Finding the Path to Bluefield State
Amber grew up in Fairdale, West Virginia, and initially thought her career would be in teaching history. After realizing that path was not for her, she took a leap of faith into nursing and attended Bluefield State in Beckley. Before she was an RN, she worked various local jobs, including a stint at Hardee’s on Harper Road where she once had to make the biscuits herself. She admits the biscuits did not exactly rise and were basically flat, but they were easy to wrap. After graduating, her first nursing job was at St. Mary’s in Huntington, where she spent over eight years working on the neuro unit. It was a high intensity environment where she sometimes cared for up to thirteen patients a night, dealing with everything from fresh strokes to spinal surgeries.
“I just took the plunge and went to Bluefield State in Beckley…Awesome nursing program. Fantastic.”
Ghost Stories and Night Shift Spooks
Working the night shift in a medical facility often leads to some eerie experiences. Amber recalls a particularly chilling incident at a physical therapy rehab facility where a patient had died suddenly and in a traumatic manner. Later that same night, a new admission in that very same room asked if someone had died there because he felt like something was holding his feet down. Beyond the potentially supernatural, Amber describes the strange reality of “sundowners,” a phenomenon where patients with dementia or Alzheimer’s become more confused when night falls. She has seen patients mistake a tiny red power light on a television for a fire, leading to genuine terror for the patient.
“Did someone die in this bed because I feel like someone’s holding my feet down?”
The Heartbreak and Humanity of Healthcare
Neurology is a field filled with both fascination and tragedy, covering everything from the complexities of the brain to the devastating effects of Alzheimer’s. Amber also highlights the harsh realities of the drug crisis in the region, noting that many hospital admissions now involve complications from substance abuse, such as spinal infections that can lead to paralysis. She emphasizes the importance of humanizing every patient, regardless of their struggles with addiction. Interestingly, Amber became a patient herself after a parking lot gate hit her on the head at work, leading to a CT scan that revealed she had a Chiari malformation. This condition involves the brain funneling down into the spinal canal, and she eventually had to undergo brain surgery performed by a surgeon she knew from her own unit.
“If there is one disease that I wish I could snap my fingers and remove, it would be Alzheimer’s.”
If you want to hear more about Amber’s life on the front lines of West Virginia healthcare, including her “no one is on fire” icebreaker and the full details of her ghost encounters, you need to see the full interview. From medical mysteries to her favorite local Huntington food spots, the conversation is a must watch for anyone interested in the real life of a neuro nurse.
