Embracing Change: A Nurse's Career Adventure

Have you ever wondered how a career in nursing can shape your life in unexpected ways? Join us, Christopher and Colby, as we invite you into our world of nursing, where student loans and career uncertainties are just the beginning of an incredible journey. Hear Colby's reflections on the challenges of nursing school and the reality of managing student debt while discovering passion in patient care. Meanwhile, Christopher shares his whirlwind ascent to an assistant nurse manager position, while still yearning for the direct connection of bedside nursing. We take you through our personal and professional stories, offering insights into the ever-evolving landscape of nursing careers.

Experience the emotional rollercoaster as we recount a family medical emergency—a suspected stroke—and the deep emotional and professional challenges that come with caring for stroke patients. This episode also sheds light on the complexities of transitioning between nursing specialties, such as cardiac care and the cath lab, and the personal sacrifices involved with being on-call. The reality of balancing demanding career paths with personal fulfillment is laid bare, illustrating the often unseen struggles nurses face behind the scrubs.

Explore the myriad of opportunities within the nursing profession, from precepting students to managing COVID-19 units and even contemplating a shift to legal nurse consulting. We emphasize the importance of flexible career paths, urging new graduates to find their personal niche. Discover our thoughts on the critical role of effective handoff communication and the profound impact of recognizing nursing as a STEM field. As we reflect on our long-term career aspirations, we invite you to visualize your own five-year plan and share your journey with us.

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Episode Transcript

Christopher (00:00):
Welcome to Nursing Lyfe 101, the most important
nursing class you never got totake in nursing school.
We will be traversing differentobjectives, like interviewing
what to do in nursing school,boundaries, burnout and so much
more, if this interests you.
I hope you are taking goodnotes because class is now in
session.
Hello and welcome to NursingLyfe 101.

(00:47):
We're so excited to have youhere with us as we dive into the
world of nursing, sharing ourexperiences, insights and a
little bit of fun along the way.
I'm Christopher and I couldn'tbe happier to introduce my
co-host.

Colby (00:59):
I'm Colby Together, we'll be bringing you real stories,
practical tips and discussionsabout all things nursing,
whether you're a fellow nurse orjust curious about life behind
scrubs.
We're thrilled to have you joinus.

Christopher (01:13):
So this is our second podcast and at the time
of recording we have been ableto see a little bit of people
start to watch our first episode.

Colby (01:21):
Very exciting.

Christopher (01:24):
It is.
It is very exciting and, youknow, we just kind of want to
continue to let you know who youare listening to, and the way
that we're doing that is byanswering a little bit more of
the questions that, hopefully,will allow you to deep dive on
who Colby and Christopher are.

Colby (01:41):
Yeah, all right, let's go .

Christopher (01:43):
Cool.
So I guess our first one isColby.
You've been in nursing since2014.
That is 10 years and youmentioned that last time.
Did you anticipate being innursing this long?

Colby (02:00):
I think I didn't not anticipate it.
I guess I definitely was like,okay, this is my career choice,
went to college for four years,I'm going to be a nurse, and I
don't think I've ever reallythought past that.
I think there've been periodsin the last 10 years where I've
been like, actually no, let meback up.
When I graduated nursing school, I was like I don't want to do

(02:22):
this.
I was like I don't want to be anurse and then the reality of
student loans came and I waslike, oh yeah, just kidding, I'm
gonna have to start payingthose so I need to like actually
immediately go into work, um,and then I found my, my niche
and, you know, figured it out.
but I definitely, from thatpoint on, I haven't like thought

(02:43):
like, oh, I'm just gonna dothis for two years and then get
out, and then like ended upgetting stuck for 10 years.
No, nursing, nursing's it, it'sit for me.

Christopher (02:51):
So are you saying that your student loans kept you
in here?

Colby (02:54):
Yeah, yeah, definitely from the start, if I'm being so
honest.

Christopher (02:57):
Really.

Colby (02:58):
And so real.

Christopher (02:59):
That's the only thing that kept you here.

Colby (03:05):
I think we can agree that nursing school

Christopher (03:07):
oh no, yeah

Colby (03:07):
inflicts a level of trauma on on you where, at the
end of it, like a lot of peopleare like, yay, I got through and
I'm I'm finally ready to start.
But I think there's also a veryreal reality where some people
are like that was that justrocked my world so hard for
however many years you're inschool and I don't know if I
want to do this.

(03:28):
I don't know.
I'm going to sit back for aminute and think about this.
I mean, it took all of twoseconds for me to be like oh
yeah, student loans.

Christopher (03:34):
Yeah, well, I mean you talk about me and me having
my books and you're like I'mlooking at them right now.

Colby (03:44):
His nursing school books.

Christopher (03:45):
Yes.

Colby (03:46):
To just make sure everyone knows what we're
talking about.

