The EthnoMed Podcast

Provider Pulse Ep. 13: Between Worlds - How Identity Shaped a Nurse's Path with Alexandria Braithwaite, RN

• Dr. Duncan Reid, MD @ EthnoMed.org • Season 1 • Episode 13

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We continue our Provider Pulse interview series where we elevate diverse voices from across healthcare fields to hear the paths people took to their current roles and how their life experiences shape the care they provide.

In this episode, we speak with Alexandria Braithwaite,RN  a nurse at the International Medicine Clinic. Alexandria shares her remarkable journey—growing up between cultures, moving frequently as a child, navigating code-switching from an early age, and eventually joining the U.S. Navy as a nuclear technician. She reflects on the challenges of military life, her transition into nursing, and how her Oma, who lived with a spinal cord injury and fought for disability rights, inspired her lifelong passion for advocacy.

From the reactor rooms of an aircraft carrier to the bedside of patients in the neuro ICU, and now to Harborview’s International Medicine Clinic, Alexandria’s story is one of resilience, service, and empathy. Her lived experiences give her a unique perspective on the struggles of navigating multiple worlds—and a deep well of compassion for the diverse patients she now serves.

Whether you are a pre-health student, a practicing clinician, or someone interested in how personal history shapes professional identity, Alexandria’s story will stay with you.

Visit EthnoMed.org for additional resources. Follow us on YouTube and Instagram @EthnoMedUW

Alex Braithwaite 07_21_2025

[00:00:00] 

Duncan: Welcome to the EthnoMed Podcast, a community voice in the clinic. My name is Dr. Duncan Reid, a physician at Harborview Medical Center's International Medicine Clinic and Medical director of EthnoMed, a web resource for providers and patients with information for cross-cultural care.

Today, we continue our Provider Pulse interview series where we elevate diverse voices from across healthcare fields to hear the paths people took to their current roles and how their life experiences shape the care they provide.

What did I do? Like why did I do this? This is so horrible. You know? 'cause they're like yelling at you and everything and you know, and like, everything is like rush, rush, rush. Like, hurry up and wait. You know, like, run over here, run over here

It was just no mercy, just yelling at you for any little thing so, like during that, I'm like, why did I sign up for this? I, I don't, I don't remember that guy in the commercial, like going through this, you know?

Given my [00:01:00] Oma's situation, you know, and what she accomplished despite having a spinal cord injury and raising me. But I think the thing that impacted me the most was the work that she did. So she helped a lot with the ADA movement in the early nineties. She even had a job, it was called the Center of Independent Living, where she helped advocate for people with a range of disabilities, deaf, blind on the spectrum get jobs, you know, have their own little place. But yeah, she was my biggest impact growing up and was the one that lit up just my want to help people.

In this episode, we speak with Alexandria Braithwaite, a nurse at the International Medicine Clinic. Alexandria shares a remarkable journey growing up between cultures, moving frequently as a child, navigating code switching from an early age, and eventually joining the US Navy as a nuclear technician.

She reflects on the challenges of military life, her transition into nursing and how her grandmother, her Oma, who lived with a spinal [00:02:00] cord injury and fought for disability rights, inspired her lifelong passion for advocacy.

From the reactor rooms of an aircraft carrier to the bedside of patients and the neuro ICU, and now to harborview's International Medicine Clinic. Alexandria's story is one of resilience, service and empathy.

Whether you are a pre-health student, a practicing clinician, or someone interested in how personal history shapes professional identity, Alexandria's story will stay with you.

My name is Alexandria Braithwaite and I am a nurse here at Harborview. I work at the International Medicine Clinic.

and where are you from originally?

Alex: Ooh. So I like to claim Chicago. My life was pretty nomadic growing up. so yeah, Chicago, but I was born in Frankfurt, Germany. My father was Army. But I spent the majority of my childhood in Chicago, Illinois.

Duncan: So you're moving around a lot.

Alex: That's correct. My parents separated when I was quite young, and so I was in between moving with different grandparents, mom, trying to move to different parts of the [00:03:00] country. 

Duncan: And most of your time was spent with grandparents or with your mom,

Alex: yeah, with my mom's side, I call her my Oma, my, grandma from my mom's side.

Duncan: and how was that experience? It sounds really difficult as a young person.

Alex: you know, when you're a kid, at least for me, I didn't really recognize how like crazy it was. I just thought of it as an adventure. But yeah, looking back when you hear the stories of other people, how normal, what normal looks like, you definitely start to be like, oh, reflecting on yourself.

Like, oh, maybe that was pretty bad 

Duncan: And reflecting upon it now, does it feel like it was a pretty tumultuous.

Alex: Yeah, sometimes I try not to think about it too much. I used to think about it a lot in my early twenties, especially when I was in the service, like, oh, this sucks. Like, why am I in this path. But I learned to just use that experience to just, think that, well, it's made me stronger in different ways.

I've been exposed to different things. I have a higher resilience I feel like in some things. 

Duncan: Was it hard to make friends?

Alex: of course it was very hard, especially when we moved to New Mexico. When I was in middle school, we moved to [00:04:00] New Mexico and I was in two different middle schools and then three different high schools, 'cause my mom was moving around a lot, so it was really hard to like fit in and find your friend group and stuff.

And plus we didn't have a lot of money either. And the internet was starting to come up, so it was really hard to like connect with people online because we didn't have the internet. So yeah, it was definitely hard.

