Keeping patients safe while they receive high-quality compassionate care is at the heart of what ECU Health does for eastern North Carolina. This is especially important to Dr. Teresa Anderson, ECU Health’s senior vice president for Quality, who recently celebrated her induction into the East Carolina University (ECU) College of Nursing Hall of Fame.
She joins a number of colleagues, mentors, friends and former classmates in the Hall of Fame, which recognizes the accomplishments of ECU’s exemplary nursing graduates and faculty members.
When Dr. Anderson enrolled at ECU, nursing school was not the path she thought she’d take. She started out in education but after a semester of tutoring, she realized it was not her passion. She started on her nursing course work and never turned back.
“I always had a heart of service,” she said. “Then I got into nursing school and on we went. I actually started at [ECU Health] Medical Center in 1996 as a nursing assistant while I was in nursing school. I hit 28 years of service this May.”
Over those 28 years, Dr. Anderson has worn many different hats. From the nursing assistant role to a bedside nurse and working in various medical roles before taking on management and administration, she believes her varied experiences have helped her be successful in her current role in Quality.
Along with the variety of her work and the mentors she has learned from, Dr. Anderson said it’s the patients and ECU Health’s commitment to improving the health and well-being of eastern North Carolina that keeps her coming back each day.
“Our mission and the population that we serve are special and important to me,” Dr. Anderson said. “We serve a very complex population. I know that we’re doing so much good for our patients and our community, and there’s so much more we can do now alongside the Brody School of Medicine. There’s just going to be so much more that we can do with population health and making sure that people get all the services and access to care that they need.”
Dr. Anderson is a three-time ECU graduate with her bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees from the university. She’s also been recognized as a Great 100 nurse in 2016 and received a Leadership DAISY Award in February of 2021.
Dr. Amy Campbell, a quality nurse specialist at ECU Health and an ECU College of Nursing Hall of Fame inductee last year, submitted the nomination for Dr. Anderson to be admitted to the Hall of Fame. In the nomination, Campbell noted that Dr. Anderson is an outstanding role model and mentor who influences positive change while recognizing her team’s accomplishments.
“Over the years, she has served in many leadership and administrative roles that have led to improvements in patient outcomes. In addition, she has served on numerous community boards and enhanced the lives of Pitt County Residents,” Campbell wrote in her nomination. “On a personal note, Teresa has been a mentor to me personally and professionally over the last 14 years. She encouraged me to go back to school of my Ph.D. and was an active member of my dissertation committee. She has walked with me through tough times and give me priceless feedback to help me grow. I cannot think of anyone more deserving of this award.”
Dr. Anderson said she was humbled and grateful to have been nominated and accepted into the Hall of Fame. Hall of Fame members, new and former winners along with family and friends, attended a ceremony and had their nomination letters read before they were presented with a plaque to honor their induction.
Members of the Hall of Fame help fund a scholarship for the next generation of nurses and Dr. Anderson said this was one of the most special parts of the recognition for her.
“They showed a video from one of the recipients of the scholarship money at the event,” Dr. Anderson said. “She talked about how much it meant to her and it was very nice to know that the money collected goes to a great cause and to fund students in need. She talked about making ends meet and paying rent and all of her work in school. I remember those days, so it feels great to give back to future nurses.”
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Greenville, N.C. – Project SEARCH, an educational program offered at ECU Health Medical Center, is proud to announce nine students recently graduated from the program: Camarion Allred, Jordan Bell, Kevin Caudle, Caitlyn Ferry, Region Jenkins, Nicholas Tripp, Xavier Vaughan-Holliday, Eric Williams and Maxwell Wilson. Project SEARCH is a one-year internship program for students with developmental and intellectual disabilities during their last year of high school with the goal of providing real-world practical skills and increasing the chances of competitive employment.
“ECU Health is very proud to host Project SEARCH to bring educational opportunities to everyone in the East,” said Doris Hill, Project SEARCH coordinator at ECU Health. “This program gives students the opportunity to learn job skills that can be applied after graduation and brings diversity to our organization and the local workforce. We are proud of the tremendous growth of our nine graduates throughout the program, and we are all very proud of their accomplishments.”
