Brandy Edmiston, RN, CCRN, nurse manager, ICU and IMC, Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Wilkes Medical Center, joined the organization in July 2002. She ensures that her departments have appropriate staffing, equipment and supplies and that they provide exceptional patient care while following our policies and meeting our standards.
Why did you choose to become a nurse?
I have always enjoyed helping people, whether helping someone learn and grow in their abilities or helping someone who needed physical help or emotional support. Being a nurse enables me to do all these things daily as my career.
Why did you choose Wake Forest Baptist?
Wake Forest Baptist has always had the reputation of being an exceptional academic medical center. For as long as I can remember, it has always been a facility capable of treating the sickest patients and an organization that is constantly implementing and using leading-edge technologies.
What has kept you here so long?
I have been so blessed to have such fantastic coworkers and leadership throughout my career at Wake Forest Baptist. I have had unlimited opportunities to grow, learn and serve others. I would not trade my experience for anything.
Tell me about a challenge you’ve faced during your career and how it has helped you cope during tough times.
I would say that the biggest challenge of my career was transitioning to my current nurse manager position. Trying to learn a new role in a new facility, one in which so many people are dependent on me and the decisions that I make, especially during a global pandemic with short staffing and increased acuity, was a huge challenge! This challenge also came with the satisfaction of knowing that I have been able to help phenomenal teammates who were physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted by this pandemic. I truly feel that I was called to be here at this time, for this purpose, and that is the driving force that has helped me through the tough times.
What makes a nursing career successful?
To me, the success of your nursing career is based not on how much money you have earned or by the rank you have achieved on the professional ladder. It is based on the people that you have been able to help and the difference that you have made in the lives of the patients, families and communities you have served. Simply put, your success is based on your impact, which may or may not be visible at a glance by the average person, but it is there, and it is felt by those you helped.