Duncan: So you already mentioned. Lot of places. Can you just trace us a little bit through which cities you went to?

Alex: Absolutely. Yeah. So, like I said, I was born in Frankfurt, Germany. I don't remember much of it 'cause I came to the US when I was three years old. Then we lived in North Chicago, which is a suburb area of the city of Chicago. So I wasn't like in Chicago, the city, but we did spend a lot of time downtown once in a while.

And then from there we moved to Oklahoma. I was in Oklahoma City with my mom, and we moved back to Chicago. This time we were in Grays Lake, Illinois. So it's another Chicago suburb. And then from there we moved to New Mexico. We were in a city, actually a really small city called Las Vegas, New Mexico.

So I lived there up until maybe sophomore [00:05:00] year of high school. And then from there I moved to Atlanta, Georgia with my father. So I was in Atlanta until my adult years.

Duncan: And when did you start feeling like you were in a stable place, that you weren't gonna move next?

Alex: Probably never, probably right now where I have a little bit more control over my life, you know? 'cause even after completing high school, I was pretty lost. And when I joined the Navy, there's a lot of like moving around then too. So it felt like it was never ending. I felt like I had no control of where I was gonna live next.

But now that I'm out and completed college, have a little job. I feel like I have a, a bit more control over that.

Duncan: And what memories do you have about childhood? What are the things that stick out to you?

Alex: Definitely the different worlds. And what I mean by that is so my father's Jamaican and my mom is white or German. And so being on my dad's side, being exposed to the culture there. And then on my mom's side, it was like totally different, like realms. It almost seemed like.

And also how you're treated on both sides too, being [00:06:00] interracial. So I definitely remember just being exposed to like how I'm supposed to blend in, depending on which grandparents I'm gonna be staying with or visiting.

Duncan: You remember particular circumstances when you realized that you had different expectations depending who you were with.

Alex: Absolutely. Especially the way I talked. So like if I would go to my dad's side, they'd be like, oh, you talk so white. And then if I spend a lot of time with my cousins on my dad's side , you pick up like the slang and the Ebonics and stuff. So then I would go visit my Oma and my O father, oh, don't speak like that you sound so literate, like, so bad. You know? So like, it was, I was definitely exposed to just learning to be like, okay, well let me polish up my language or let me adjust my language so that I don't stand out so much depending on which crowd I'm with.

Duncan: How old were you when you were making those discoveries?

Alex: Probably like, eight or nine. Yeah, under 10 for sure.

Duncan: Did you have anyone that you could talk to about that?

Alex: Um, no, not really

Duncan: So you had to learn this code switching

Alex: on my own.[00:07:00] 

Duncan: On your own. And then not only that, but you have friend groups that are changing all the time 'cause you're going across the country. Moving across

Alex: I didn't really have any friends. Most of my friends were my cousins, you know, those are the ones that I maintained constant contact with, were my cousins

Duncan: which side were they from

Alex: on my father's side.

Duncan: and how often were you seeing your father's

Alex: Yeah, so when I was in the Chicagoland area, so that includes North Chicago and Grays Lake where I lived. I would visit them actually every weekend, which was really nice. It did get a little bumpy though towards the end of my stay in Grays Lake when I was becoming a preteen. You know, you're learning more about yourself and people make sure that you're aware that you're different too, and you're really trying to like, understand where you fit in the world.

So that's when it started, becoming really difficult for me mentally. But then when I moved to New Mexico, it got really hard because a lot of those kids in that small town in Las Vegas they already had their friend groups and it was predominantly Hispanic. And I do look a little ambiguous, but I don't look ambiguous enough to be considered Hispanic, so they always let me know that.[00:08:00] 

So that was really hard and because I didn't have that experience growing up in those groups, or at least with Hispanics, it was hard for me to code switch, cause I was so used to it doing with my family. So it was, it was pretty rocky,

Duncan: Wow. That sounds so difficult. And how was the academic side of things? Did you like school?

Alex: Yeah, I actually really enjoyed school. I was in chess club through my whole time there. And I did, I did actually make a couple good friends there but they were also like, I guess expats too. They weren't from the area. There was a, there's a huge college there called the Montezuma World College in Las Vegas, New Mexico.

And so there's a lot of professors from all over the world that moved there to work. And so they bring their kids and then their, kids are enrolled in the public school. So there were two kids, one was Japanese, another one was Filipino, that I became really good friends with when I was at that school in Las Vegas.

So random, 

Duncan: so you had the shared experience of being outsiders in this area.

Alex: Yeah. So that was, it was comforting and nice, but unfortunately, you know, they didn't stay [00:09:00] there very long. But yeah, those were my two good friends there.

Duncan: And then after New Mexico, then you move to Atlanta.

Alex: Right. Yeah. So there's kind of a bit of a rift going on with my mom and the guy that she was with at the time. And I think my father finally settled down a little bit and he felt bad for me and he was like, well, why don't you just come live with me? And it was nice in the beginning, but I did start to miss my mom and worry about my mom a lot.

So during that period, school was not very good for me though because, I just got to the point where like, what's the point? Like, I don't care I didn't really see a future for myself. So I gained a lot of weight and I just played video games all the time 'cause there I had internet and most of my friends were online, so it was pretty bad.

Duncan: What games were you playing?

