Brand remembers the moment that changed her life. After being awoken by her father’s screams one Sunday morning, she went to her parents’ bathroom and found a horror scene of blood splattered everywhere and blood-tinged towels on the floor. Her frantic, trembling mother was trying to help Brand’s father, who was bleeding profusely from his dialysis fistula site.  

She quickly tried to find something to stop her father’s bleeding and called 911. After EMS arrived, she couldn’t shake her overwhelming feeling of helplessness.  

“It was at that moment I thought, ‘I should be able to do more. Why can’t I do more?’” said Brand, of Houston, Texas. “So I did. Within the next few months I enrolled in a BSN (bachelor of science in nursing) program to start my journey of becoming a nurse.” 

Now a student at Duke University School of Nursing, Brand is studying to earn a Master of Science in Nursing to become a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner. 

“I suppose I kind of owe my career decision to my dad,” she said.  

Brand chose Duke after searching for a nursing school with an excellent reputation. DUSON met and exceeded her expectations, she says. So far, her experience has been “worth every penny.” 

She is especially thankful for her faculty advisor, Dr. Sean Convoy, whom she says has been “the most genuine, charismatic, passionate, articulate, transparent, supportive mentor I could have ever been given the opportunity to know.” 

“It has been an utter delight to have the insight of all of my instructors,” she said. “Each and every one of them has always given me the extra time and attention I request.” 

After graduating, Brand plans to apply to a nurse practitioner residency and nurse practitioner boards and enter the workforce as a mental health provider.