Christopher (03:49):
Yeah, I'm like looking at Clinically Oriented
Anatomy, Physical Examinationand History Taking Like they are
nursing books.
And I just moved recently andso you were like you just need
to throw these away.
These are inflicting trauma andI was like, well, I mean, I
still

Colby (04:09):
The trauma is why you have hold on.
Held on to them.
Gotta let it go.

Christopher (04:15):
You know Elsa can sing that song, but I am not,
and you know it's winter time,so you know

Colby (04:23):
Yeah.
Let it go.
No, but really though.
And you're not the only onethat has nursing books our
friend.
I had to convince her to throwsome away recently, like I do
think that you really do carrythe, the trauma of nursing
school, with you for the rest ofyour life I want to say it's
because I want to continue tolearn and grow and make sure I

(04:47):
know what I'm doing.

Christopher (04:48):
I had to look up what tracheas was and make sure
that was in the right spot.

Colby (04:51):
Did you look it up in that book?

Christopher (04:52):
No, I didn't.

Colby (04:52):
Okay, because Google is at the tips of our fingers and
we don't need nursing schooltextbooks anymore.

Christopher (05:00):
I mean, you're right.

Colby (05:04):
Okay, well, we've established that I'm in this for
the long haul.

Christopher (05:08):
Yeah, you are.

Colby (05:09):
How about you?

Christopher (05:09):
You are.
Yeah, you know, I did notanticipate I was going to be
where I am in nursing.
I did think I was going to bein nursing and I still joke and
say that I'm going to go back tobedside, bedside.
But a lot of people are likewhy would you go back after

(05:33):
being a manager?
And I'm like I enjoy listeningto hearts and lungs and doing
all that stuff.

Colby (05:40):
Yeah, you enjoy that aspect of the job.

Christopher (05:42):
Right.
So I don't know, we'll see.
I do, I did anticipate me beinghere.
I mean, it's only been fiveyears, so it's half the time
that you've been there.
But I don't know, we'll see.

Colby (05:55):
Yeah, I think.
I think that's a good point toraise.
Like in five years you were,you weren't picturing yourself
five years after graduatingbeing an assistant nurse manager
job.

Christopher (06:04):
Not, not, no.

Colby (06:05):
yeah, that is pretty wild , but you're a natural born
leader like you.
I feel like people gravitate toputting you in those roles
because you have those skills,like naturally.

Christopher (06:18):
Okay.

Colby (06:18):
Yeah, I mean it makes sense to me.
When you were considering itmean, I feel like you weren't
really considering it, but thenyou had this whole outline for
what a good assistant nursemanager would be and I was like
Christopher, why don't you apply?

Christopher (06:31):
Well then, yeah, you challenged me, and then one
of the nurses on the floor alsochallenged me and I was like,
okay, maybe.

Colby (06:39):
And he did it, and he got it.
Yeah, and he's been killing it.

Christopher (06:48):
so I guess, well, thank you, I'm just gonna leave
it at that.
I'm not even gonna, I'm justgonna just gonna stop there.
So you we made a little snippetabout it in the last week's
podcast.
You were able to kind of delveinto different areas in nursing
when you were traveling and youhad said that there were two

(07:10):
that you were like I'm not goingback, I'm not doing it.

Colby (07:15):
My two specialties that I was like don't make me.

Christopher (07:18):
Right.

Colby (07:19):
Okay, so my first one, forever and always.
And it's kind of funny that Isaid like, oh, I actually really
enjoyed the ED, because both ofthese things you're going to
see in the ED frequently,especially in like a level one
trauma center Neuro slash strokespecifically Okay, and it's
like in the ED setting fun,exciting, oh, there's a stroke,

(07:42):
let's get into action.

Christopher (07:44):
Right.
It's like the immediate, likelong, long, immediate, like
long-term care that you'regiving either in icu or an acute
care setting.
It just one it's heartbreakingto see somebody like with these
new deficits.
But two, it's also like to beso real, incredibly frustrating

(08:06):
sometimes to like care for thesepatients and the other
specialty and they kind of gohand in hand.
The reason why I don't reallyenjoy taking care of these
patients or the patients in thisspecialty is like trauma, but
not like broken bones and thatkind of stuff.
That's not what bothers me.
It's like the traumatic braininjury.
Again, it could be incrediblydevastating, like emotionally,

(08:30):
to take care of these patientsand I can see why the people who
do work in these specialties,they probably find it incredibly
rewarding.
But the amount of like I don'teven know the amount of like of
anguish that I've gone throughwhen I'm taking care of these
people.
I just it's just not for meLike the communicating with them

(08:52):
.
With TBIs, I mean, you getshort-term memory loss.
Same thing with strokes, I meanlike those injuries to the
brain.
Oh man, it just is.
It's devastating.
I don't even I can't think ofanother word, but it just it's
devastating.
I don't even I can't think ofanother word, but it just it's
so it's so hard to take care ofthose patients sometimes.
No, I, I I get it on a different level.