Alex: Everything world of Warcraft. There was a Korean MMO called Maple Story we played a lot. It's a little 2D scroller. That's where I had most of my friends actually on that game. 

Duncan: Can you tell me more about the internet friends that you had during that [00:10:00] time?

Alex: I really don't even know if they were who they said they were. We didn't really share too much of ourselves 'cause when we play the game, that was our way of escaping reality. so yeah, I don't really know too much of 'em. I just know that two of them were girls and one was a guy.

I think the guy was from Brazil. And. The two girls, I think were from California somewhere. I don't know. But I mean, you never know. Right?

Duncan: and it sounds like what you're describing is that you had so much tumult in your life 

that you were kind of just shutting down and finding this escape route.

Alex: Exactly. Yeah. But there was a part of me too that wanted to get out of just feeling that way, you know? And so not to promote being in the military or anything by any means, but when I did see, an advertisement, they showed a lot of them in our school, to like, get out of your bad circumstances.

I did decide okay, maybe I'll just join the Navy and see where it takes me.

Duncan: Do you remember the ad that sold it to you?

Alex: I think I remember like the concept of it. It just [00:11:00] showed a young man, a young black man, like in a bad neighborhood. and then it showed him like. in a uniform and just being surrounded by like stability and just not a bad environment that he was in.

I don't know. It showed him like in his bad neighborhood and his regular clothes and then it showed him like all clean cut in a uniform. And for some reason that was like, oh man, like maybe it would help me fix myself and my situation and my environment.

Duncan: So this advertisement struck something that you saw in yourself at that time.

Alex: Yeah. Yeah, because at the time I was, with my dad and my stepmom who I adore a lot. But there was also three other children in the household and it was, kind of a culture shock a little bit, you know? 'Cause like I said, I was used to code switching a lot, but, you know, I spent the majority of my earlier years with my mom's side and now I'm like just thrown to stay with my dad's side. So learning the language, the music, really just being in that environment was very different and we were not in a really nice area of Georgia either.

[00:12:00] So, um, it was just very different.

Duncan: And how did the, your cousins and the rest of the families view you? Do you know?

Alex: Oh, they loved me. Of course they made fun of me a lot, but they were only allowed to make fun of me. If other people made fun of me, then they would, try to fight them and stuff, which is also very, very different from, you know, my mom's side. Just more, I wouldn't say violence, just like, street code, where if you mess with my family, you're messing with me.

And then, it was very different.

Duncan: And do you remember when you made the decision to sign up?

Alex: I do. Yeah. At this point, I already graduated high school. I was out of high school for like three months. I think it was like I was close to like 200 pounds. I was pretty big girl. And I'm like, well, let me just see if they'll even like acknowledge me. And the recruiter actually drove out, to our neighborhood and picked me up.

And I took a test and thankfully, even though I did poorly in school, I was still decent in calculus and physics and I did pretty well. And so they're like, oh, you should be a nuke. And so because of that, I guess, 'cause it's so hard for kids to [00:13:00] qualify to be a nuke, which by the way is a nuclear engineer, electronic technician.

Anyways, they kind of bypassed my weight issue and they're just like, well, you just gotta work on your weight. You know, we can get you in shape but like, you really should join and be a nuke. And so I was like, okay. And so that's what happened.

Duncan: so in high school you were, I think you're underselling yourself, you're, you were taking calculus, you were taking physics, so you were taking these quite challenging courses.

Alex: Yeah, no, I was, you know, I had, I had it in me to, do well. It's just, I never went to school I would miss class a lot and, just stay home. It's mainly because I would be up all night on my games and then I wouldn't wake up in time to catch the bus. And my dad just had enough of it.

And he is like, well, if you miss the bus then you know, you're just, I guess you're not gonna go to school. And so I was like, oh, great. So, which is probably not the best discipline, but, so yeah, I would just not go to, class, go to school.

Duncan: Do you remember any counselors or any like other adult figures that were helping guide you during [00:14:00] that time?

Alex: Um. No, I just remember the one counselor at my high school, she kept giving me letters and the letters just kept saying like, Hey, your parents could get in trouble, or, you know, 'cause you're not gonna school, blah, blah, blah. But nothing ever came of it. I still never went and my parents didn't really care.

My dad and my stepmom.

Duncan: did you connect with your teachers in high school?

Alex: the only teacher that I connected with was my chemistry teacher actually. Yeah, he was really nice. he played chess and so because I had that, hobby, like he would, set up a chess board during lunch and there were other kids that would come to and I would come and so he was like the only one that I sort of had a rapport with because of chess.

Duncan: So sorry. I skipped through. And then you signed up. You signed up to the Navy. Is that right?

Alex: Yeah. In 2008.

Duncan: Did you talk to your dad about it? Did you talk to anyone else? Yeah. Oh yeah.

Alex: Yeah. He, because, you know, he was the Army and he was like, oh, you're not gonna make it. Like, there's no way. You know, and it made me kind of feel bad, but the fact that he said that, it lit a fire in me where I'm like, I'm going to, I'm going to prove him [00:15:00] wrong. You know?

Duncan: And it sounds like you're surrounded by a lot of people that weren't expecting that much of you.

Alex: Yeah. My Oma did.

Yeah, she was really worried about me being with my father's side and stuff, but yeah, she, she wanted me to go far, but she just didn't have the resources to help me, you know,

Duncan: and did you feel supported by her?

Alex: I did emotionally. Yeah.

