Brandy grew up in Lancaster and graduated from Lancaster High School in 2002. After high school she attended USC-Lancaster where she was able to turn her passion for helping people and vibrant personality into a lifelong career of serving others in the nursing field. She began her career at MUSC-Lancaster while in college. Brandy has now been an LPN at White Oak Manner for 11 years. She has a son who is 17 months old.
One of the things she loves about her job is the deep bond she shares with all of her patients. During the pandemic, patients at the nursing home have not been able to have visitors or see their families going on 6 months now. This has been extremely hard for her patients because they rely on others completely and miss their families so very much. At the nursing home, all staff is now wearing a full suit, mask, face shields, and gowns to protect their patients because their patients are more susceptible to getting the virus. A huge change in her day to day work life is the large amount of paperwork and assessments they are completing. Brandy and her coworkers are working extremely hard not only to take care of patients but to make them feel even more comforted and loved during this time.
As a mother in the healthcare profession, she worries about taking her work home with her and the health of her child. Although we know more about the virus now, compared to when it first started, she said the numbers continue to rise. Coming home from work and even while being out in the community to gather essentials for her home and family, she continues to wear a mask and social distance as much as possible. Her biggest worry is how long the virus will last and how it will affect her son’s childhood growing up in constant worry for his health.
She believes we all need to work together to keep the community safe by staying in as much as possible and wearing mask until there is a vaccine or treatment. She would like to thank the person who nominated her and is very appreciative for those who recognize her hard work, love, and compassion she has for her patients.