The Project SEARCH program at ECU Health Medical Center began in 2015 through partnerships with Pitt County Schools, RHA Health Services and the North Carolina Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services. Students complete internships in various departments at the hospital, including the ECHO Lab, Endoscopy Center, Environmental Services, SurgiCenter, hospital cafeterias, Hospitality and the Neuroscience Intermediate Unit.
“Project SEARCH gives our students support to transition into the workforce through skills development and a customized job search in the second half of the program,” said Katie Houmard, Project SEARCH instructor. “This program grows confidence and independence in all our students, and many of our graduates have gained competitive employment in our community. I am so proud of all our students and am excited to see them continue to grow and become employed.”
The employment rate for youth with disabilities is about 60 to 70 percent less than youth without disabilities, according to the Office of Disability Employment Policy. Project SEARCH has proven results with a 65 percent employment and 90 percent retention rate nationally.
Students who participate in the program are enrolled at various Pitt County high schools including J.H. Rose, D.H. Conley, South Central, Farmville Central, North Pitt and Ayden-Grifton. This is the ninth graduating class.
The Project SEARCH program began in 1996 at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC) and was developed as a means to meet entry-level employment needs at CCHMC, support their diversity initiative and partner with schools and community services agencies. Project SEARCH is now an international program with over 716 program sites in 48 states and 11 countries.
Updated June 19, 2024
A beam adorned with signatures from ECU Health team members, behavioral health care teams, leadership and the Thomas Construction team was raised into place at the site of the upcoming behavioral health hospital in Greenville.
The beam raising served as a backdrop for an event showcasing the construction progress of the new 144-bed behavioral health hospital, a partnership between ECU Health and Acadia Healthcare, slated to open in summer 2025. ECU Health and Thomas Construction team members paused their important work to witness the historic milestone.
Glenn Simpson, service line administrator for behavioral health at ECU Health, said this event was another historic step, celebrating about 15 years of work to bring a behavioral health hospital into the ECU Health system to serve eastern North Carolina.
“Today is only the beginning of so much excitement around this facility,” Simpson said. “We couldn’t be more excited to be partnered with Acadia Healthcare and working with Thomas Construction to build this facility. This is all allowing us to offer outpatient services, specialty services that we cannot provide today and we’ll be able to treat a population of children and adolescents who used to have to drive over 70 miles for inpatient treatment.”
Mary Branch-Ellis, a registered nurse with the behavioral health team at ECU Health Medical Center, has been with the system for 41 years. She said she was working at the former Pitt County Memorial Hospital years ago when the behavioral health unit first opened in the 1980s.
She said seeing the facility come together is something she will never forget and she’s glad eastern North Carolinians in need of the services will have everything under one roof.
“It’s just wonderful to be a part of this as someone who is invested in this work in eastern North Carolina,” Branch-Ellis said. “I’ve worked so many years in mental health and been an advocate for patients and now we’re seeing this state-of-the-art facility being built and it’s a wonderful experience to see these beds – which we need – opening up. I’m excited to see it coming to Greenville and I’m proud to be a part of it.”
ECU Health team members sign beam slated for upcoming behavioral health hospital
Recently, ECU Health team members had the opportunity to leave their mark on the upcoming state-of-the-art, 144-bed behavioral health hospital in Greenville, slated to open in 2025.
The Thomas Construction team brought a beam, which is slated to be installed in the hospital’s gymnasium, to ECU Health Medical Center for team members to sign. More than 100 team members signed the beam and many signatures will be visible in the gymnasium even after construction is complete.
Amy Albritton, a recreational therapy assistant in Behavioral Health Services, has been with the system for more than 25 years. She said it’s special for her to see the plans for the new hospital come together after her years on the unit.
“I think being able to see the beam and sign it helps make it a little more real,” Albritton said. “It’s been talked about for a while now but having this here that we can touch, it’s a really exciting time. I’m just glad to be a part of it.”
Glenn Simpson, service line administrator for behavioral health at ECU Health, said engaging team members in the lead up to the hospital opening is a great opportunity for education and building excitement.