Duncan: So despite all of these things, you believe in yourself deep down. Enough to prove your dad wrong, and then this recruiter comes out, drives all the way, and then tells you you should be a nuke, which seems like a pretty difficult coveted position to be. So it sounds like someone from the outside is really believing in you.

Alex: Yeah. And there was a senior chief too in bootcamp that, I mean, she was rough, but she was mainly the biggest pusher too, like for me to work harder physically and get me into shape.

Duncan: So you signed up and then what happens?

Alex: Oh, you know, they put you on a bus. Well, for [00:16:00] me it was on a plane. They flew us out to Great Lakes, Illinois, which was nice 'cause a lot of my family were still out there 'cause it's the Chicagoland area. And they cut my hair really short and they took all my stuff and gave me a uniform and we couldn't talk or anything.

And we got a bunk. And it was just, yeah,

Duncan: How are you feeling on that plane flight? Can you describe it a little bit?

what did I do? Like why did I do this? This is so horrible. You know? 'cause they're like yelling at you and everything and you know, and everything is like rush, rush, rush. Like, hurry up and wait. You know, like, run over here, run over here

Was it like a cargo plane or did they at least give you a

Alex: It was actually a commercial plane. but they just had us all sit in the back. And then there was I dunno if he was a first class or second class, but he was with us and he was the one like shouting at us and the regular civilian passengers were like, looking at us, feeling bad for us, but

Duncan: So you're on a commercial plane, but they already made certain

Alex: Right.

Duncan: were in a different

Alex: and it was even [00:17:00] worse once we got on the bus too. So once they picked us up from the airport. 

Duncan: It was just no mercy, just yelling at you for any little thing, 

Alex: you know? And we were really tired. A lot of us were really tired, so we were like, dozing off and they would yell at us for like, dozing off, and it was just really bad.

Duncan: So, like during that, I'm like, why did I sign up for this? I, I don't, I don't remember that guy in the commercial, like going through this, you know?

Do they not advertise that part?

Alex: Oh, of course not.

Duncan: So then that's your rude awakening to this thing is just getting shouted at how did the next days and weeks go?

Alex: it was rough. I didn't eat anything actually the first week and it got really bad where they sent like a medical, officer to check on me to make sure I was okay. I was probably a diabetic and I didn't even know it. Who knows? 'cause I was like so obese. I never saw a doctor or anything during my high school years.

But I mean, I like, made it and got through it, and I was losing a lot of weight. And , at first I, I hated running and then I, there was something in me that was like getting excited to run after a [00:18:00] while and then I was just like addicted to it, you know? 

Duncan: And this was bootcamp.

Alex: This is bootcamp? Yeah.

Duncan: What's a day in bootcamp look like?

Alex: Oh, you wake up, around four 30. Uh, you iron your clothes or your uniform, eat breakfast. Then we do marches we learn cadences. it's mostly like silly stuff like learning how to like, organize things in your lockers, constant inspections on anything at any moment.

And then of course, like a lot of PT or like, we call it pt, but here it's like physical therapy, but PT is like where you're working out. So, yeah, that's pretty much,

Duncan: But it sounds like the unexpected thing is that you started enjoying running or looking forward to some of

Alex: yeah. Yeah. We would run especially in nuke school, when I got into nuke school, we would run five miles a day. and you know, in the beginning I hated it, but after a while I was like, I was looking forward to it, you know, I was getting excited, you know, to do it. I think it was probably, it was release an endorphins or something in my brain, and I'm like.

Duncan: How are you dealing with the yelling and the harassment and the control?

Alex: Yeah, in the [00:19:00] beginning, I took it to heart. I personalized everything. but after a while I learned to just like void it out and not taking it personal and just sort of like, present but not really be that present, if that makes any sense. And I think it's helped me a lot in life too, like.

Even walking around here, when you see people like screaming and yelling, you, everyone's like looking at them or scared, and I just like whatever, which is probably not really good. But, um, but yeah,

Duncan: Can you explain a little bit more what's going on when you do that? When you're present, but not really present?

Alex: I don't know. Like, I think it's just maybe a way of my mind conditioning in itself, of being in like hostile environments or just being surrounded by craziness, Because even on deployments and stuff, when, 'cause I worked in the belly of the ship where we controlled the reactor power and so we, we did a lot of the steam functioning for the catapults and stuff for the jets.

It was really noisy and loud and it's startling too, so you can't be like jumpy all the time. You know, even listening to that and when the jets land, it would be really loud [00:20:00] too. So I just like learned to like tune out like really loud things, which is really kind of bad, you know? 'cause that's like a natural reflex of you just like, oh, what was that?

You know? And you're like,

Duncan: So even stepping back, you went to nuke school, so you did your basic training.

Alex: Yeah. I did my basic training in Great Lakes. And then they sent me to Charleston, South Carolina where there was a old decommissioned fast attack submarine where we did a lot of our training there. It was called prototype, so there's like a PowerSchool and then you go to prototype. But yeah, that was pretty stressful too, being in that environment as well.

'cause we did like a lot of training exercises where it was timed and you had people yelling at you too, which also helped me to like learn how to void out like the noise so I stay focused and stuff while doing something under pressure. So that whole training stint was two and a half years.

And then I, , got stationed to my first ship, which was the Abraham Lincoln that was at the time stationed in Everett, Washington. So not too far from here. And you lived on the ship. And then my first appointment, it was supposed to be only be nine months, [00:21:00] but it got extended twice. So it ended up being a whole year.

