Telegraph Staff Writer
Inspired by their brother, who had a congenital heart defect and lived until the age of 18, siblings Brandon and Morgan Boettcher are both enrolled in the practical nursing program at North Florida Technical College, with their eye toward eventually earning degrees and becoming registered nurses.
They are driven by the desire to help humanity, but there’s also a competitive drive that makes each one want to do better than the other in regard to their schoolwork.
Morgan, a 2013 Keystone Heights High School graduate who’s in NFTC’s full-time program had already taken her first two tests and was awaiting her brother’s results. Brandon, a 2008 KHHS graduate is in NFTC’s part-time program.
“We actually got the exact same scores on both of our first two tests,” Brandon said.
Morgan said, “I was a little mad. I thought for sure I beat him.”
“It’s funny,” Brandon said. “Our brains are pretty similar.”
It’s what you’d expect of any sibling rivalry, but each wants the other to succeed and is willing to provide any help to the other. Brandon believes that desire each has to outdo the other is a good thing.
“I think in the long run it’s going to make both of us better nurses,” he said.
Both are certified nursing assistants. Morgan is currently working at Macclenny Nursing and Rehab Center.
“I’ve been a CNA for almost five years now. I just wanted to be able to do more for my patients,” Morgan said.
Brandon is currently working at a restaurant after being employed at several healthcare venues, including a stint in the medical surgery unit at North Florida Regional Medical Center when the COVID-19 pandemic began.
“My first CNA job was at North Florida,” Brandon said. “The med surg unit actually got turned into the COVID floor, so I was deep in the thick of it, just starting off my medical career.”
He had been figuring out what health-related avenue he wanted to go down before settling on the same path as his sister. Since she was already enrolled at NFTC, he enrolled, too. Plus, he heard others in the nursing community give the school’s practical nursing program high praise.
“They’ve always told me this is a really good program,” Brandon said.
The fact that NFTC offers a part-time program has made it easy for Brandon, who’d find it difficult to be in the full-time program because of his work schedule and family life.
“With the two 10-hour days, it works around everything great,” he said.
For Morgan, going to NFTC is a matter of convenience, but she was also familiar with the practical nursing program beforehand.
“My fiancé went through this program a couple of years back,” Morgan said. “Having her has really helped me in getting through this program.”
Also helping is the memory of Zackery Boettcher. Zackery was born with transposition of the great arteries and hyperplastic right heart syndrome.
“Both are pretty rare,” Morgan said of the heart defects. “They caused a stroke when he was first born.”
Brandon said, “It was during his first open-heart surgery. He was six weeks old.”
“Altogether, he had five open-heart surgeries,” Morgan said.
Zackery passed away on Jan. 1, 2012.
“Our brother wasn’t expected to live six months. We were blessed to have him for 18 years,” Brandon said, adding, “I always wanted to go into the medical field growing up because of him.”
Brandon said he initially set out to go to med school and become a pediatric cardiologist. He didn’t get that far, saying, “Life happened.”
He came to embrace the idea of becoming a nurse rather than a doctor, saying provide most of the around-the-clock patient care.
Morgan said one of her memories of Zackery is that he enjoyed his interaction with his nurses. It impressed upon her the desire to go into that field.
“He didn’t want to go to the doctor because the doctor was always going to tell him that there was a (heart valve) leak and that he needed surgery, or you’ve got to take this medicine,” Morgan said. “I feel like the nurses made it fun for him and (made) Mom a little bit calmer.”
Brandon said before their mother, Davine Mauldin, became familiar with the medical terms doctors were using, “the nurses really broke it down and put it in layman’s terms for her.”
“Mom,” whose name is Davine Mauldin, was an influence on her children as well. She was in her 40s when she became a CNA and followed that with more schooling in the area of phlebotomy.
Brandon and Morgan can relate to what their mother went through.
“We saw what she went through to get her schooling and how hard she worked raising us,” Brandon said. “It helped set the tone. I have two kids. Morgan’s got three stepchildren. It kind of showed us how to balance work, family and bettering ourselves all at the same time. Our mom was huge in that.”
Because of what his brother went through, Brandon said he specifically wants to work in pediatric care, saying, “I think I’m just goofy enough to where I can ease them while they’re getting cared for.”
Without missing a beat, Morgan said, “You’re definitely goofy looking.” To which Brandon replied, “You look just like me.”
As siblings, they’re close, but Brandon and Morgan can’t help picking on each other. Brandon said he was looking forward to his next test. He said he’s hoping he can beat his sister’s score.
“Yeah, good luck with that,” Morgan said. “I’ve maintained the highest grades in my class from the beginning.”
“So, I’ll maintain the highest grade in my class,” Brandon said, with an emphasis on “the.”
Morgan may want to beat her brother when it comes to test scores, but she also laughs and says if he does do well, she’ll just take the credit.
“I taught him what he knows,” she said.
Don’t let the good-natured sibling rivalry fool you. Brandon and Morgan are close. Being students at NFTC has allowed them to be around each other a little more than their busy lives usually allow.
“I feel like we both work so much, but being here…makes us hang out just a little bit more,” Morgan said.
Brandon added to that, saying, “Which is nice.”
Besides, it also makes it a lot easier to compare those test scores.