“With building a brand-new hospital, it’s special to give our team members the opportunity to be part of the history of that by signing one of the beams,” Simpson said. “When they’re finished with the gymnasium part of the structure, they’ll be hoisting the beam into the framework. This is great for team members to sign the beam and know that their name will forever be a part of that hospital.”
Renderings of the upcoming hospital were also on display during the beam signing to allow team members to see the plans again. The beam was in the hospital for about a week before being returned to the construction site.
To learn more about new behavioral health hospital, please visit: ENCBehavioralHealth.org
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ECU Health and the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University participated in Eastern AHEC’s Health Careers Expo on Monday, April 29. The event welcomed high school students from Wayne County Public Schools to explore diverse health care professions and educational pathways available in eastern North Carolina.
Eastern AHEC Pathways Program serves the health care community by building a group of future providers that are equipped for their career. As part of their student services, they offer health care education resources to middle and high school students in Greenville and throughout eastern North Carolina to improve the geographic distribution, retention and quality of health care providers throughout the region.
At this expo, participants from ECU Health, Maynard Children’s Hospital at ECU Health Medical Center, East Carolina University, Wake Tech, Methodist University, the University of North Carolina, Pitt Community College, Carolina Therapy Connection and Wayne Community College displayed tables and spoke with students about health care career paths, both clinical and non-clinical, and gave advise on how to achieve their career goals.
In addition to career insights, students received essential training on identifying overdoses and administering Narcan, a life-saving medication. Dave Schiller, technical operations manager of the clinical simulation program at Brody, hosted the training. ECU Health emergency medicine physicians reinforced the importance of Narcan administration training.
During the training, a standardized patient, trained to mimic real-life scenarios for educational purposes, portrayed a patient experiencing an overdose, complete with simulated pale skin to replicate oxygen deprivation. Students were tasked with assessing vital signs and the patient’s belongings to recognize the overdose scenario. Subsequently, the training staff guided them through the process of administering Narcan.
“Events like these are great opportunities to give students hands-on experience in a safe learning environment to expose them to patient interactions and prepare them for their futures,” said Schiller. “Students learned about exciting career opportunities within the health care field and even worked with a simulated patient without causing harm with health care professionals guiding them through a scenario.”
By immersing students in practical training sessions and exposing them to a spectrum of health care careers, events like these expose students to careers they have never thought of and help develop a future workforce in eastern North Carolina.
ECU Health and Conetoe Family Life Center hosted a Food is Medicine event at the Pinetops Community Center on May 1, to bring fresh produce and health screenings to the community. The initiative aims to bridge the gap in health care access and nutritional resources by providing essential services directly to the community.
Every Wednesday from 3 to 5 p.m. the Conetoe Family Life Center brings its bus of fresh produce for community members to receive free fresh produce. Paired with health screenings provided by the ECU Health team, this creates a reliable and accessible avenue for residents to prioritize their health needs.
Nurses from ECU Health provided vital health screenings to attendees. These screenings included measuring blood pressures, blood sugars and A1C levels, crucial metrics for assessing overall health. ECU Health team members engaged in meaningful conversations with community members, offering personalized insights and guidance on maintaining and improving their well-being.
“Our overall goal is to touch the lives of our community members and improve how they feel about their overall health and well-being,” said Madison Stevens, an administrative fellow at ECU Health. “Rural areas like eastern North Carolina often lack health care resources and access to healthy and fresh foods. With Food is Medicine, we want to address the root causes of health disparities and empower individuals to make informed choices about their health.”
The program is funded by a grant from The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation, and ECU Health completes surveys with attendees to collect data from these events to measure how community members feel about their overall health from the start to the end of the program, if they are spending less money at the grocery store, making recipes they receive from the Food is Medicine event and feel in control of their health.
“We also recognize the importance of access to health care services beyond events like these,” said Rob Zerniak, an administrative fellow at ECU Health. “We are actively connecting attendees with resources to become insured and connecting them with primary care providers, ensuring that the benefits of the Food is Medicine initiative extend far beyond the event itself.”
