said.
Surpassing statistics
Brown knows that her life could have taken myriad turns without the support and care of her family, friends and co-workers.
鈥淚 have come a long way with the cards I was dealt and continued on, surpassing those statistics of not being something, and instead turning into something.鈥
Brown said she thinks her mom and dad would be very proud of her.
