Why Nurses Need Mentorship with Jenny Finnell | E. 69

Growing numbers of nurses are struggling with the demands of their profession.  Jenny Finnell explains the benefits of mentorship and the expanding mission of Nurses Teach Nurses to Jim Cagliostro.

 

Episode Introduction 

Jenny shares her foundational belief in ‘’paying it forward’’, how everyone has a role to play in mentorship, why nurses need a safe zone, and the impact of the pandemic on burnout. She also highlights the financial benefits for hospitals supporting mentorship, her global vision for Nurses Teach Nurses, and why a 45% rise in demand for advanced practice nurses reinforces the urgent need for support.

 

Show Topics

 

• Journey to CEO and Founder of Nurses Teach Nurses

• The reality of a career in nursing

• Providing a safe zone for struggling nurses

• Learning to cope with suffering and death 

• How the pandemic contributed to burnout

• Encouraging nurses into mentorship

• The benefits of mentorship for hospitals 

 

 

02:35 Journey to CEO and founder of CRNA School Prep Academy and Nurses Teach Nurses,

Jenny explained how Nurses Teach Nurses grew out of community. 

‘’I've been an anesthesia provider now for nine years. Prior to that, I was a medical ICU nurse for three years. I've been in the realm of nursing for 14 years in total. Back in 2018, I actually got on social media for the first time since prior to grad school and I called myself Jenny CRNA, and I started getting direct messages on, "Hey, I've been facing a lot of setbacks and failures. Can you help coach me on how to get into CNA school?" I started doing that and I handed out my cell phone was chit chatting with people, probably about 10 or 15 people when I actually decided, "Wow, this is getting to be a lot. Let's make a Facebook group so I can talk to everyone at once. I'm kind of a broken record sometimes, so that way I can say one thing and have everyone hear it." I had a network, I had a community. I knew program faculty, I knew a lot of CRNAs, a lot of CNA leaders. I really pooled on my community to really help these nurses. They were finding a lot of success and just overjoyed with the help they were receiving. Before I know it, that group grew to 6,000 people. I was finding myself spending a lot of time mentoring and coaching, and that's when I started CRNA School Prep Academy because I was kind of burning myself out, if I'm being honest. I was working 40 hours a week, had two little kids and spending 20 hours teaching for free. I'm like, "Wow, I really want to do this, but how can I monetize my time?" CRNA School Prep Academy was born and where Nurses Teach Nurses comes into play is I've been doing CRNA School Prep Academy and mentoring for three years now and we've mentored over 5,000 ICU nurses and went through the pandemic during all that time.’’

 

08:13 The reality of a career in nursing

Jenny said nurses are the only people who relate to the needs of other nurses.

‘’…I think what's hard is the reason why I like the concept of Nurses Teach Nurses is no one can really truly understand the footsteps of a nurse unless you have been there. It's like being at war and being in the trenches with someone else. You understand what it's like, and that's what nurses