And then I ended up here and I remember my mom actually came out to visit me and she's like, you're so institutionalized. Because I would just like, like stare out into space. Like just, not really knowing how to communicate with people really. I mean, I had like, friends, like your comrades, your sailors, but it was so different.

It was always work related and your whole like existence was just to make sure the reactor was safe and working properly and stuff. That's all you cared about., So yeah, like coming out into the real world after deployment, it was like really weird.

Duncan: How did you feel when you were deployed for the first time? Was it exciting? Did you feel like.

Alex: No, I, it was not exciting at all because you know, I can't play games, you're also on an 18 hour schedule too. And so you don't get a lot of sleep. And the food's horrible. And yeah, it was everything, every aspect of it was horrible. So, yeah.

Duncan: And then what was your job specifically?

Alex: Yeah. So I was a nuke electronics technician.

So what I did was I did [00:22:00] a lot of the troubleshooting and maintenance on the drive rod mechanisms. 

so we did a lot of the troubleshooting on the actual mechanism for that. And so we were constantly just running like tests and stuff on them. And then we also did a lot of the coolant maintenance as well. So yeah, a lot of like temperature monitoring and stuff like that.

Duncan: Just to point this out, super critical. So you're at the two nuclear reactors of an aircraft carrier

Alex: yeah. It was pretty, it was a lot.

Duncan: I mean, to me, when I think about it sounds unbelievable.

And then you were also mentioning that it, it

Alex: And we're, and we're all like 19 and 20 by the way, so like, imagine that. Right. So we're.

And so we just. Lived in that area of the ship, and they let us know too. They're like, if anything happens, like you're supposed to come down here and just make sure that the reactor gets properly shut down. You know? So it's like you're gonna die. Like if the ship goes down, you're gonna go down with it, you know?

That was the expectation for the nuke division, you [00:23:00] know?

Duncan: Wow. And then you gave this taste of talking to your, was it your mom that you saw?

Alex: my, yeah, my mom, uh, you know, 'cause she was really worried about me too so she came out to see me in Everett after my first deployment, and she was really happy and she would say she was so proud of me, but I was like, so like, zoned out, you know? yeah, there was actually a period where I didn't talk to any of my family.

It was after my second deployment, I was just really on the road of just I have some money now that I've been saving up. I know I'm gonna get this GI bill when I get out to go to college. I don't really wanna affiliate myself at all with my family. I don't wanna get dragged down, Which is really bad. I think about that now. But I think in some ways it was my way of just putting up barriers or boundaries.

Duncan: But you were already thinking about GI Bill, so you were already having plans. What were your plans at

Alex: definitely wanted to go to school, so I actually wanted to become a pharmacist, you know? that didn't work out

Duncan: Why, why a pharmacist?

Alex: Well, my Opa, he [00:24:00] worked at AB Laboratories. He actually helped designed the drug, Prozac, I guess, which is kind of weird given that I had a history of depression. So he was, pushing me towards that and stuff. And then, you know, my grandma was a spinal cord injury individual who like raised me and so I was exposed to healthcare, you know, I would help her a lot too when I was a kid and stuff. So I knew I wanted do something medical related, I just didn't know what and I was leaning towards more like the pharmacy route 'cause of my Opa. But yeah, once I went into college it was like o Chem destroyed me and I'm like, this isn't gonna work.

Yeah.

Duncan: Can you describe that transition from military from monitoring a nuclear reactor to college? How did that happen or how did that feel?

Alex: It was really. It was really embarrassing in some ways 'cause I'm like taking a lot of classes. 'cause at the time, at that time I was like 25, And like most of the kids in my chemistry classes and stuff were like 18. I felt like embarrassed a little bit, you know, like sort of like a fluky [00:25:00] or something.

But a lot of people didn't even know that I was like much older. So I was able to blend in a little bit. But I was still pretty antisocial. But I still managed to find my groups. I worked really hard not to get too much into gaming 'cause I didn't wanna repeat my high school years. So I had a little bit more sense of discipline to not do that, but it was a lot better in college.

Duncan: what school was this?

Alex: So I actually started at Wazoo, actually Washington State University for a year. And then, they had advertised their nursing program in Spokane, but I didn't wanna be in Spokane. I was looking more towards the East coast. And I did have a military friend that was still on the East coast, and she's like, well, why don't you come live out in the Virginia area?

There's a lot of schools out here. So I did and I transferred to, George Washington University in dc. I finished the rest of my three years in DC at George Washington.

Duncan: What did you study?

Alex: Nursing.

Duncan: So it sounded like you were thinking healthcare, you were thinking pharmacy. You took organic chemistry,

Alex: And at wazoo[00:26:00] 

Duncan: which is a big stumbling block for I think most humankind.

Alex: Yeah.

Duncan: That's been in undergraduate, and it was just, it was just difficult.

Alex: It was really tough and I feel like I also had a lot of pressure too. 'cause I'm like, I have to work too. 'cause I had to, get an apartment and stuff. I couldn't live with my parents or anything. And my, I knew my parents couldn't help me at all. So like I gotta finish this up as soon as I can.

And if I'm doing really bad in O chem, like I want every semester to count ? So I felt a lot of pressure to make sure that if I'm gonna pick something, it's gonna be worth it, And I can finish it and complete it.

