For Julie Schott, BSN, RN, CNML, 4T department director at Beaufort Memorial, the medical/surgical (med/surg) and orthopedics unit, where nurses care for pre- and postoperative patients, is part of her past, present and future. Don’t let that seeming continuity fool you, though — her career has taken her into almost every corner of her hometown hospital.
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Around and Back
After starting out in med/surg, Julie served in the emergency room, intensive care unit, labor and delivery unit (a particular favorite of hers), operating room, and recovery room. Along the way, she advanced from bedside nursing to leadership. Eventually, however, she ended up back in familiar surroundings.
“I had a calling to come back to med/surg,” Julie says. “The director position opened up, so I applied for it and got the job.”
Now approaching her 20th anniversary as 4T department director, Julie is clear about why she’s devoted so much of her life to Beaufort Memorial.
“Being able to learn and grow,” she says. “I’ve moved from area to area because I’m always learning and growing and doing different things. Even in my current role, I’ve had different responsibilities with committee membership or serving as interim director of another unit while still leading this one. Change is good, and I enjoy it. I’m always thinking, where do I want to go next? And some opportunity pops up to keep me motivated, energized and learning.”
Dream Beginning
For Julie, a love of learning began early. Childhood experiences shaped her interest in health care. “I had a friend who would spend the night at my house,” Julie says. “She had diabetes but wouldn’t give herself insulin injections. So, we would get up at 6 a.m. and walk to the house of another friend whose mom was a nurse. She would administer the insulin. That had an impact on me.”
Listening to the stories of her aunt, a nurse, and watching home health nurses care for her grandfather also helped steer her toward nursing.
“Missionary nurses would speak to us in church, which sparked my desire to become a missionary nurse,” Julie says. “I got to live that dream for a couple of weeks with [now-retired Beaufort Memorial surgeon] Dr. Tony Bush. We went to Nigeria in 1995, and I did some nursing in a village. It was a dream come true.”
Witness to History and Healing
One could also say Julie has had a dream career. She’s watched as Beaufort Memorial has grown along with the communities it serves. She marvels at how health care has changed.
“When I worked on the med/surg unit as I started in nursing, patients who had cataract surgery stayed in the hospital three or four days,” Julie says. “Now, cataract surgery is a 15-minute procedure in an office or ambulatory setting.”
These days, Julie says, patients in the med/surg unit tend to have more complex health statuses and require more in-depth care over a shorter period of time. That places extra importance on shared governance, a decision-making model Beaufort Memorial employs to give bedside nurses a seat at the table.
“So many great ideas come from collaboration between physicians and nurses,” Julie says. “Nurses are uniquely positioned to suggest and justify process changes that may be necessary to take better care of patients.”
Julie has made countless memories over more than four decades of caring for patients and serving the Lowcountry. Holding a teddy bear clinic for children in downtown Beaufort and being part of a team of nurses that achieved operating room specialty certification stand out as especially fond recollections — and she still has much more to give to patients and her fellow nurses.
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“In my career now, I like taking care of the nurses who take care of the patients,” Julie says. “I enjoy listening to the nurses’ ideas and input.”
It’s no surprise that for someone who values personal growth, playing a role in helping others achieve it is gratifying.
“Seeing nurses’ critical thinking develop, that’s what I enjoy,” Julie says. “Hearing new nurses get excited about the skills they master, and then watching them take those skills beyond the med/surg unit into other areas of the hospital and leadership positions — I like that.”
Looking for your next career opportunity? A position with Beaufort Memorial might be your perfect fit. View our current openings.