Nurse graduate integrates physical and spiritual care to treat whole patient

Somewhere in Afghanistan in the early afternoon, an alarm sounded across a forward operating base, and Alex Brown rushed to the hospital to receive the incoming wounded. He ran to assist in the blood bank, but help was needed elsewhere. The surgical team needed help preparing for the work ahead of them. Shrapnel had torn through a soldier’s forearm, and it was clear he was going to lose it. The vascular surgeon asked, “Ready to scrub in?” “Yes,” Brown replied. “Give me clear instructions. I can do it.” Never before had he assisted, but he was needed. Five hours later, the surgeon, assisted by Brown’s team, finished. They stepped back and waited. Time stood still. Finally, a pulse. The team cheered. The young soldier would be able to wrap both arms around his family. Brown was at the right place, at the right time, he said.

Brown, who is graduating from the College of Nursing, is often in the right place at the right time. He lives by a simple philosophy: “Say yes, and see where it takes you.”

As with many, his passion for serving humanity began at home. His mother, a banker, modeled caring, as did his brother, a Lutheran minister. Brown decided to major in religious studies and minor in anthropology at the University of South Carolina. Later, as a master of divinity student, he was assigned to a yearlong chaplaincy in a hospital in Greenwood, South Carolina.

While working in Greenwood, Brown had a particularly awesome experience, he said. He observed a hospice and palliative medicine doctor caring for his patients in a unique way. This doctor’s approach made a lasting impression on Brown.

“During my chaplaincy, I watched Dr. Todd address the spiritual health and welfare as well as the physiological health and welfare of his patients. I was struck by the fact that these two different areas of care are typically separated when they don’t have to be. Both, I thought, were equally important and should be integral to health care in general.”

As a chaplain, Brown sat at the bedsides of the sick for hours. It allowed him to see how nurses formed their own special relationships with patients while they tended to their physical, psychological and social needs. He took stock of both experiences and reevaluated his journey. He recognized his profound desire to serve humanity, but now it was manifesting in a desire to provide compassionate and holistic care to patients. He trained to become a certified nursing assistant, and soon he joined an emergency room team. It felt like the right move at the right time.

“I love serving people,” Brown explained, and saw this move as the perfect way to integrate two important types of practices at the same time.

Secure in his professional life, Brown again said yes and joined the Army as a combat medic to serve those defending this nation. He was stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, after completing basic combat training at Fort Benning, Georgia, and graduating from the school of combat medicine at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. It was there Brown learned the procedures and processes necessary to respond to trauma. Not long after, he was on his way to combat outposts in Afghanistan.

As Brown continued to work with nurses, he came to a realization. “I was watching all the things going on and realized I could do that.” When he returned to the U.S., he took prerequisite courses and became a student at the College of Nursing in the accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing program at MUSC.

As he reflected on the past 16 months, he recalled his earliest memories at the college.

“It was exciting. The first day of orientation included a round robin where 80 or so women and a handful of men introduced themselves. We were all different types of people, bringing those perspectives to share and ready to integrate those into a new profession and life of service.”

Brown’s education has expanded his skills, as well as his ability to understand all levels of care. “The college is packed full of learning and instills in students the mental mindset to provide the highest level of care,” he said, adding, “It certainly was the right path for me.”

During his time at the college, Brown found a friend and kindred soul in Fred Thompson, Jr, coordinator of the college’s graduate programs. Having both served as chaplains — Brown in the service and Thompson at MUSC — they often saw things from a similar perspective. During their initial introduction, Thompson likened himself to Father Mulcahy of the '70s comedy series “M.A.S.H,” which centered on a surgical unit in the Korean War. That stuck with Brown. Thompson was always willing to provide advice and guidance as Brown contemplated his educational and clinical future.

Brown said he particularly appreciated the excellence of the college’s faculty and the emphasis placed on interprofessional team work — especially the intimate connection with the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center. But, he added, not getting enough sleep is always the challenge.

That is not surprising considering his overburdened schedule and tendency to say yes. In addition to Brown’s academic work, he works as a student nurse technician at the VA hospital, connecting to patients as a student nurse. His life as a veteran gives him a unique ability to create an instant rapport by swapping stories of military service. He continues his military service as a member of the National Guard and serves as chapter secretary of the Lowcountry Pirates Chapter of the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association, an international nonprofit that is dedicated to “vets helping vets.”