Duncan: What work were you doing during this time

Alex: Yeah, I worked everywhere. I worked at a Taco Bell.

I feel like my favorite job was working, as a pharmacy technician at a grocery store. I had that job the longest, so I was, doing fast food

Duncan: Wow, so working really hard. Supporting yourself and then your no nonsense attitude too, right? You're like, you're gonna make this

Alex: Yeah. I was like, I have to like complete this. I have to get a job so I can support [00:27:00] myself.

Duncan: And then you graduated with this degree in nursing, and then what did you do then?

Alex: Yeah. So once I graduated I did actually really well. In fact, a lot of my clinicals were in an ICU setting. I actually started in a cardiac ICU at Adventist Hospital, uh, near Baltimore. So I was working there for a year and then I got married and I moved around a little bit in DC 'cause of his job.

So then I just started working in a med surg unit which I, I regret so much, leaving the cardiac ICU 'cause I, I actually had like a whole little plan, going from there. But anyways, I worked at a med-surg unit in DC at George Washington University Hospital. So I was there for three years up until the start of COVID.

And then that's when I got my divorce and then I moved with my mom who at that time was living in Springdale, Washington, which is the boonies of Washington, right? So I did travel nursing, med surg, travel, nursing, and the three little hospitals out there. And I really liked [00:28:00] that too.

But I was like, I'm feeling so stagnant in my career. Like I wanna move forward, so I applied to Harborview's ICU program and they accepted me right away. And I moved out here alone with my cat and just started my life here in Seattle, at the neuro ICU, which I really enjoyed a lot.

It was just the hours were so horrible and, it was very sad too.

Duncan: Just backing up, you said you had a plan and you were working in the ICU on the East coast. Can you tell me how that transition to being an ICU nurse was from thinking even just from school and from military background.

Alex: Mm-hmm. Uh, so when I realized that I wanted to become a nurse 'cause I couldn't get into the pharmacy program, I thought, well, you know what, maybe I should do oncology, nursing, you know, I. I'm really familiar with radiation, you know, like I might be radiating myself. And I think it's just so beautiful that we're like harnessing radiation to help people, you know, with chemo treatments and stuff.

And then in nursing school they allow you to go to different [00:29:00] specialties and whatnot. And I did oncology, but it was in a pediatrics unit, and I'm like, oh, this is just so sad. Like, there's no way I can do this. So I'm like, well let me try the next step. So then I was looking into like different, advanced nursing programs and I really liked the CRNA, path.

I actually got to shadow a CRNA too for a little bit, and I really liked it. It kind of reminded me of being a reactor operator a little bit in a way, except the reactor is the human, you know what I mean? And so I got into the cardiac ICU, which is the first step to becoming a CRNA and I really enjoyed it a lot.

It was very stressful and there were sad parts about it too, but it was just really interesting to see how the human heart works and, and stuff like that. When I got married though, I, I sort of took the backseat a little bit because I wanted to support my then husband and, just, you know, move where he was able to get a job and stuff like that.

So I had to leave unfortunately, and I went to Med surg, which was good and I learned a lot in MedSurg too, but it was definitely [00:30:00] rough. I felt like my social skills got a little bit better in MedSurg 'cause you have to talk to people and, it was different.

Duncan: How is the. Working as a nurse and med surg or either.

Alex: Well, um, med surg, I felt like I was just passing medicine. Like I didn't even really get to incorporate any kind of nursing skill. It almost seemed like, 'cause we were always so busy at that hospital, we had seven patients. And, you know, sometimes you're like managing discharges too, so then you'll just get a fresh patient again.

And it was during the day too. So it was very, very busy. Yeah, I was just passing meds, doing your assessments and a lot of the assessments are just like, okay, are you breathing? Are you able to walk? Can you fall? and then you just like chart, which was insane, doing that for seven people three times a day, 

Duncan: Then you had this huge personal rupture in your life. Then you go out, you live with your mom. When was the last time you lived with your mom

Alex: Yeah. It, I think I was like 14, you know?

Duncan: So it's going back to, yeah, [00:31:00] it's kind of going back in time. Is that the way it felt when you moved back in with your mom? Or how did things feel?

Alex: Yeah, you could definitely tell she matured a lot more 'cause she was definitely a little bit more wild because I was mostly with my Oma, you know, it's just, she was like a party woman, you know? but yeah, it's very different because, you know, now she's more settled and she met like an older guy and you know, they had a little farm.

Well, he had a farm, and so she, helps him with it and stuff. So very different. Very, very different.

Duncan: And. Some travel nursing. Then you applied for this job and then they said, oh my goodness, this person is so qualified. Let's get her into the neuro ICU at Harborview.

Alex: I don't know if that's how they said it, but I think maybe they were just really like. You know, she did ask me, she's like, are nights okay with you? She did let me know. I would be doing nights. So it wasn't like a surprise. And I did say, yeah, that's fine. And I think it was mostly because I wasn't really aware what nights meant or like, incorporated, you know what I mean?

But yeah, it was, it was great. [00:32:00] Coming here and working in the neuro ICU, I loved my team. I loved everyone I worked with. Yes, the patient situations were really sad, but there were a lot of rewarding ones too. And it was really special being part of that process of someone coming in, you know, with a spinal cord injury.

And then, it wasn't always good to just project my feelings with my grandma, with those patients, but it definitely helped me , be extra compassionate. You know what I mean? Because I know, like I, I don't wanna say I know, but like I could understand a little bit what they're going through.