Since November 5, 2023, this partnership has made an impact on the community, particularly through ECU Health’s primary clinic in Pinetops, which plays a crucial role in understanding the needs of the patients we serve during visits by conducting social determinants of health screenings and guiding them to available resources. The event on Wednesday saw over 50 participants bring home fresh produce like bell peppers, lettuce, carrots, strawberries and onions. For more information about future events, please contact [email protected].
ECU Health leaders, in association with Triangle Healthcare Executives’ Forum of North Carolina, recently hosted a C-Suite Round Table to discuss everything from workforce development to artificial intelligence in health care.
ECU Health Chief Operating Officer Brian Floyd, Chief Clinical Officer and Chief Quality Officer Dr. Niti Armistead, Chief Nursing Executive Trish Baise and Chief Strategy Officer Todd Hickey served on the panel for the discussion while ECU Health Beaufort Hospital President Dennis Campbell II moderated the event.
Floyd said the COVID-19 pandemic and the years that have followed created many financial challenges in health care, especially for rural hospitals and health systems like ECU Health, which already operated on thin margins.
“Most things cost less to operate in a more rural environment, except health care,” Floyd said. “By the sheer nature of us having to spread our resources so far around communities that are less densely populated, we are perfectly designed to cost more to operate than a health system of similar size in an urban environment.”
He said these circumstances made the ECU Health system come together to design improvements that help create efficiencies within the system to better serve team members, patients and families.
Talent and workforce development is a key piece to creating a more sustainable model of delivering health care in a rural community like eastern North Carolina. Baise said it’s been crucial to connect with team members and potential team members in different ways to recruit and develop high-quality nurses for the region.
“When we’re looking at cost savings, recruitment and internal programs to develop team members is a big part of that. We’re constantly evolving and looking at things differently,” Baise said. “We’re not a large metropolitan area, we don’t have significant population growth so we have to grow our own. That means academic partnerships, ensuring that we’re creating an environment that the students we’re working with will appreciate. On the back end, that also means making investments in our nurses.”
She said at the height of nurses leaving health care across the country, ECU Health experienced a 23% turnover rate of registered nurses. Thanks to the investment the system has made in nursing, the turnover rate is down to 12.6%. The investment from the system in nursing, Baise said, has gone beyond a financial investment but also includes capturing the voice of nurses, professional development and overall culture improvement.
Innovation has been a hallmark of the ECU Health story. Dr. Armistead noted that when the health system re-branded to ECU Health on Jan. 1, 2022, health care was in the midst of the Omicron variant surge from the pandemic. Dr. Armistead noted this was the most difficult month of the pandemic, one that took a toll on the health care workers tasked with treating large volumes of critically ill patients.
Through this, though, Dr. Armistead said the system has grown into an exciting, vibrant place with positivity that’s working to improve the health and well-being of eastern North Carolina.
“Aligned with our mission, we’re very community focused,” Dr. Armistead said. “That’s how we got through the pandemic, was with very strong community partnerships. Now, we’re shifting the focus of those partnerships to deal with our other challenge, which is the heavy burden of chronic disease in the region. We’re being very tactical and I’m so proud of what we’re able to do as ECU Health.”
Hickey said the work that he is most proud of is the health system’s outreach to the vulnerable populations in the 29-county region ECU Health serves.
In an area with a myriad of challenges in social determinants of health – highlighted by the fact that 21 of the 29 counties ECU Health serves are considered Tier 1 counties on the social vulnerabilities index – Hickey said partnerships make all the difference in making connections and helping community members access health care.
“Understanding that the biggest indicator of health outcomes is transportation, being able to get to an appointment, access to food, those things that we know have a much greater impact on someone’s health and health status is crucial,” Hickey said. “So we put a system in place in our community hospitals and we deliver on the promise of ensuring that we are meeting our patients where they are. I really think COVID helped drive that home in a different way, too.”
Hickey also said initiatives like the Community Health Needs Assessment are important avenues for patients to provide feedback to the health system.
