Vantage Health Plan and Affinity Health Group employees are truly amazing people, so we have decided to introduce some of them to you! First up is Brittany Basco.
Brittany Basco, family nurse practitioner for Affinity Health Group, has been working for the health group for almost five years now. In this interview, she describes what her day-to-day is like, some of her favorite things about her role and the company, as well her own personal story of how she spends time with a unique volunteer group.
What's your name? Where do you work?
My name is Brittany Basco, I work for Affinity Health Group, I am a family nurse practitioner here at the Medical Office on St. John Street.
How do you enjoy working for the Medical Office, and what are some of your favorite day-to-day things that you do?
Well, I've been at this office for four and a half years - the people and our patients make all the difference. We have a great group of patients that makes me want to come to work every day. Everyone's super nice and friendly and being in downtown Monroe, we're in the middle of it all - West Monroe is right there, too. It's great!
What do you like the most about your role at the Medical Office?
Being able to care for my patients is extremely rewarding. Being able to listen to them, help them manage their chronic diseases and their acute illnesses, help them feel better. Helping my patients definitely is my favorite thing. It's amazing to see them succeed.
What made you want to start in Family Practice?
I started with Affinity at this office the day after I passed my in-clinics for registered nursing, and the influence by the Affinity providers and seeing the quality of their care made me want be a family nurse practitioner. My heart is with the older population. I want to stay in family practice but not specialize in pediatrics or neonatal care. Seeing how well the providers here treat their patients, and the influence they have in their patients' lives is what made me want to be a nurse practitioner.
What would you say is your favorite thing about Vantage Health Plan & Affinity Health Group?
The family atmosphere. I have been here almost five years and I have never met anyone with a bad attitude. I don't know what it is about Vantage and Affinity, but everyone treats each other with respect and kindness and are willing to help, if needed.
Affinity's been great to me. They supported me through school and allowed me to be employed through school. The nursing supervisors have been absolutely great. They've catered around my schedule. I can't stress that enough. The company encourages you to follow your goals and they do everything they can to make sure you get to where you want to go. I've been here almost five years and I don't plan on going anywhere! This is home.
What are some things you like to do in your spare time?
I love to hang out with my family. I have three dogs and a cat. My favorite pastime is to take care of them. I like to spend time with my husband. We love to hunt and fish. One thing that stands out is my family, along with a group of other individuals, like to take people with handicaps and disabilities deer-hunting. That's one of our favorite things. The Northeast Louisiana Wheelin' Sportsmen is our organization, and we do a lot of volunteer work. Between my family, my dogs, and our nonprofit, that's what I spend most of my time doing.
Tell us more about the Northeast Louisiana Wheelin' Sportsmen. What's their mission?
Our mission is to provide people the opportunity to get into the outdoors who may not have that opportunity. It's difficult to get individuals in wheelchairs into different outdoor sports because of terrain and other limitations. A lot of times, hunting means getting in a stand that's off the ground. We have several local landowners who donate land for us to hunt and we set up ground blinds that people with disabilities can get in more easily. A lot of people just don't have the option to get out and have fellowship and socialize, and we provide that. My father actually created this branch of the organization. It's very, very rewarding to see the smiles on people's faces. It's unbelievable.
And it's not just us - we have great partners who help. We usually do a big hunt in October, and it's really sad this year that we weren't able to do that. It's disheartening. We try to reach out and get new people to come out with us. We also have those that keep coming back, and you know, you see them grow from a child, and now they're adults. They are married with families. It's very rewarding - it's one of my favorite things, if you can't tell!
Would you mind sharing just a little bit about your story? Anything interesting or inspiring that has happened throughout your lifetime.
The reason I went into nursing was because I had a small bowel obstruction in 2012 when I first started college, and I was very ill and had to have surgery. It was kind of touch-and-go, but I saw those nurses and the surgeons and what they did for me - I wanted to be able to take care of patients and provide them the same quality of care that I was given. They saved my life, and so that's the reason I wanted to go into nursing. I love people, and seeing those nurses while in the hospital and ICU for two weeks - I realized it takes a very special person to be a nurse and a provider, and so that kind of sealed the deal. It was between education (becoming a teacher) or a nurse, and after my ordeal, I committed to nursing. Those providers made my mind up that I wanted to do that, that I wanted to take care of people.
How do you apply what you saw when you were a patient back then to your patient care today?
Compassion is key. A lot of people are scared when they go to the doctor. If you diagnose them with something, of course that scares them even more. When I was a patient, I was terrified. I had a nurse actually just sit there and listen and answer my questions, and that meant the world. So if I can take the time to sit there and listen to my patients' concerns and kind of give them peace of mind and encourage them like I was encouraged, then, you know - you can see it on the patient's face. You can see that burden and worry lift. It's just the compassion. We're all human - we all have questions and we all get scared, so we just have to listen and answer their questions to the best of your ability, and be open to saying, "I don't know, but I'll find out." I can remember that nurse's face who listened and answered all my questions and sat at my bedside, and if I can do that - make a difference in just one person's life, then I'm happy.