Duncan: Given my Oma's situation, you know, and what she accomplished despite having a spinal cord injury and raising me 

Alex: and having, you know, little business and stuff. So that was really beautiful to be part of that, in that environment. But it was still very sad and stressful and the nights were killing me.

Duncan: So your Oma had a spinal cord injury.

Alex: She was a T-6 spinal cord injury. She actually, got in a pretty bad car accident in the seventies. And she told me that the doctors didn't even think she would live in the nineties. 'cause she kept getting, you know, UTIs, urinary tract [00:33:00] infections and stuff. But she, you know, proved them wrong.

She lived until like 2019.

Duncan: And her disability, how did you view that growing up with her?

Alex: well, you know I actually thought of it as, I didn't really think of it as a disability as a kid, you know? Honestly, you know, my child mind was like, oh, this is fun. I could wheel around in her chair and at the time she had a manual chair, so I got really good, like wheeling around in it and being silly.

I helped her a lot with her needs, if she needed something grab it for her and stuff like that. 

Duncan: But I think the thing that impacted me the most was the work that she did. So she helped a lot with the ADA movement in the early nineties. She even had a job, it was called the Center of Independent Living, where she helped advocate for people with a range of disabilities, deaf, blind on the spectrum get jobs, you know, have their own little place.

Alex: She was very opposed to nursing homes. I actually marched with her in Springfield, Illinois against nursing homes [00:34:00] when I was a kid. 

Duncan: But yeah, she was my biggest impact growing up and was the one that lit up just my want to help people, 

Alex: you know? If that makes any sense.

Duncan: She sounds like an extraordinary person.

Alex: Yeah, she was, she was great.

Duncan: And then you stumbled, so kind of accidentally in neuro ICU,

Alex: Yeah.

Duncan: not necessarily seeking it out,

Alex: Right.

Duncan: and then it made you. Remember

Alex: All of that. Yeah.

Duncan: that your grandma was going through and had newfound respect for that.

Alex: Exactly. Yeah, exactly. And my Opa was a big part too he was the intellectual and stuff. And he was always trying to push me too. But he also acknowledged when I was getting, you know, obviously really depressed and, and sad, and he was very proud of me to join the military too, but also very sad that I had to go that route first.

Duncan: Wonder too, having the experience of having your Oma having a spinal injury, maybe when you're seeing some of these patients, you're realizing the possibility of [00:35:00] a normal life for them. Is that something that

Alex: yeah.

Duncan: were processing?

Alex: I would even mention it to them too. There was one gentleman, he was really young too in the ICU or neuro ICU. He got into an accident and he's like, oh, what's the point? Like, why should I bother? And I'm like, well, you know, my grandma actually had the same injury as, yeah, he was also a T6.

And she raised me and he was like, really? You know, and I told him all the things that she did and he was just so amazed. And he would actually like ask for me to be his nurse again, which I thought was really sweet. but yeah, a lot of people, when I like open up to them about my grandma she actually inspired them even though she's no longer around.

I never told them that she died though, you know, at that point. But they were like always really inspired by her too. .

Duncan: So then you mentioned this is intense work. You're working nights stressful. How are you doing personally during this time?

Alex: I did a lot of running. My life was pretty boring Um, my life just revolved around work, which I think contributed to my burnout too, which is unfortunate. cause I didn't have a really good work life [00:36:00] balance 'cause I didn't really have a life. ' cause I chose not to have a life.

I guess I just lived in my little apartment with my cat and, I would come home, work out, sleep, get ready for my next shift. Work, come home, you know, the same thing. Cycle, you know, manager, oh, can you work? Oh yeah, sure. Sometimes I even sleep at the hospital, which is really bad. but yeah, that was my life.

And then, you know, my partner James, we reconnected and stuff and he moved out and he sort of like, was like, oh, this is horrible. Like you can't live your life like this, you know? And so I'm like, okay, well maybe I should try to find like a daytime nursing job. And that's how I stumbled on the international medicine opening.

Duncan: And James was someone that you knew from before.

Alex: Yeah, he was actually, , one of my only friends that I had in Atlanta

Duncan: When you were in high

Alex: in high school. Yeah, my senior year. He's from Taiwan too, so he was also not originally from the US so, um, maybe we sort of strangely bonded being like from the outside and 'cause Atlanta, the high school that we went to was predominantly, African American. and [00:37:00] he was sort of a loner and we kind of bonded over being loners and playing games together.

Duncan: So it took someone else to come and tell you. What you're doing is a lot and maybe not healthy.

Alex: was like, you gotta get outta that job. You know, like, what were you, where are you trying to go?

Duncan: And I remember you won an award, didn't you?

Alex: Mm-hmm. Yeah. I got employee of the month. I also got like this sort of like a stroke. Assessment watch person. I don't know. It was like I had really good documentation on like strokes, like the new strokes that were coming in.

Duncan: And then with his help, you decided you're gonna switch. And then how did you end up in the International Medicine Clinic?

Alex: So, well I gotta find like a daytime nursing job. Let me try to find something and I saw that Harborview had an opening for international medicine. I was like, oh, that's so interesting. I wonder what this entails. Like what is this clinic about? And it was actually Erica that reached out to me and

asked, you know, why I'm interested in it. And I'm like, well, it just sounds so interesting, you know, like I really enjoy being around different groups of people [00:38:00] and , you know, I would really like to learn about outpatient nursing care 'cause that's all so new to me. and, thankfully all the interviews went well and the vibe test checked out and I got hired.

