Jessica Mills’ journey to pursue a medical career began when she was just 16-years-old after her best friend was in a car accident. In that moment, Mills thought the medical field was something she might want to look into one day.
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Mills was recently published in the Trauma section of the May 2024 issue of the Journal of Emergency Nursing. Approximately 55,000 nurses received the journal through the mail.
Courtesy photos
NEWBERRY — When Jessica Mills was sixteen, her best friend was in a car accident. Mills thought it was fascinating when the helicopter came to airlift him to the hospital. She thought this might be something she would be interested in doing…one day.
Fast forward a couple of decades and Mills has now added BSN, RN, CEN, TCRN, CTRN, CFRN, CPEN, to the end of her name. How Mills has gotten to where she is today is a story full of twists and turns that she feels brought her to where she is meant to be.
Mills is a native of Clinton. Mills’ parents did not attend college, but encouraged her to continue her education after high school. Sadly, her father passed away from Lou Gehrig’s disease just two weeks before she found out she had been accepted to Erskine College. Once again, Mills felt the tug toward a career in the medical field and once again it was put on the shelf.
Mills graduated with two degrees from Erskine College and went on to receive two additional degrees before deciding what she wanted to do in life. Today, Mills will tell you that she is okay with how her career path came about as it allowed her to do two of the things she wanted most from life, to be a wife and a mother.
Mills started her medical career as an Emergency Room nurse in Newberry ER. From the beginning, she surrounded herself with people who had more knowledge and experience then she had and who were willing to mentor and help others grow. Two of those mentors were Michelle Keller, BSN, RN, CFRN, and Heather Auton, BSN, RN, CFRN.
“Two women who are now leaders in our state started their careers at Newberry Hospital, because we know how to give good care” Mills said. Keller and Auton encouraged Mills telling her, “Your work is good and you care about people—you will get there—keep pushing”. Mills is proud of the fact that three good flight nurses have come out of the Emergency Department of Newberry Hospital in the last 10 years.
Mills was not done. She had already earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and taken the test to become a Registered Nurse (RN), National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX). Then came the emergency nursing certifications: Certified Emergency Nurse (CEN); Trauma Certified Registered Nurse (TCRN); Certified Transport Registered Nurse (CTRN); Certified Flight Registered Nurse (CFRN); and Certified Pediatric Emergency Nurse (CPEN). While it is not required to have an emergency room nurse certification, earning this certification helps in many ways. Certified nurses have to study at length to take a final exam for each certification. This means countless hours of studying emergency medicine: learning more about diseases and patient care. For Mills, this was part of her journey to get to where she wanted to be. She still had more to accomplish.
Mills’ next stop would take her to Greenville as a trauma and charge nurse working at PRISMA’s Trauma Center for 10 years. Two years ago, she returned to Newberry Hospital. Then a year and a half ago, she realized her 16-year-old interest by becoming a flight nurse with Meducare out of Lancaster, South Carolina.
Another of Mills’ mentors, Pamela D. Bartley, BSN, RN, CEN, TCRN, CCRN, CFRN, CTRN, CPEN, introduced her to the Emergency Nurses Association (ENA). ENA is a global organization with local chapters in Columbia and Greenville. They hold monthly and provide support, education, and fellowship for emergency nurses. Each year, the ENA holds a conference with approximately 5000 nurses from around the globe in attendance. Mills has been attending these yearly conferences for over a decade and says that attending these conferences, “helps her fill her cup”.
The ENA conference provides hand-on learning, networking and top-notch sessions. Becoming a presenter at a yearly conference is not an easy task. You have to apply to present and the process takes 3-4 months and you must already have your presentation ready. Mills spent a year putting the presentation together. She picked the topic because “she is a nerd,” her words, and likes to read about different topics. Jessica said that in trauma, the military research is ahead of the civilian world. She started researching to see what additional information she could find out about the topic and found there was not a lot of information out there.
Jessica was selected to present at the ENA 2022 conference. Her topic, “Trauma Diamond of Death; Adding Calcium to the Lethal Triad”. Following her presentation, the Trauma section editor of the Journal of Emergency Nursing approached her and asked if she had ever published an article. Mills said no, and he offered to mentor her through the process, fine tuning her article. Being published is a lengthy process and her article came out a few weeks ago in the May 2024 issue of the Journal of Emergency Nursing. Approximately 55,000 nurses received the journal through the mail.
Mills’ story is not over. She loves to mentor. She said she wants to pay it forward. She enjoys working with new nurses and providing them a safe place to ask questions and learn. To help them when they are frustrated. When asked how it feels to be published, Mills said, “surreal and sad that this journey is over.” So what’s next for Mills? “Got to write another article—searching for that topic—it’s a never ending journey, says Mills. You have to always keep learning to provide the best care for patients”. Mills’ mother says that she gets bored easily and will say to her daughter, “What are you chasing next?”