All nurses help people, but GW Nursing graduate Brittany Key serves as many patients’ last chance. As a MedStar Washington flight nurse, she is the highest-ranking caregiver on medevac flights. Just her and a paramedic fly out to retrieve critically-injured patients and care for them until they arrive at a trauma center.
“It’s some people’s last chance. I wanted to be that person, to save them and give them that chance,” Key told current BSN students this summer during a visit to her alma mater.
A member of Cohort 2, Key was one of GW Nursing’s first BSN graduates.
Becoming a flight nurse took an additional six months of training: two in the trauma bay burn unit, two with a paramedic, and two with a flight nurse.
Emergency flights nursing is tough work, but she appreciates the autonomy afforded her as the highest-ranking caregiver on medevac flights, Key said.
On her own time, Key does Crossfit training to stay in shape so she can manage the 50-pound bag of gear required in the field.
Eventually she plans to become a Nurse Practitioner, since her body won’t be able to handle the stress of flying forever, Key said.
As she progresses in her own nursing career, Key is happy to dispense advice to those just beginning.
“Trust in the process,” she told current BSN students. “One day at a time, one week at a time, one test at a time.”
All nurses must have good stress management skills, no matter what type of nursing they do, Key said. “Calm your own heartbeat, your own breathing.”