(09:12):
I don't know.
Did I ever tell you I guessit'll be a little personal, but
did I ever tell you about thetime when my, when I, when I had
just finished nursing school, Iwent back home and was kind of
like making sure my mom was okay, and did I tell you about the
incident?
So, just finished nursingschool, finished in July,

(09:38):
because it was the ADN programand it was off schedule.
So like we didn't have thenormal you finish around
mother's day or in the winterand I had gone and was doing
stuff and my mom had it wasbattling breast cancer at the

(10:01):
time, and so it was, you know,we went and did some vacations
and we came back and I was doingsome home health stuff at the
time in back in my hometown andmy mom was having some issues in
terms of like just having bowelmovement and so she had gotten

(10:25):
like a tea that was supposed tohelp with.
I don't even remember what thetea was, but and but she was
concerned, she didn't want tolike lay in bed yeah she was
like I'm just gonna sleep on thecouch and you know I can get up
and go if I if I need to.
And so she went to bed and Iwent to bed and so I went to

(10:50):
sleep and woke up the nextmorning and I go up to the
living room.
I was like, hey, mom, you knowhow'd you sleep?
Like did you go to the bathroom?
My mom said nothing and I'mlike mom.
You know I was Mom, are you okay?
And like I'm, I don't know myleft from my right hand at the

(11:15):
moment Because I'm like this ismy mom Nursing school out the
window.
I'm freaking out.
My mom's not saying anything.

Colby (11:21):
Yeah.

Christopher (11:21):
And I mean you could tell she was like trying
to say something but it was justlike gurgle or just not enough.
And I was like, oh my god.
And so I I took the covers offof her and she had peed and I
was like yeah, oh my god, and soI mean it was.
It was insane and so, long storyshort, we ended up I called 911

(11:47):
, got my dad also helped and mybrother.
They also helped, but we called911, we sent, got to the ER and
then my mom started to actuallytalk.
And please, when I say this,I'm not making fun of anyone
when I'm saying this, but it Imean it sounded so slow and

(12:12):
exaggerated and it was not mymom's voice, yeah, and it was
just so weird hearing that and Iwas like, oh my God, what is
going on?
And ultimately, you know, weweren't able to figure out if
she had a stroke or not, becauseit I didn't.
You know, the last time ofnormalcy was eight o'clock that

(12:33):
night right, like it was just sofar

Colby (12:36):
You didn't see her until the next morning

Christopher (12:37):
yeah and so, yeah, we just, but you know it just
took a while, but she finallywas.
She got to the point where shewas able to talk again, normal,
but after that it wasn't reallythe same.
It was.
It was a very interesting.
So, like I, I would not wantthat

Colby (12:55):
yeah

Christopher (12:55):
because that was just too close to home

Colby (12:57):
Yeah, no, I definitely could see that.
Yeah, for me it's.
I've never had a personalexperience with it.
It's just I don't know, I justcan't do it.
On the one side, it'sdevastating to see the family,
it's devastating to see yourpatient trying to communicate,
learn how to use their body indifferent ways to make it work

(13:18):
for them, depending if they haveany usage of any limbs.
And then there's also, like the.
There's also that aspect wheretaking care of these patients is
also just incrediblychallenging in the sense of, um,
like, when you have this, thesebrain tissue issues, um like,

(13:39):
perfectly like doing theeducation and and the patients
can have, like memory loss orjust like a complete like on,
like inability to understand,like the direction or education
that's being given to them and alot of times are they could be
confused and you know, high fallrisks.
Now, yeah um getting out of thebed, and it's.

(14:01):
It's very common in thatspecialty yeah and it just uh,
on top of everything else likeit where it you get worn down
and like what I do at least Iget worn down and burnt out so
quickly with that specialty so Ijust it's just not for me, if
any.
When I was traveling, I thinkfor some weird reason, I've seen
a pattern where stroke floorsare commonly in smaller

(14:24):
hospitals, are commonly kind oflike mixed with telemetry
patients.
So as a nurse with a cardiacbackground, my, my, um, oh,
what's the word my recruiterwhen I was traveling would
always try and put me on like,give me like contracts on stroke
floors and I was like,absolutely not, like don't even
float me the idea.

Christopher (14:44):
Hard stop

Colby (14:45):
It's a hard stop, it's a hard.
No, for me it's a hard pass.
Like strictly, if we're goingto do like a contract, it's like
I'll be in the float pool andI'll go there once in a while.

Christopher (14:55):
Right.

Colby (14:55):
But I'm not going to take like a contract specifically on
that floor.

