Southwest Arkansas Regional Medical Center Behavioral Health Nurse Abby Garrett went from being born at the facility in 1990, back when it was still Medical Park Hospital, to now working there as an essential member of its staff, which she joined in 2017.
About the nursing profession she said, “I guess I've always just wanted to do it. I've always liked helping with people and encouraging people. So it was just the field that I wanted to do. So I went into that straight out of high school and got my LPN in 2013.” She graduated from the program at what is now University of Arkansas-Hope-Texarkana.
She then completed a program at UAHT given by the Arkansas Rural Nursing Education Consortium, a 12-month sequence of interactive video lectures and clinical time every weekend that the university continues to offer. After completion, graduates can take the exam to become licensed as a Registered Nurse in Arkansas.
“And then Penny Bobo, our director. She's the one who got with me about a job during school,” Garret said. “Because she was our clinical instructor, and so I started here, PRN [which stands for the Latin phrase for “as the need arises”] through school, and then afterwards, picked up full time.”
Garrett said she has benefited from other members of the hospital staff helping her along as she learned her role. “I've always enjoyed the doctors I've worked for. For the majority, it's been pretty good … We all enjoy each other, and Penny [Bobo] is an awesome boss, so it makes a difference. It kind of helps you on the hard days.”
She also said her peers are helpful when the emotional demands of her job get to her. “Sometimes you’ve just got to take a break or go find somebody to talk with, or step away for a moment, so get your bearings,” Garrett said.
She now works 12-hour shifts and is at the hospital every other weekend. These can leave her tired, according to how busy the shift has been. “A lot of times [when] you go home, you're tired. Sometimes you just want to be in a quiet room. It's just really according to your day, if it was hectic or not.”
She acknowledged a period of worry during the time after the hospital’s owners, Steward Health, declared bankruptcy and it was not known until the fall of last year whether new owners would pick up the rights to run the facility. “We didn't really know what a lot was going to happen. So it was according who bought us, and what changes are we going to do, and how fast they were going to do them,” Garrett said.
But now things seem to be stabilizing under the ownership of Pafford Medical Services, the city of Hope and Hempstead County. “We're still in the process of transitioning, so it's just a learning curve. It’s going fine,” she said.
In her off hours, she takes on another role, that of doting aunt. “I do have a family. I have my brother and his kids. I don't have any kids of my own. I enjoy spoiling them,” Garrett said.
Garrett also likes to get outdoors when she can and is also an avid reader. “[I like] camping, hiking, fishing. I like reading. I'm very involved in my church, gardening,” she said.
Asked what advice she would have for a graduating student considering joining the profession or even doing so in this area, Garrett said, “For this place, particularly, I think it's a very good place if you want to try to find a job. Definitely being a smaller hospital, it's more hands-on and personal, and you can focus more on the patient. Even though it gets crazy here, from my experience with other hospitals, you don't get that. But it's definitely rewarding.”
