Having been a surgical nurse since 1984, Brenda McIntyre, surgical director at CHI St. Gabriel’s Hospital in Little Falls, has seen a few things. A lot has changed over the years, too, she said.
Reminiscing, McIntyre said it was her own experience with nurses after she became very ill at the age of 14.
“I became septic after an appendectomy, so I spent over a month in the hospital. I was so appreciative of the nursing care that it just kind of settled in,” she said. “Of course, at my age, too, back in the day, you were a nurse, a homemaker, a teacher. They didn’t have everything they have now, but it’s still what I wanted to do.”
After graduating from Park Rapids Area High School in 1978, McIntyre went on to study at The College of St. Scholastica in Duluth. She later graduated with a bachelor’s degree in nursing in 1982.
McIntyre’s journey in the nursing field after she finished college led her to work at a small hospital in Cavalier, North Dakota. It had five beds in the Intensive Care Unit and 13 beds at the medical surgery floor.
Nursing back then was different in many aspects from what it is today, McIntyre said.
“Back then, you had the keys to pharmacy and you mixed up your own antibiotics. You didn’t have a pharmacist to do it for you or your cardiac drips, you mixed all of that yourself. It was me and an LPN (licensed practical nurse),” she said.
Looking back, McIntyre believes starting out working at a medical surgical floor gave her a good foundation. It is something she encourages others going into the field to do, too. “Most nursing at an entry level needs to start out at med-surg” because you get such a variety of different patients and diseases and you learn a lot about medications and things like that, so everything helps you. It’s a great foundation for people,” she said.
After about a year and a half of working in Cavalier, North Dakota, McIntyre moved to Phoenix, Arizona. to work at a hospital there. Some of her college friends were already there, she said.
“It was a great place to be in yours 20s,” she said.
A couple of years later or so, McIntyre moved back to North Dakota. This time to work at a hospital in Fargo. Her surgical nursing adventures eventually led her to work in the emergency room at Fairview Range Medical Center in Hibbing, Minnesota. After two years as a charge nurse, McIntyre was promoted to surgical director.
McIntyre worked at Faireview for more than 15 years from 1997 to 2013. During that time, she also returned to The College of St. Scholastica from where she earned a master’s degree in management, marketing and related support services in 2010.
“Then I went to Grand Rapids, Minnesota and later, to Cambridge, Nebraska,” she said.
As her mom was widowed, McIntyre said she had her mom stay with her while she worked at Tri Valley Health System as a director of surgical services. Eventually, her mother wanted to return to Minnesota, as well.
McIntyre worked as a director of surgical services at Grand Itasca Clinic and Hospital for a while until she came to CHI St. Gabriel’s Hospital in April 2021.
Looking back at her experience, McIntyre said what has attracted her the most to nursing is the fact that it’s very much a team profession.
“You always have your anesthesia person, you surgeon. You work with skilled technicians and you’re not practicing individually. You’re also practicing on one patient at a time, so you really get to narrow your focus to one patient, making sure they’re safe. You’re the voice they no longer have,” she said.
Having worked in the surgical field for more than 40 years, McIntyre has no regrets. Throughout her career, she has also had the opportunity to meet and get to know countless people.
When she isn’t working, she enjoys spending time with her miniature Dachshund.
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