The Round Table brought together leaders from around the state to hear from ECU Health and gain insight on how they are looking at shaping the future of rural health care in eastern North Carolina.
While the East Carolina University (ECU) baseball team is rounding into form as postseason play nears, they’re also taking time out to make a special difference in their community.
After a visit to ECU Health Medical Center last November, as part of a career shadowing opportunity, senior first baseman Carter Cunningham felt compelled to do something to help patients and families.
“I’d been praying for ways to give back to the community,” Cunningham said. “As we’re doing a tour of the entire campus, we walked into the [Maynard] Children’s Hospital and it was like God had smacked me in the face. It was like, this is what I have to do. I didn’t know what it would look like yet, though.”
He said that week, he went back to the team and asked for a small donation from everyone to spread some holiday cheer to patients and families at the children’s hospital. The response was more than he expected.
“We got about $500 and we were able to drop off some presents to the children’s hospital right before break,” he said. “It was awesome. We had about 20 players come in and we hung out in the playroom and had a great time.”
Tara Tadlock, a child life specialist at Maynard Children’s Hospital, said patients and families would subsequently talk about the visit for the next month. The same held true for Cunningham and his teammates, who also went on talking about how special the visit felt.
He said over the Christmas break he took more time to think about what he could do to make an impact for patients and families like those he’d met a few weeks before. Then the idea to start a foundation, Homers That Help, came to him.
It started with a call for donations on social media, one sponsor for each of ECU’s 33 home baseball games in 2024. The sponsor makes an up-front donation to the fund and an additional donation for each home run hit during the game. While he expected to need some time and make some calls to fill every game, the fund was complete after about 15 hours.
“The community here, I can’t describe it,” Cunningham said. “I get goosebumps talking about it because they’re so generous and so supportive, not only of ECU athletics, but the whole community. It was a testament to all the people that are here and I’m thankful and blessed to have an opportunity to be here.”
Because of the outpouring of support, Cunningham opened a “Fund B” for those who were not able to directly sponsor a game but still wanted make a donation. Cunningham is making donations himself as well, contributing $25 to the fund for each of his own home runs. With nine home runs, Cunningham is tied for the team lead and backing up his own efforts.
Along with the funds, which Cunningham and Tadlock recently started to distribute to patients and families, Cunningham and his teammates are continuing to make bi-weekly visits to the Maynard Children’s Hospital. He said taking a step back to give time to others is important to him.
“As a Division I athlete, you get so caught up in the games and practices, the wins, the losses, but every other Monday it’s just eye-opening,” he said. “I’ll never forget one patient, the day before we went to play Campbell, he said, ‘Have fun at your game tomorrow.’ It was so refreshing and offered great perspective. It’s way bigger than baseball. These visits are the best part of my week every time I visit.”
Tadlock said the program has been a great benefit for everyone involved and she’s looking forward to its continued success.
“I’ve been doing this for a long time with scheduling our visitors and working in Child Life and these visits are a bright spot of our month, too. It’s great to see the patients and families so excited, seeing the guys so excited and knowing that they’re making a difference for our patients is huge,” Tadlock said. “Some of the kids that are here are going through really hard stuff and finding out hard news. If they’re able to leave that behind for a few minutes and hang out with the ECU baseball team, it’s really important to try to create those special moments. All we want to do in Child Life is provide some normal experiences for the children. Working with this team has been amazing.”
Though this is Cunningham’s last year at ECU, he said the plan is for Homers That Help to carry on. He’s looking to younger members of the team to pick up the torch and build upon the positive momentum the foundation has today.
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As part of its commitment to growing a high-quality nursing workforce for the region, ECU Health recently held a New Graduate Nurse Hiring event to connect with upcoming nurses, many of whom will begin their career with the organization in a few months.
The two-day event was hosted at the TowneBank Tower and the Williams-Clark Club Level on East Carolina University’s campus.
The February hiring event featured 301 scheduled interviews with prospective nurses, many of whom are from right here in eastern North Carolina, allowing candidates to interview for various units and connect with nursing leaders within the organization. To date, 96 future nurses have accepted positions across the ECU Health system.