Duncan: And how has it been in the International Medicine Clinic?

Alex: It's been beautiful actually. You know, it's really opened up a sense of self that I didn't think I had in the way of caring for people, allowing myself to put myself in other people's shoes, just seeing their situations and just being like, man, that's really bad. Like, let me try my best to find a resource for you or help you out what I, can do, like, you know.

Duncan: So very.

Alex: different. Very

Duncan: Working environment from even med surg and particularly ICU.

Alex: Yeah, definitely. And in some ways it was sort of similar to like ICU where I'm like speaking for people, right? Because you know, a lot of our patients in our clinic, you know, they don't speak English, and you have the interpreter and stuff, but you're mainly the driving force for advocating like, okay, well they didn't mention this, but I'm pretty sure that they [00:39:00] probably mean this too, or need this or want this, and It's more psychosocial too, you know, in international medicine where you're like, you're wearing many different hats, where you're calling people's apartment managers sometimes and like asking them, you know, are you sure like this notice is correct? Or did you get their, medical history or, you know, just random things that we're always doing.

So I feel like there's some similarity in like advocating for people that can't voice what they need. That's what it felt like being in the ICU too. A little bit, but just not as stressful.

Duncan: How would you say your own background and your own mixed, complicated identity helped you interact with international patient population?

Alex: yeah, definitely. I can see that they're also trying to navigate like that code switching that I like talked about earlier where you know you're gonna different worlds to them, it's probably the same thing, right? So they're coming from, you know, wherever country they're from, and then they come here to the [00:40:00] states.

You know, they probably have to let code switch up a little bit. And in terms of like their language, if they're trying to learn English or, you know, speak English or their wants and needs and stuff, I could definitely understand where they're coming from a little bit, you know, in that way

Duncan: What do you think is next for you?

I really wanna be a nurse practitioner. I just don't know in what field yet. I was looking maybe towards mental health, but I feel like maybe that wouldn't be the best for me,What advice do you have for young people who are. Pre-health Now, maybe they're going through some adversity in their life at home. Maybe they aren't the best student. What would you tell them?

Alex: Never give up, never give up. You know, just always even though it looks rocky, just take it one day at a time and never give up. Just remember why you chose that route, and just use that as your anchor to not let yourself, drift away.

Duncan: Are you happy to know?

Alex: I am, I feel like I'm pretty [00:41:00] content.

thank you for allowing me to tell my story. I'm really thankful that I can be heard. I.

Duncan: Oh, thank you so much for sharing this story. I think it's remarkable. I think your complex identity and this code switching, allows you to be such an incredible presence in our clinic because I think you have an intuitive understanding of the complexity of being between two cultures.

So I think that's what makes you such a remarkable addition to the clinic and I think such a incredible inspiration to so many of us.

Alex: Thank you so much.

Duncan: Thank you so much for your time. I appreciate it.

 Thank you for joining us for our conversation with Alexandria Braithwaite, nurse at Harborview's International Medicine Clinic. Her story reminds us how the paths into healthcare are rarely straight lines.

Sometimes they begin with unexpected turns with hardship, or even with a recruiter's visit that changes a course of a life. [00:42:00] Alexandria's resilience shaped by her Omas advocacy and her own experience of moving between cultures has become a source of strength and empathy for the patients she now serves.

At the International Medicine Clinic, she brings not only clinical skill, but also the lived wisdom of someone who knows what it means to navigate multiple worlds. Her story is a powerful reminder that identity and personal history are not obstacles to overcome in healthcare. They're resources that can deepen our compassion and advocacy for others.

Here is a preview from next week's episode featuring Daniella Runyambo, originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and now Co-Executive Director of Programs and Community Impact at Refugee Community Partnership. This interview is part of a two part episode. 

Daniella: And I remember sitting in the, classroom And one of the teacher was also a football coach. And he was recruiting at the time a student from another school to come to Portland High. And I remember sitting in that class while he was recruiting.

And then he told to that, that young man, he was like, you come to Portland High, it's a [00:43:00] good school. Although these refugees have ruined it for us. And I was there, I was there. 

And he was like sharing all this, like how this refugee have ruined the reputation of the school. But the school was still good. And I remember that kid looking at me. And the teacher was like, oh, don't, don't worry about her. So that was like my high school. When I got to college. I kind of relaxed a little bit too much that I needed to. Because this, it was a fight, fight, fight. Oh, I can't fight. I don't have to fight. Oh, relaxed. And, and that I regret. because the difference between the American education and the Central African education is that in the US everybody has potential to do great, but it takes some self-discipline. If you're disciplined enough, it doesn't matter your capacity, you can achieve greatness. 

Duncan: Thank you for listening to the EthnoMed Podcast, a community voice in the clinic. If you enjoyed today's episode, please share it with a colleague or a student who might be inspired [00:44:00] by Alexandria's journey. You can find more episodes on Spotify, apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen. Be sure to visit our website@ethnomed.org for additional resources. Also, follow us on YouTube and Instagram at EthnoMed uw and on LinkedIn. Do you have comments or suggestions? We would love to hear from you at EthnoMed uw@uw.edu. Thank you and see you on our next episode.