Pediatric nurse works her magic with care and kindness

By Maureen Gilmer, Riley Children’s Health senior writer, mgilmer1@iuhealth.org

Most days, Brenda Phillips is the first one in and the last one out of the pediatric surgery clinic in the Riley Outpatient Center.

“I start by turning on the lights and getting all the stickers off the walls, the floors and the tables that the kids have left behind,” the registered nurse said with a smile.

It’s no hardship for her. She’s a morning person, and she loves her job.

“I really enjoy what I do. I don’t mind being here early or late,” she said. “I want to feel like I made a difference in someone’s life.”

Phillips came to nursing rather late in the game. She worked as a medical assistant at IU Health Methodist Hospital for 14 years before deciding she wanted to go back to school.

“When my children got older, I said, ‘OK, now I can go back to school and I’m going to be a pediatric nurse.’ I was terrified, but I told myself I could do this.”

Once she graduated, she joined the outpatient surgery team at Riley in 2010 and has never looked back.

“I have a great boss (Kathy Hesler). She makes sure we have everything we need to do our job. I work with a great staff (including medical assistants Shonna Roller and Melva Dixon, pictured). And we have amazing doctors who are very compassionate and caring,” she said.

Working in the outpatient center, with its Monday-Friday hours, has been a good fit for her.

“I didn’t think this body would hold up to 12-hour shifts on a unit,” she joked.

But she’s a workhorse all the same, serving as charge nurse frequently, seeing pre- and post-operative patients and taking the lead in other ways that are not always visible.

For Phillips, nursing is much more than a medical passion. She sees it as a way to touch people’s lives for the better.

“If someone comes through the door with a bad attitude, I don’t take it personally,” she said. “It’s not aimed at me. It’s just life going on.”

In those moments of stress, she takes a step back to see where the need is and how she can help. It’s about building trust.

“If I can smile and hold your baby while you go to the restroom and collect yourself, I’ll do that,” she said. “Are you hungry? Let me get a voucher and we’ll get something for you or your child to eat. Let’s get the kids settled and get you settled. Then I can talk to you about what you’re here for, but I can’t do that and get your attention if your mind is all over the place.”

She doesn’t do it all alone, of course. There are many people she reaches out to for help, whether it’s social work, the Riley Cheer Guild, the gift shop or her team in the ROC. Some days she’s arranging transportation for a family to get home from an appointment, or she is getting a onesie for a baby who keeps pulling out his G-tube or finding socks for a child on a cold day.

Fellow nurse Jayella Jackson said Phillips’ 30 years of dedication to patients and families deserves to be recognized (especially during Pediatric Nurses Week) because “it represents the very best of IU Health and Riley Children’s Health.”

“Brenda is truly a light in what can sometimes feel like a dark and frightening tunnel for children and their families,” Jackson said. “Her warm energy, beautiful smile, generosity and compassion brighten the clinic and bring comfort to everyone around her. She consistently goes above and beyond – not only in providing excellent nursing care, but in recognizing the emotional needs of her young patients.”

Phillips has been a mother herself since the age of 16. She has three children but says she would have liked to have had 23. She also has five grandchildren, one of whom lives in Indianapolis.

“I love children. My sole purpose in life is to be around children and make children happy.”

Her passion for kids extends well beyond work and home. She is beloved in her Southeast Indy neighborhood for the movie nights she and her husband host for their grandson and his friends. She also plans campouts in her backyard – she has 10 tents in her garage – and she keeps kids active with nighttime bike rides. She has a Little Free Library in front of her house, and on Christmas Eve, she bakes and boxes up treats for the neighborhood kids.

She sounds a bit like a fairy godmother, but she says it’s just her way of fulfilling her purpose.

“You can’t be in a rush with people,” she said, whether at the hospital or at home. “That’s how things get missed. God brought this person in front of you today for a reason and is giving you an opportunity to help. If you are too busy, you may never get another chance with that person.”