story and photo by James Coburn, Staff Writer
Being a registered nurse who enjoys interacting with patients is what keeps Wendy Campbell in nursing, she said. Campbell serves as a med/surg nurse at Mercy Hospital Logan County.
“Each and every one of my patients has something to teach you or that you will discover about their person, their illness, whatever that might be,” Campbell said. “That is what truly inspires you. I run across that on a daily basis.”
She has a knack for finding out nuances about a patient no matter if they are difficult or depressed. She is empathetic, nonetheless. One of her patients would tell her stories about what it was like serving in the CIA.
“There are really sweet people that give you life advice. You learn about things that people have gone through and what they’ve done,” Campbell said. “So, for me it’s the human experience of people that I like to tap into.”
Clinical knowledge has also been a draw for Campbell since she became a certified nurse aide for Mercy Hospital in 2003. She maintained being a CNA while in nursing school. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree in 2007 at OCU Kramer School of Nursing.
“It’s such a great school. I feel so privileged and lucky to have gone to that school,” Campbell said.
She was working at Mercy Hospital in Oklahoma City when she moved back to her home state of Colorado to care for her ailing mother. In Colorado she worked in a critical access hospital.
Her four daughters lived in Oklahoma. Campbell returned to Oklahoma to work for Mercy again when her mom passed away in 2019. This time she reached out to Mercy Hospital Logan County.
“I had always been a Mercy nurse. There’s a lot of great places out there, but I loved my job before I left,” she said.
Campbell has a background in ER nursing, acute care, long-term care, stroke, med/surg, step-down, and a lot of neurological emphasis. Nursing has evolved since Campbell became a nurse, she said. But some things remain the same such as the shortages in nurses that Campbell said has existed since the dawn of time.
“You’ll go through periods where you’re really short, but you’ll get a bit better because it waxes and wanes,” she said. “The thing that has changed the most is the acuity of the patients we have.”
Today’s med/surg patient used to be a step-down patient, she said. More of today’s nurses are taking care of sicker patients with comorbidities, she said. The Mercy team in Guthrie is well prepared for the multiple challenges facing patients, Campbell said.
“It’s its own culture, so you do have like-minded people from different walks of life,” she said. “You all come together for one main purpose. You share in that, and it really brings you to a very cohesive place. It feels like a family.”
Campbell’s diverse nursing experiences make her able to be flexible when needed. However, she said that her expertise has grown in patient care by focusing on one specific area. Sometimes change can be feared in nursing, she said.
“I think that has to do with self-confidence,” Campbell said.
She recalls earlier in her career when she was working in a step-down unit. A lot of the nurses were apprehensive when neuroscience nursing was added to the unit.
“It was the funniest thing because I absolutely fell in love with it,” Campbell said. “I didn’t have any interest in it until I began to experience it, and then it was just wow. You might go in with one mindset, but it can totally change on you.”
Learning about how to help people has been a major motivator in Campbell’s life. Nursing has taught her to be thankful about her own health.
She tries not to judge other people because her mother taught her that nobody knows what others have been through in life.
“I learned that early on and I think that is what makes me a compassionate nurse,” she said. “I’m not going to say there’s no mean people out there. But boy, I cannot tell you that I have run across one. There have been grumpy people, people that don’t feel good, people that are dying. But I have absolutely been blessed in my career.”
Her blessings follow her home. On her first day off she stays in her pajamas nurturing herself and doing the laundry.
“The first day or so I have to recover and fill back up. And then I’m good,” she said. “That being said — when you love something so much, it doesn’t really feel like work.”
Campbell said that on some days she will have the coolest bunch of patients.
“It’s just a blessing to be able to do what I did for them,” she said.
For more information about Mercy Hospital Logan County visit https://careers.mercy.net/