This event underscores ECU Health’s commitment to recruiting and retaining exceptional nurses as we continue to shape the future of rural health care.
“The New Graduate Nurse Hiring event was really a great turnout,” said Trish Baise, chief nursing executive, ECU Health. “The opportunity to connect with future nurses was priceless. It was beneficial to engage in a casual environment before interview day and it allowed our team to speak with them informally. Every year it gets better. New graduate nurses are an important part of our workforce pipeline. It’s important for us to make sure that those who have grown up in eastern North Carolina and/or have been educated here, have a wonderful clinical experience with us.”
The hiring event spanned two days, with Friday dedicated to networking and allowing candidates to interact with recruiters and nursing leaders from several ECU Health entities, and Saturday dedicated to interviews.
“The key message that resonated well with the nursing candidates was ECU Health is the land of opportunities,” said Dr. Kamilah Williams, administrator for Professional Practice Development & Clinical Education at ECU Health. “There are so many opportunities for launching nurses’ careers in every specialty of nursing practice across ECU Health.”
If you’re interested in reading about our new graduates and their experience at ECU Health, check out the People of ECU Health articles on Brianna Cavaliere and Samantha Nichols.
Haley Behm was completing one of her first rotations in the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University at an outpatient clinic when Cleve Smith showed up for a routine check-up with his father, Emmett Smith. Cleve, a wheelchair user, has seen his fair share of medical students come through the clinic throughout his visits over the years but this was his first time working with Behm.
As a medical student with limited patient interactions, Behm was nervous about how she would connect with one of her first real patients, let alone her first patient with a disability. But when she met a lighthearted, humorous father-son duo in the patient room, she felt a little more at-ease.
“I was running through a depression and anxiety screening, and I got to a question where it asked ‘Have you ever been so restless you couldn’t sit still?’” Behm recalled. “I felt so bad even having to ask him that question.”
A question that Behm initially dreaded having to ask turned in to the start of a punchline for Cleve and Emmett, and it’s one they’ve practiced more than once.
“Haley has been really sweet, and I haven’t forgotten her since the first time we met,” said Cleve. “I could see that question really bothered her because I laughed and she didn’t immediately. So I wanted to assure her everything was fine.”
Added Emmett, “Through the years we have met many medical students at the clinic, and the one I remember is Haley. She had such a kind, caring demeanor. She really cared about Cleve’s feelings and what she could do to help him.”
Behm’s connection with the Smiths was just one of the powerful stories shared at ECU Health and Brody’s fifth annual Legacy Teachers Celebration on April 5. At the Legacy Teachers Celebration, third-year medical students share their experiences in the forms of short stories, poems or videos that honors patients who taught them valuable lessons – the type that can’t be learned in the classroom but can last a lifetime. The event also provides an opportunity for students to reunite with their Legacy Teachers and honor the special connection.
“The stories we hear at the Legacy Teachers Celebration are really emblematic of the types of experiences our students have here at the Brody School of Medicine and ECU Health,” said Dr. Jason Higginson, executive dean, Brody. “Medical students learn so much important information in the classroom and on clinical rotations, but sometimes the most impactful lessons they learn come from those they have the honor of caring for. It’s so gratifying to see our students reconnect with the patients who left a lasting impact on their journey toward becoming a physician.”
For Behm, her experience with the Cleve and Emmett gave her a different perspective on her role as a patient advocate, especially for patients with disabilities who may face difficulties accessing the care they need.
“Patients with disabilities have various accessibility needs, which may not be evident before a visit. It is important to be flexible and modify plans, exams and surroundings,” said Behm.
In total, 22 medical students shared their stories at the Legacy Teachers Celebration, which featured gift baskets, a photo station, lapel pins and remarks from ECU Health and Brody leaders – all designed to create a memorable experience for students and their legacy teachers.
Dr. Michael Waldrum, CEO of ECU Health and dean of Brody, provided remarks at the celebration along with Dr. Higginson. Like the students, they shared their deeply personal stories of important lessons they learned as students.
The speakers shared common themes around the importance of positive, trusting relationships between patients and care teams.
