Perfecting the Triple Play
Kevin Brigle's multi-faceted nursing career.
By Joan Tupponce

KEVIN BRIGLE , PhD, RN

Kevin Brigle doesn't mind being the only male nurse working for Massey Cancer Center at VCU Health Systems in Richmond.

"There are more male nurses throughout the hospital but I'm definitely in the minority," he observes. "When I go to nursing meetings, I tell my wife that I'll be spending time with around 400 women. She laughs."

Brigle, an oncology nurse practitioner, holds a Ph.D. in molecular microbiology from Virginia Tech. In 1989, he began working at VCU in hematology and oncology, conducting research and running the lab. In 1995, he began working on a grant through the School of Nursing that focused on psychoneuro-immunology. It was during that time that he became interested in the field of nursing. "I was working on how stress can impact immune system function," he explains. "I was talking with nurse practitioners and one of the principal investigators said nursing would be a good step to take."

Brigle entered the accelerated program at VCU School of Nursing, receiving his bachelor's degree in 1997 and his master's in 1998.

Working in the field is very different from working in a lab, he says. "I was so far removed from seeing the research come to fruition. Now I have a small stepping stone to see it applied to medicine. I get to see the impact of what I do every day."

In his new role, Brigle accepted an internal medicine position at VCUHS. "It was an acute-care position," he says. "I worked with three other nurse practitioners and one doctor. We had our own service." He worked there for six months before being recruited to Massey in 1999 to work with the center's cancer outreach program.

"I went to two rural cancer outreach centers a couple of times a week to see patients," Brigle explains. "Now I go to one outreach center one day a week and see patients here four days a week."

Brigle works with leukemia and lymphoma patients. One weekend a month he teaches for the School of Nursing. "It's the perfect triple play," he says. "I love meeting people. When I go home I feel good because I am helping people."

It's the one-on-one relationships that add value to his work even though he knows the realities of cancer.

"In oncology, the idea for those patients that you can't cure is to have them live whatever life they have left productively, to make sure that they get to do the things they want to do," he explains.

"There is such a thing as a good death. We get people in hospice so they can die at home with their family around." Being male in a female-dominated role does have its disadvantages at times. "People ask me, 'why don't you go to medical school?' " Brigle says. "I typically tell people that this is what I do and what I am happy doing. I could have gone to medical school but I chose not to. I never had that inkling. It never entered my mind although it did enter a lot of other people's minds."

The 48-year-old enjoys the philosophy of nursing. "I have a lot of autonomy. That makes the job enjoyable," he says. "I get to see patients, write prescriptions and order diagnostics."

His start in research has been valuable, he adds. "Medicine is all evidence-based. You have to read studies and I came in with that understanding. Also, oncology is so molecular. Everything is done on a cellular level. That is what I did most of my Ph.D. work in."

Brigle enjoys the fact that nurses come from such different backgrounds. "It's all about finding a niche you like, something that fits with your background or piques your interest," he says. "There are so many opportunities."