Unit Director, Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, UCSF Benioff Childrens Hospital

Here is what Brandie's nominator had to say about her:

Brandie is an incredible manager who leads her department with kindness and compassion. She thinks about staff's well-being and what motivates them.

- Nominated by Vicky Barragan 

Brandie's Bio:

I found UCSF on my search for Nursing Graduate School programs focused on Nursing Health Policy. In 2011, I made one of the best decisions of my life and moved across the country from Orlando, Florida to San Francisco, California to obtain my Masters in Nursing Health Policy at the UCSF School of Nursing. During my graduate school tenure, I worked full-time in UCSF BCH Pediatric Intensive Care Unit as a direct patient care nurse. The Nursing Health Policy program was a unique and enriching experience that afforded me the opportunity to reside in Washington, DC for a summer during one of the most active legislative health policy sessions in our recent history. I completed my Masters in 2013 and decided to remain in the PICU as we were preparing to move to our new hospital in Mission Bay.  

Shortly after our move in 2015, I was asked to become a front-line leader as the Assistant Unit Director of our department. In this role, I advocated for additional administrative and operational support for our department including the creation of the first ever PICU Triage RN role, a second Assistant Unit Director, and an Administrative Assistant to support the administrative needs of the team. In 2018, I was invited to serve as co-chair for the first ever BCH Diversity Equity Inclusion and Anti-Racism Council. This cross-bay initiative connects members of the BCH community in our journey to be an anti-racist institution, reduce health disparities experienced by our patients and families, and improve health equity for all. Recently, I created and am currently lead facilitator for a nursing working workforce initiative called We Belong that focuses on creating an equitable, retention-centric pediatric nursing workforce through hiring standardization, retention of BiPOC nursing staff, and recruitment of new nurses from historically marginalized communities.  In 2022, I accepted an offer to become Unit Director of the PICU where I have helped lead our team through many of our recent community health and staffing crises, nearly doubled our department staff, and increased equitable advancement and professional opportunities for all. 

What advice would you give yourself early on in your career? To a woman entering your field today?  

Resist the urge to mentally separate yourself from opportunities that you may initially believe are not destined for you or you think you are underqualified for. Imposter syndrome can be debilitating and can truly limit your ability to be great if you allow it to override your intuition about what is right for you. Additionally, I would remind my colleagues to remember you cannot always be your own power source. Simply stop and “plug-in” to whatever grounds you and reconnects you to your purpose and reignites your energy and passion for the path you are on.  

Can you tell us about an important role model or mentor in your life? 

Now more than ever, and especially now that I am a mother of two, I greatly appreciate my parents for being positive role models in my life . They have both been very influential and a guiding force throughout my career. My mother showed immense tenacity and went back to school to get her Masters after having two kids. My father has persevered through several health struggles with a persistently positive attitude and untouchable mental strength. Both of my parents worked full-time while raising a family and still found the time to plan incredible family vacations, spend quality time with us, and invest in our education. I owe my ability to balance and juggle many competing priorities to them as they demonstrated what can be done when you prioritize with your heart instead of your head. As children, they made us feel like we had it all even though I know at times their experience as parents was challenging. My hope is that my children see my husband and I in this same bright light one day and they will be just as proud to call us mom and dad. 

What’s on your reading list?    

Currently I am reading Lighter, by Yung Pueblo. It is an amazing book gifted to me, on my birthday, by one of my best friends. It focuses on how to remain “light” in your mind and remove the everyday tensions and cloudiness that restrict us from our true potential. Highly recommend! 

What’s your ideal weather?  

Hot. Hot. Hot. Anything below 70 degrees feels quite frigid to me. I have only been skiing one time in my entire life and will likely never do it again because I could not bear the cold. Although, I do love Tahoe in the summer! Many have a fear of heights or are claustrophobic, one of my biggest fears is being somewhere cold without a jacket or blanket.

Meet other outstanding women of UCSF through Our Spotlight.