Ashley Barney, BSN, RN, CEN, spent enough time in hospitals to realize nursing is where she belongs. Originally planning to go into engineering, she experienced nursing from the caregiver’s perspective when her first daughter was born with medical issues. Within a few years, she also attended to her mother’s health needs and had a second child, a son who was born premature, had RSV and asthma and was repeatedly hospitalized.
“I thought, ‘I really want to be that person who helps others,’” Barney said.
She doesn’t limit that help to her patients. Barney intentionally works to help the family or friends who accompany her patients feel better.
“I like to delegate to the chaplain when I can, or I myself will talk with family about what they’re seeing and make sure they understand,” Barney said. “It sets the tone in the room. It gets the anxiety and frustration under control.”
Barney also is committed to fighting stigma around mental illness. Her father, a veteran, suffered from a serious mental health episode, and she became involved in his physical and mental health care. Around that time, a friend and coworker, someone who was known for “laughing all the time and helping everyone else,” died by suicide. Others among her family and friends have attempted or contemplated suicide.
“I was engulfed by it,” she said, adding the realization, “I want to be the lighthouse for everybody. I feel like I can be that beacon of light and hope and guidance for people.”
In the rural Utah area where she lives, the nearest VA hospital is more than two hours away, and therapists for any age are hard to find. Barney supports the veterans crisis line, and she spreads the word among colleagues, patients, acquaintances and her own three teenage children that it’s ok to talk about mental health and to seek help.
When she needs to recharge and take care of herself emotionally, she usually heads outside—for paddle-boarding, hiking, geocaching or even simple yardwork.
“With sunshine and being outside, I can be happy,” she said.
She also considers ENA a source of respite, by posting in ENA CONNECT or reaching out individually to friends she’s made through the association.
Barney joined ENA shortly after her department required her to complete ENPC and TNCC. She had work-related questions involving scope of practice, and a colleague recommended she become a member. Soon after, she attended Emergency Nursing 2022 in Denver.
“After that, I just jumped in with both feet,” she said.
Barney is currently the critical care educator at Timpanogos Regional Hospital, a Level III trauma center with a 16-bed emergency department. She is preparing for her master’s degree in nursing education and leadership with a focus on mental health awareness and vulnerable populations.
Her nursing career began in home health and hospice and at a pediatric clinic. Right before COVID struck, she took a second job at a hospital to increase her skills. As she got to know the trauma team and occasionally floated as a sitter in the emergency department, she recognized she wanted to be an emergency nurse.
“I liked this adrenaline rush,” she said. “I liked to be the one who helped in the moment when it was life or death—not just the patient, but their families.”
Barney serves on ENA’s Emerging Professionals Advisory Council, and she achieved a personal goal of presenting at a conference by leading or co-leading two sessions at ENA Leadership Conference 2024. She frequently encourages others to join ENA and get involved in the Utah State ENA Council, which she leads this year as president.
“I’ve been told I’m the Energizer Bunny of ENA,” she said.