National Nurses Week: Cousins become nurses together

When Abbie Schaefer decided she wanted to follow in her mother's footsteps and become a nurse, she wasn't surprised when her younger cousin, Gavin Brown, made the same decision.

As first cousins growing up in Egypt Mills, Missouri, Schaefer and Brown were only eight months apart in age, and both said they've been close for as long as they can remember. When he was in high school, Brown said he wasn't sure what he wanted to do with his life. But after Schaefer said she was going to be a nurse, he said he gave that a lot of thought during his senior year, and decided being a nurse was what he wanted to do as well.

Schaefer said she wanted to be a nurse because of her mother, who worked as a hospice nurse, and because she had a desire to help and take care of people. Brown said he discovered nursing fit his personality because he is a "people person". He said he was first interested in becoming a nurse anesthetist, but later decided he wanted more interaction with patients.

"I really find enjoyment in having conversations with my patients, developing relationships with them and understanding their needs a little bit better," Brown said. "You can't really do that working in a surgery where your patients are asleep."

Schaefer and Brown received their undergraduate degrees from Southeast Missouri State University's Department of Nursing. Both said they did internships at Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau, Brown in the emergency room and Schaefer in the Intensive Care Unit where she still works today as a staff registered nurse.

Brown said, after graduating from SEMO, he moved up to St. Louis and worked at Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital in the pediatric ICU for two and a half years before moving to his current position as a hospital supervisor and ER nurse at Perry County Memorial Hospital in Perryville, Missouri.

Two years ago, Brown and Schaefer said they did surprise each other when each, independently, decided to go back to school. Both will be graduating this month from SEMO as nurse practitioners with an emphasis in family practice.

Brown said the decision to go into family practice goes back to learning how much he likes interacting with patients.

"This way I can see the whole family, children, parents and grandparents." Brown said. "That continuation of care for a whole community — I think that's really the best way to practice medicine and, overall, the most rewarding."

Schaefer said one thing she likes about being a nurse is the flexibility it offers.

"If you don't like one area, you can always move on to another," Schaefer said. "There's a lot of room for career growth. You can get another degree or even teach nursing to others."

After their second graduation from SEMO, both Schaefer and Brown said they will be looking for positions in family practice clinics. When asked what they would think if both ended up working in the same clinic, Schaeffer said it would be "nice since it's always good having a familiar face around when starting something new."

"It's always more comfortable being with someone you know and who you have a good relationship with," Brown agreed. "Especially with me and Abbie. I like to think we have similar thought processes, which would definitely help when caring for patients together."