WRNMMC, Bethesda, MD  –   There’s a common thread running among the nurses at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center – they’re here because they love what they do. That’s why they keep coming back despite the challenges posed by COVID-19 and its adverse effects on the health sector nationwide
Nurse Stephanie Mosby-Carroll, a native of Richmond Virginia, has been living in the Washington DC area for over 30 years. She joined the WRNMMC team in 2011 as a contract nurse, at a time when most of the medical center’s patients were wounded warriors from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Because of the affection she has for her job, Mosby-Carroll later transitioned to a civilian staff nurse position at WRNMMC. She said she truly enjoys being part of a team delivering military medicine to beneficiaries. “Yes, I love this job. I love it so much because colleagues and patients are just incredible”
For Mosby-Carroll, coming to work daily is always fulfilling because she doesn’t know who her next patient will be. That patient might be a senator, a senior government official, an active duty officer or a veteran. That feeling and motivation has kept her “serving humanity” for over a decade. As a civilian nurse, she says she’s always gratified by the way men and women in uniform appreciate the work of nurses at WRNMMC, especially civilians who play a key role in military medicine. She believes that kind of appreciation should spread across ‘all and sundry.’
“One thing that is unique here is, the military patients are very appreciative of the work we do as nurses. They have a special way of saying thank you which is very unique and different from other members of the community,” she said.
Nurses and COVID-19
Mosby-Carroll said the COVID-19 pandemic further tested the resilience of nurses at WRNMMC. Some had to be deployed to other states or countries to help stop the spread of COVID-19, leaving their families behind. Others stayed to serve beneficiaries and had to respond to a much larger patient load. But she feels that as a team, she and her fellow nurses were able to push through the challenges and setbacks at a time when others were working from home because of the fear of the pandemic. 
WRNMMC and its staff support system
Mosby-Carroll said one thing that truly makes her proud to be part of the WRNMMC team is its effective support system. “It’s like a family thing, caring for each other in good and bad times.” The RN is particularly impressed with the way staff and colleagues supported her last December when she lost her brother to COVID-19. As painful as it was, she added, the support system from leadership was very impactful at a time she needed it most.
“I was bereaved. I was in pain. I had to go home for the funeral. The leadership helped me with words of comfort. Some brought flowers. Others offered prayers.  I felt like I was part of a team that appreciates what I do. That gave me hope to continue working here as a caregiver,” she said. Mosby-Carroll said she sometimes brings candies and cookies to work and shares them with patients and colleagues to strengthen the family-like bonds in her workplace, and stressed that the feeling of working for ‘the flagship of military medicine’ is special and fulfilling.
A nursing career at WRNMMC is priceless
In the midst of the high demand for nurses across the country, Mosby-Carroll calls on new and young nurses wanting to start a fulfilling career to join WRNMMC. She said the quality of patients they serve combined with the skills they acquire along the way will be life changing. “You might be treating a member of the president’s team, his family, or a senator. You might also be treating an active service member or a veteran who has been all over the world.  That feeling will test your skills and courage to show what you got as a professional nurse. You also have education [al] opportunities and support for [career] growth. Plus the salary and other benefits are very competitive to attract the best professionals the nation can offer. Even the environment is safer as compared to others as we continue to serve our national heroes,” she said.
Military and civilian nurses working together
US Navy Nurse Lt. Peyton Roberts is from Charlotte, North Carolina. She has been working as a Navy nurse for more than five years. She has served on two deployments abroad (Uganda and the Philippines) as a civilian contractor. She loved the experience and decided to join the Navy shortly after those deployments. She later went to nursing school, graduating in 2017, and became a Navy nurse.
Presently, Roberts works both as a Navy nurse and an admin officer at WRNMMC. She said treating service members and their families gives her satisfaction, especially given the kind of patients she provides care for. “Before WRNMMC, I only treated wounded Marines from war zones. But now I have the opportunity of treating a wide variety of patients. That gives me satisfaction to continue serving the nation as a nurse,” she said.
Family support and concern
Roberts said when she became a mother for the first time last year, she got massive support from colleagues including civilian nurses, whom she describes as “the bricks that carry the department.” When military nurses are deployed abroad or elsewhere, the civilian nurses always hold it down to serve all kinds of patient’s - military, veterans, and civilians,” she continued.  “Their service is excellent just like others who are on the front line to save humanity. They deserve a lot of praise and appreciation.” 
For Roberts, the nursing team dynamic is amazing. “They say it takes a village to raise a child. Hence my village, the WRNMMC family, supported me throughout when I needed it. From my pregnancy to my delivery, that care is a testimony of the internal support system that backs staff to be their best in every situation,” she said.
Roberts, now a mother, nurse and Navy officer, said she will be leaving the military in November to join her husband in New York. But she will encourage other qualified individuals, especially civilian nurses, to join the WRNMMC family.
“WRNMMC and the military have supported me in different areas – education, capacity development and personal matters. I want others outside to get that support as well by being part of us,” she said.
For more on Nurse Stephanie Mosby-Carroll’s work at WRNMMC, please click on this link