Brigette Carty, Director of Nursing Services, started working at Broad Reach in 2003 as an LPN, a Licensed Practical Nurse. It was her first job, not far from her childhood home in Yarmouth, and with a growing family she decided to take weekend shifts, work doubles, open up the rest of the week. It was a rhythm she continued for 15 years.

“Originally I thought I would come to Liberty Commons, get good experience, and then move on to hospital work,” she recalls. “But I liked it, challenging, there always was something going on. I was on the busy subacute unit, working with people in rehabilitation, so we would be administering medications, perhaps intravenous antibiotics, wound care. Often on weekends families would come so there were lots of conversations, discharges, admissions.”

By 2015, CEO Bill Bogdanovich could see that several senior members of the nursing staff were close to retirement. He talked it over with Brigette, who also had been involved at the Victorian’s assisted living care, and Bill made a commitment to help her get back to school to become an RN -- Registered Nurse. With that qualification, her three children older, her experience and temperament were great foundations to take on the Director of Nursing role in late 2020.

“There really is no such thing as a ‘typical’ day,” laughs Bridgette. “First thing, I’m usually checking in with everyone, troubleshooting, working on staffing, scheduling. Are we all set with a supervisor for the night shift? Do we have admissions coming in? The main thing for me is that I never want my staff to feel as though they have no help. I’m there to be a support, and make sure patients and residents get the best care possible. That really depends on how the staff is feeling and functioning, so it’s a circle.”

The nursing staff includes almost three dozen nurses and another 50 nurse’s aides, with room for growth. With that in mind, Brigette successfully qualified Liberty Commons to be the first facility on the Cape to host classes and certification examinations for aspiring Certified Nurse Aides. Becoming a CNA often is a first step into the nursing profession and a key support for RNs and LPNs.

“Our classes work on every aspect of care for a human being,” says Carty. “Think about what it takes to get up and go through the day: Getting out of bed, taking a shower, brushing teeth, combing hair, getting ready to walk or transfer from bed to wheelchair, feeding someone safely, helping with skin care. These are all things that a CNA helps accomplish -- important, essential support.”

Becoming nursing director in the midst of the COVID pandemic was something of “a baptism by fire,” she acknowledges, but emerging from that crisis has made the team stronger, she says. With her youngest of three now 16 years old, she has found a healthy balance between work and home, enhanced by an interesting “hobby”:

“As most people know who know me, I have a mini-farm,” she smiles, on an acre of land beside her home in Harwich. “That includes goats, chickens, and two pigs, one of which is an indoor pig, very well trained, sleeps in the house, walks around on a leash.

“They’re all pets,” she adds, somehow fitting for a dedicated nurse.