Up Close
Brandy Bentley : Turning Tragedy into Motivation By Abigail Borland , 2022-2023 Imprint Up Close Reporter
Brandy Bentley was in the middle of working towards her bachelor ’ s degree in nursing when she found out that her unborn son had a congenital heart defect . Prompted by this life-changing diagnosis , she stopped nursing school to pursue treatment for her son , but he sadly passed away at fifteen days old during a surgery for a heart transplant . An experience like this might have turned someone away from working in the medical field because of the painful reminders it can bring , but Brandy has taken this trial and turned it into a renewed motivation to pursue a healing and fulfilling career in nursing .
Brandy ’ s desire to step into the nursing profession originated in her childhood in Gilbert , South Carolina and centered around experiences in women ’ s health and newborn care . She grew up interacting with the midwife who delivered
Bentley and her family her and another family friend who worked in the special care nursery at the hospital she was born in , and gained an appreciation for the compassion nurses have for their communities . Her grandmother was a Family Nurse Practitioner who specialized in women ’ s health and , when Brandy expressed interest in pursuing nursing , insisted she shadow her at her workplace and gain exposure to advanced practice nursing .
Flash forward several years and Brandy , married with a son , decided to start her bachelor ’ s degree in nursing at Northwestern State University of Louisiana in Shreveport . In keeping with her first exposures to nursing through midwifery and neonatal care , the women ’ s health clinical has been her favorite . The excitement of helping to bring new life into the world is something most nursing students can identify with , and Brandy especially feels a connection with this specialty . She also enjoyed working in the NICU during her pediatric clinical , where she witnessed the way NICU nurses care for a variety of patients , interact with their families in a compassionate way , and cope with the pain of losing a tiny patient . These clinical experiences have made Brandy excited about her future as a nurse .
46 NSNA IMPRINT • APRIL / MAY 2023 • www . nsna . org