Story and photo by James Coburn, Staff Writer
Brandi Williams, RN, prays every morning for God to send her the words to speak to her patients, she said. She has spent nearly a year serving in the behavioral health unit at SSM Health St. Anthony-Midwest.
“Because I put the Lord before me in my work, I feel like he guides me through it. I don’t have a ton of problems talking to my patients and I feel it’s because God helps me,” she said.
Williams wanted to go to medical school or become a nurse when she was in high school. She was fascinated at a young age with how the human brain functions and how genetics and environmental issues cause behavioral problems.
In 1999 Williams earned her nursing degree at OSU/OKC. She has spent most of her career working in labor and delivery except four years in the ER and her last two years in behavioral health. (story continues below)
“It’s been an interesting change,” Williams said.
Pregnant women are eager to talk about all aspects of being an expectant mother, deriving an infant, and caring for the baby after leaving the hospital. So, Williams said unlike labor and delivery, she does not assume that her behavioral health patients want to get to know her.
She found that some patients who were court ordered to be hospitalized for treatment and evaluation do not want help, Williams said.
Many of her patients are mandated for treatment and observation for a certain length of time.
Williams said it’s easy to forget that behavioral health differs from many other areas of nursing. She emphasized that many mental and emotional disorders need to be dealt with in the forefront of one’s care.
“To be able to focus on it has been really unique,” she said.
Mind and body are closely related in any area, she continued. Behavioral health includes organic issues in the brain and chemical imbalances that require mental health medications, she said.
“Those are even more unique though because it’s interesting to see how the brain functions while malfunctioning,” Williams said. “Some of these things like people seeing things that are not there — that’s a malfunction of the brain. But the brain functions around it. And some people can’t deal with it well.”
She approaches her patients where they are in life, she said. Some of the disease processes her patients live result in making them very blunt. They will categorically say they won’t answer any more of her questions, Williams said.
“The brain is very complicated and is not understood the way some other things are,” Williams said.
So, she reaches for a higher power. God guided her decision to become a nurse, she said. Williams was 21 years old and without a career path when she gave birth to her oldest daughter. Her nurses made her feel like she was the only person in the world having a baby, she said. They made her feel special. And she credits them for recruiting her into nursing by the loving way they treated her.
What enriches her life as a nurse witnessing the positive impact that healthcare makes in patient centered care.
There are times when she feels she is not connecting with her patients. However, Williams will return to work after two or three days away from the hospital. She notices definite changes.
“I come back, and they are like, ‘Hi,’ or ‘Hey Ms. Brandi.’ It’s so gratifying to watch them come back to themselves,’” Williams explained. “It’s like watching them wake. They’re looking in your eyes and they’re talking to you.”
Depression is a major problem in the United States. Antidepressants help, she said. People struggling can call the Mental Health Hotline at 988 for help.
“Depression can make people non-functional, almost as much as an organic brain problem,” she continued. “They won’t shower, anything, just simple things. Everyone has felt like that at some point, whether chronically if you’ve got an issue, or a week or so.”
Williams said human dignity and kindness are essential for being a behavioral health nurse. Nursing knowledge about medications and all the processes for treatment is vital.
“As a human to do my job, you need to have a respect for human life,” Williams said.
She brings peace to her life by reading the Scriptures.
“It makes me calm and feel safe, so that’s my safe spot,” she said.
Williams likes to focus on her three kids and a grandson. She likes yard work, going to the lake in the summer and attending football games with her family.
For more information about SSM Health St. Anthony-Midwest, visit: https://jobs.ssmhealth.com/us/en
