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Farrah L. Barnes, MBA, BSN, RN, CNOR

Regional Perioperative Educator
SSM Health
Mount Vernon, Illinois, United States

I’m a small-town girl from the South, raised in Oxford, Mississippi, until my father’s job uprooted us to Southern Illinois. It’s been an adventure since! This year marks 30 glorious years with the love of my life, who deserves a medal for putting up with me! I have three stepchildren and two angels who gained their wings far too early. We’re blessed with eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild, which makes the holidays a wild circus of laughter and chaos! Throw in two furry companions who believe they are the true owners of the house, and you’ve got a full house!

I work as a Perioperative/Cardiovascular educator for SSM Health in Southern Illinois, covering thirteen departments across two facilities. I started with SSM in 2011 in the Sterile Processing Department. Yes, I was the one who made sure everything was squeaky clean! After finishing nursing school in 2016, I traded in my cleaning supplies for scrubs and entered the operating room as a scrub nurse. I lasted about nine months in that role before realizing I had a knack for playing traffic cop in the OR as a circulator. In 2019, I got promoted to the regional Perioperative educator, and soon I was juggling Cardiovascular responsibilities like a circus performer on a unicycle!

I earned my BSN in 2021 and my MBA last year, because why stop at one degree when you can accumulate them like Pokémon? While I’m still figuring out what my ultimate career goal is, I do know that I absolutely love to teach! There’s nothing quite like seeing that lightbulb moment on someone's face when everything clicks. It fills my heart with joy... and maybe a bit of pride, too—like a proud mama bird watching her chicks take flight (minus the actual flying, of course)!

Disclosure(s): No financial relationships to disclose

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