“The relationship between a physician and a patient is a sacred one,” said Dr. Waldrum. “Each patient we interact with provides us an opportunity to reflect on who we are and why we do what we do. For these medical students, who are driven by their passion to make a lasting difference in the lives of others, this event provides them with an opportunity to reflect on the legacy teacher that made a difference in their educational experience.”
While Cleve, Behm and Emmett were able to reunite at Legacy Teachers and share their story and learn of other stories, Behm expressed how important the Legacy Teachers Celebration is to reflect on the lessons learned from patients.
“The biggest part of Legacy Teachers is I have something to learn from all of my patients,” Behm said. “And some make the lessons easier than others.”
To be a health care provider is to answer a calling. For some, the journey to health care is a straight line; for others, the road is winding. This series features stories from ECU Health team members who took the winding road, but found the destination to be worth the effort.
Lacey Boldyrev, staff nurse II in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), has worked for ECU Health since 2020. “I started in the middle of COVID,” she said. “My last semester of nursing school was entirely online and we weren’t even allowed to go into the hospital for clinicals, so it was a challenge.” Prior to attending Coastal Carolina Community College for her RN degree, Boldyrev was a stay-at-home mom while her daughters were young, and once they went to school, she pursued her dream of being a teacher.
“I started school but didn’t finish my degree,” Boldyrev said. “I was a substitute teacher and a paraprofessional in Brooklyn, where we lived, for seven years.”
At that time, she and her family moved to North Carolina where she worked in a preschool at Camp LeJeune until the birth of her son.
“He was born at Onslow Memorial Hospital,” Boldyrev said. “We had a normal pregnancy and ultrasounds, nothing special. But after he was born and I went to get him, they told me I couldn’t pick him up. They told me to return to my room and the doctor would see me.”
It was at that moment Boldyrev learned that her son had congenital heart disease and the hospital was sending him to Maynard Children’s Hospital at ECU Health Medical Center in Greenville. “I had never had a child with health issues before,” Boldyrev said. “All of the sudden we’re living in a hospital for a year and a half and taking medical flights to different states.” Her son died on Christmas Day, 2015.
“After he was gone, there was this big empty hole,” Boldyrev shared. “I didn’t know what to do with myself.” The time she spent with her son in the hospital, she said, inspired her to pursue a degree in nursing. “I had given him his medications and his oxygen and feeding tubes,” she said. “All these things I’d done for him, and I learned from the nurses taking care of him. I took that as a sign.”
Although she had never previously considered a career in health care, her work with children in education set a foundation for how to communicate with kids and their families in the hospital. “I understood from my work in the schools some of the challenges children face and how they develop,” Boldyrev said.
After graduation, Boldyrev knew she wanted to work at Maynard Children’s Hospital. “Everyone who was working there when my son was there treated me with such compassion and listened to me. The PICU was the only place I wanted to be; I’m not sure I’d be as happy if I was anywhere else.”
Part of what makes her work so special, Boldyrev said, is the PICU team. “The reason I came back to Greenville, and keep in mind I commute over an hour to get here, is my team,” she said. “The people I work with provide exceptional care. Not once since I started have I felt alone or that my team doesn’t have my back. There are other places I could work that are closer but that’s not what makes a good job. It’s the people and the pride you take from what you do.”
Boldyrev’s experience with her son has given her a unique perspective for the patients and families she serves in the PICU.
“You don’t know anything about what it’s like if you’ve never had an unhealthy child. When my son was born, it opened a new world. I didn’t even know what congenital heart disease was, but now it’s unfathomable that I didn’t know,” she said. She recognizes that working in health care can be challenging, but it’s also the most rewarding thing she’s ever done. “If you’re passionate about medicine and helping people, but you’re hesitant to start the journey into health care, I say put your fears aside and take that first step.” Being able to provide compassion and support to children and families is something she’s very proud of, and she’s glad she took that first step. “I can be there for families going through the same type of situation I experienced,” Boldyrev said. “I feel like I’m able to make a difference in their lives. I believe there are reasons why we’re set on a path, and I take a lot of pride in saying that I’m a nurse.”