Kasey Parrott, APRN, FNP-BC, OBE-C
Kasey Parrott, APRN, FNP-BC, OBE-C, is a Family Nurse Practitioner specializing in women’s health, obstetric emergency care, and maternal-fetal health. With 14 years of experience in healthcare, she has built a career rooted in critical care, clinical excellence, and compassionate service. Since 2018, she has practiced in a women’s obstetric emergency department within an inner-city hospital, managing a 12-bed emergency unit where she provides care to high-acuity patients, many of whom have limited access to additional healthcare resources.
In her role at BJC HealthCare in St. Louis, Missouri, Kasey delivers advanced obstetric emergency care while also serving as a clinical educator and mentor. She actively precepts and trains new nurse practitioners, teaches medical students and obstetric residents, and supports the development of future healthcare professionals. Her background spans ICU nursing, labor and delivery, high-risk obstetrics, nursing leadership, and nursing education, including experience as a clinical instructor for bachelor’s-prepared nursing students. Throughout her career, she has remained dedicated to the same healthcare system, building strong professional relationships and a deep sense of purpose in her work.
Kasey earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Barnes-Jewish College Goldfarb School of Nursing and her Master of Science in Nursing as a Family Nurse Practitioner from Maryville University of St. Louis. She is nationally certified in Obstetric Emergency Care through the National Certification Corporation (NCC) and was among the first in her state to achieve this credential. Her excellence in nursing has been recognized with multiple DAISY Awards for outstanding compassionate care. In addition to her clinical and academic contributions, she has recently expanded her work into a health and wellness company focused on GLP-1 therapies, peptides, and weight management, helping women prioritize their health and well-being during key life transitions.
• Obstetric Emergency Certified (NCC)
• Critical Care Certified
• ACLS Certified
• NRP Certified
• Family Nurse Practitioner
• Barnes-Jewish College Goldfarb School of Nursing - BS, Nursing
• Maryville University of Saint Louis - MSN
• OB Resident Support Person of the Year (2020)
• Daisy Awards
• AANP (American Association of Nurse Practitioners)
• American Heart Association
• Hospital Bereavement Programs for Infant Loss
What do you attribute your success to?
I would say two things drive my success. First, I always want to do well for my kids and my family - my husband and my four kids. Getting out there and hustling with them in the forefront of my mind makes things really easy. I'm doing whatever I'm doing for them today, going to work, coming back home, and not just bringing home the paycheck, but making them proud. That has always been a big drive for me. And honestly, when you see what you do for patients who don't have anything outside of the hospital, that is a strong, humbling experience. I work in an inner-city hospital that has a lot of patients that just don't have anyone, and you do change lives just by seeing someone in the emergency room. It sounds crazy, but it is very true. To be the only thing that someone has is a crazy, humbling experience.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I received actually came from a continuing education course on how to be more well-rounded preceptors and bring in the next generation of nurses. The advice was that your badge doesn't always reflect how important you are as a leader. Even if your badge doesn't say nurse leader, it's about how you act in the environment and how you treat other people. I have found that to be very humbling. You make a big difference no matter what your badge says. It doesn't matter if you're a nurse who doesn't have a degree yet - going to work, giving your best, and being a leader, regardless of if you're monetarily compensated for it or if you actually have the name on your badge, that's what matters. You are a leader when you are a nurse. That really changed how I practice, and ever since I heard that, I think about it all the time.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say to have patience with the process of being a nurse and learning. Give yourself time and grace that you can't know everything to begin with. You're going to have to ask questions. Experience is everything in nursing - there are so many things that you can't possibly learn from a book that only time and experience teaches you. Even the new nurse practitioners I train now come in very frustrated, asking how I can see a patient and get them out while they're still on step one. I always tell them you have to have patience with yourself. Give yourself time to be new and to be a learner, because you deserve that. And in that, you will become a successful nurse. It's interesting because you're a nurse first, and you become an expert as a nurse. That's all anybody wants - to be that go-to person, to know what you're doing. But then you come with all this experience to a new job as a nurse practitioner that functions differently with more responsibility, and you can't be that expert right away. You are the novice again. You are not an expert, and I know how hard that is for someone who just wanted to be a nurse practitioner. So yes, patience for sure.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Being a nurse in general, there are vast opportunities. You can do bedside care, pharmaceutical sales, med sales, all the way down to insurance and consulting. There are so many things that nursing has an opportunity in. As a nurse practitioner, most of ours is seated in patient care, and there's not really a whole lot of opportunity for growth in terms of climbing a career ladder. When you're a nurse practitioner, your ultimate goal is to take care of patients, so the opportunity is there in what you do for your patient care. Even within specialties, if you can't handle being in the OR all the time, you don't have to get any different degree - you just stop, apply, and go to a different area. The challenge has been working as a nurse practitioner with physicians and learning physicians who sometimes don't understand what the role of a nurse practitioner is or how much experience you have. There will be patients who say they'd really like to see a doctor, and that's disheartening when you've spent 14 years in a facility taking care of patients, and you're certified with the degree and experience that even new residents don't have yet. But it's also been rewarding to educate people on what an NP is. I've been there long enough that patients are on their second and third babies and will ask for me. Healthcare in general is a challenge - it's male-dominated and it can be hard, but the opportunities are endless.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Definitely respect is most important to me. I feel like everyone comes to work, and outside of work in everyday life, not really knowing what people have going on in the background. We see a lot of that at the hospital, or just knowing families out in the world that have struggles going on, and they have to put a smile on and come to work. So respecting everyone and realizing that something can be going on in the background that you may not know about - everyone is dealing with a struggle. The other value I hold is loyalty. I've been at the same company for a long time, and I know they tell you that you should job hop to get a better rate, but I have found that staying loyal to our healthcare system and my specific job and not leaving has created really great bonds at my work that have given me purpose. Not leaving just for that better paycheck - I find loyalty to be probably up there with respect, honestly.