POPLAR BLUFF, MO. (WSIL) -- There's some people who have little faith in themselves but go on to do extraordinary things for others.
One of those is Brandi McAtee, who only became a Licensed Practical Nurse with the encouragement of another LPN that she worked under for 7 years.
"I always wanted to do nursing, but I wasn't sure that I was smart enough honestly," the 38-year-old recalls.
After McAtee received her certification, she landed herself a job at the John J. Pershing VA Medical Center in Poplar Bluff.
She works on the 4th floor also known as Libertyville and most veterans there are in recovery.
"We might get like broken hips or basically rehab and strengthening," McAtee explains about her job.
However, some of her patients are long-term residents of the VA.
They live here, so they'll never be discharged to go back home," McAtee says of those patients.
On a day-to-day basis, she does everything from helping them eat and drink to bathing, as well as, taking vitals.
When McAtee first started the job, she signed up for a program called DEMPS or Disaster Emergency Medical Personnel System.
This is the VA's main deployment program when a disaster like a hurricane, flood or earthquake takes place.
Most of the time, medical workers or supplies go to support facilities and care centers that are overwhelmed or lacking resources.
As the years passed, McAtee never gave much though of when she could be called to action not even after the spread of COVID-19.
"I don't know if I just wasn't really thinking," she remembers. "I really didn't. I really didn't."
That day did come and it landed on June 8th.
"I was excited to go do something that I love to do, but I was a little apprehensive," McAtee recalls.
She hopped on a plane and made her way to Maryland where should spend two-weeks at a stare-ran veterans home.
McAtee's group marked the 3rd through the DEMPS program to be deployed to that facility as virus-positive staff stayed at home in isolation to recover.
Tomorrow on News 3 this Morning at 6, she'll share details about her two-week experience at the veterans home and the challenges she faced looking over patients.
