From Budding Rock Star to Nurse
Getting to Know Mark V.
Mark V., a Med/Surg ICU nurse manager at Texas Health Fort Worth, was once on his way to becoming a rock star. But after having an epiphany during his junior year of high school, he realized a career in the nursing field was his true calling.
What did you want to be as a child, and how did you ultimately choose your career?
As kids, my brother and I vowed to become musicians in our own rock band. He played the drums and I played the guitar in a band called Seventeen. We played shows all over Dallas/Fort Worth while I was in high school.
But then I took a high school course in anatomy and physiology, and I was fascinated and intrigued. I considered becoming a physician, but after having a conversation with my mother (a former ER nurse) and another nurse, I decided to become an ICU nurse instead. Greg Brossett, the very nurse I spoke with more than 15 years ago about this career field, still works at Texas Health Fort Worth.
What is a typical workday like for you?
Thankfully, the area I work in gives me anything but typical days. I start the day with multidisciplinary rounds where staff review every single patient in the department to address their needs.
After attending meetings and responding to emails, I head back to the floor with my staff, which is where I’m happiest. I have the privilege to work with some of the most seasoned critical-care nurses and patient care technicians I know. Their discernment, critical-thinking skills and wisdom constantly remind me to never become complacent or lose interest in learning.
What is the biggest challenge of your work?
As a manager, it can be challenging to find a balance where I can be accessible to my staff and still work on various projects that focus on the hospital successfully meeting its metrics. Thankfully, I have staff who know how to handle almost every conceivable situation, and I feel confident that our patients are well taken care of when I am in meetings and away from patient-care delivery.
What do you do when you’re not at work?
I spend as much time as I can with my amazing wife and our four extremely busy kids – attending practices and games. Whenever we have a free weekend, we head to La Grange, Texas, for camping, fishing and hunting.
I still enjoy playing the guitar at home; but one of my favorite hobbies is upland bird-hunting with my Brittanys (specific breed of bird-hunting dogs), and we look for Texas quail or South Dakota pheasants (Mark shown with his dog, Shawnee).
What is something unique about you that most people don’t know?
I love the Lord. As an ICU nurse, I’m always around people who are constantly under attack – physically and emotionally. They experience situations and illnesses that they never thought they’d find themselves in.
Being able to show patients and their families the grace and love I was shown through Christ is probably my most favorite part of being an ICU nurse. I think most nurses will agree that they never feel more satisfied in their jobs than when they have truly served their patients or their families.
By Chandra Caradine • Posted April 9, 2019
