Turner Joins The Team At YHS
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.
Family Nurse Practitioner Brooke Ross Turner sees patients at Odom Rural Health Clinic in Water Valley.
WATER VALLEY – Brooke Ross Turner is the newest Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) to join the team at Yalobusha Health Services (YHS). Turner accepted the job in February after an arduous journey to earn her Master’s of Science in Nursing, a quest fueled by her commitment to make a difference in patients’ lives.
This commitment comes as Turner believes listening to patients is essential for health care. As a mother who had premature twins, she believes her input as a patient wasn’t always valued during her pregnancy. And as a nurse with nine years of experience before becoming a FNP, Turner notes there were times she was frustrated when her medical opinion wasn’t taken seriously.
The other driving force for her commitment is a strong passion for her patients. She forged lifelong relationships with these patients while working as a home health nurse for almost nine years.
“I would take my babies out there because they would want to meet them,” Turner explained about the relationships between patient and nurse. “I still stay in contact with many of them. They are like my grandparents.”
It was during her time working as an RN that Turner decided she needed to continue her education, a move that would allow her more independence to diagnose and treat patients.
“I don’t like to be brushed off,” she explained about her motivation.
Ironically, the story starts when Turner was born and doctors discounted her mother’s intuition that something was wrong.
“They said I was crying because I had colic, and didn’t listen to my mom believing she was just a young mother,” Turner shares. “I had an extra tube running from bladder to my kidney that had sectioned off and died. I became septic and almost died. Listening is key!” Turner reiterated.
The decision to return to the classroom wasn’t an easy one – Turner received her Bachelor of Science from Mississippi University for Women (MUW) in 2020. But when she enrolled at MUW two years later to earn her master’s degree, she and her husband, Cameron, had a full house – three sons including twins. Turner opted for the traditional in-class route instead of online courses and was in school every Monday from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m., and some on Tuesdays.
“And then you have the clinicals and have to study in between all of that,” Turner recalled. “There were times when my husband would drive up and down the road with the kids so I could have some quiet time at home to study.”
Turner continued working full-time as a nurse for as long as possible while earning her master’s degree, and she often saw patients on the weekends. Time for meal preparation was also cut short, and frozen pizzas were a common menu item at her house. If one of her sons was sick, many times Cameron would take off work to care for him.
“It was a lot harder than we anticipated,” Turner said about the two-year stint. “I am so proud of my husband for being there for me.”
Cameron and their three boys were excited when she completed her master’s degree and life returned to normal.
“I like to cook. I remember cooking fried deer meat and mashed potatoes and it had been a while, they devoured it,” Turner added.
The Next Chapter
While working as a home health nurse, Turner had already established relationships with many patients in Yalobusha County. She lives near Tillatoba, and explained that she has always enjoyed being in the country.
Turner grew up in the hill country in Tallahatchie County, the Rosebloom area. Cameron is a Grenada guy and they picked Tillatoba as their home after marrying. That is a funny story, as Turner jokingly refers to the Rosebloom area where numerous aunts, uncles and cousins live as “Rossville.”
Turner explained that she needed a little space from too much family scrutiny, prompting the move a little farther east in the hills to Tillatoba.
While working as a home health nurse, she had already bonded with patients in Yalobusha County. Turner had also made a strong connection with Tippini Conley, a FNP at the Oakland clinic.
“She taught me a lot before I was ever a nurse practitioner,” Turner said.
She also did her clinicals at the Oakland clinic and readily recognized the strong bond that health care providers employed by YHS share. Turner jumped at the opportunity to come to work for YHS in February and is excited about forging relationships with new patients at Odom Rural Health Clinic. She is off most Mondays and sees patients Tuesday through Friday, starting each morning around 7:30.
“Building trust is important, your patients will open up. This is why I am excited about working at YHS, I feel like I can be who I am.”
Brooke Ross Turner and her husband, Cameron Turner, have three sons, Clayton and twins, Ross and Reece.