Christopher (14:58):
Well, that's fair.

Colby (14:59):
Yeah.

Christopher (14:59):
And so is there a specialty?
I mean, obviously, cardiac wasyour niche and you said you
would like ER.
Is there one that you're like Iwould also other than ER?

Colby (15:14):
um, I think like subspecialties of cardiology uh,
cath lab.

Christopher (15:19):
Oh okay, I was like what?

Colby (15:20):
yeah, like within cardiology but like maybe a
different area, more of like a.
I guess cath lab is likeoutpatient okay, yeah, and it's
not inpatient, so I'm prettysure they're considered
outpatient, but I consideredtaking a job in the cath lab.
I think the only turn off forme was what.
What made me ultimately todecide not to go that route was

(15:41):
the on-call requirement.

Christopher (15:44):
and yeah, because you had, when you came back and
was coming back as core staff,you had yeah, interviewed and
everything right.

Colby (15:53):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Ultimately, I just felt, um, itwas just a lot of on-call time
and I'm not, I don't have likedug in roots, despite being
somewhere for almost 10 years.
I like when I'm not at work,I'm traveling and so that's like
.

Christopher (16:09):
Oh my God, the amount she travels.

Colby (16:11):
I do a lot of things.
I'm very busy outside of work,so to have on call time would
require me to stay close to thehospital more often than I do
now, and I was like, well, I'mjust not ready for that, okay.
So, even though you've onlybeen in nursing for five years,

(16:34):
I feel like it's a funnyquestion to ask you like what's
kept you in?
But what are some things thathave like kept you interested, I
guess, and like kept youinterested in the job?

Christopher (16:42):
so you know.
What really honestly has keptme interested is the fact that
it's so different.
Like year one I was waslearning, so I was trying to
figure out with NRP and all thatstuff and like trying to figure
out what to do in terms of howto be a nurse.
Year two, I was off on my own.

(17:03):
I got to like dabble with somenursing students in terms of
precepting them.

(17:23):
Year three, I had switched fromCardiology, well so year one,
started at vascular merged intoCOVID because I, I was like to
save people on the cardiologyunit from going to float to the
card the.
COVID floor?
I would, I would go.
So I had my own like amount ofscrubs that I could use and you
know I was able to badge in andget my own scrubs, which was

(17:45):
really cool because I thenlearned some like COVID nursing
which wasn't it wasn't muchdifferent, but you know it was
COVID nursing and then went toacute cards with the LVADs and
prostacyclin and then went toman.
It sounds like I don't knowwhat.
I know what I'm doing.
I went to transplant.

(18:11):
Yeah, year three I went intotransplant and then

Colby (18:17):
You've done a lot in a small amount of time.

Christopher (18:19):
It's insane.

Colby (18:20):
Yeah.

Christopher (18:20):
Because year three and a half, four I started in,
started the drip bar.

Colby (18:26):
Yeah.

Christopher (18:28):
And then year five I'm in management now

Colby (18:31):
yeah

Christopher (18:32):
in both places, which is weird.
So I think that's pretty muchwhat's kind of kept me and, like
, kept me interested is the factthat it's just so different,
like every you

Colby (18:42):
yeah, you keep the ball rolling yeah you've done all
you've I mean you've liketouched on quite a few different
aspects of nursing.
That will definitely keep, Ithink you're.
If you have ADHD, it's a greatjob for you.
No, I'm not saying that you dobut I'm not saying that you do.
but if you do, out in the world,other people listening, it

(19:04):
might be a great choice.
If you can no, that's not true.
But if you get bored easily orif you, I don't know I mean,
yeah, there's just so manyoptions.

Christopher (19:18):
There are.
There are just a lot of options.

Colby (19:21):
Also it's good to know, it's good to say, like if you're
a new grad and you start off inyour first job and you're like
I don't like this, you don'thave to stay, try something
different.

Christopher (19:34):
Right, there's just so much and you can so much.
Inpatient, then there's so muchoutpatient, then there's so
much in between.
Yeah, I mean, like I know bothof us have done, New Year bingo
cards.

Colby (19:51):
Yes.

Christopher (19:51):
And I mean one of them which I have not started.
So, everybody, I have not addedthis to my plate, but I was
wanting to do legal nurseconsulting because that's
something you can also do too.
Yeah, there's just so much.

Colby (20:07):
There's an endless, endless supply of nursing jobs
possibilities, so that's theword that came to my head

Christopher (20:18):
oh gosh um and I guess

Colby (20:22):
okay go ahead.

Christopher (20:23):
I guess I answered the whole like which one I don't
want to do.

Colby (20:26):
Yeah,

Christopher (20:27):
yeah yeah, yeah, I honestly I don't know, I don't
think there is one.

Colby (20:33):
Well, no one wants to go back to COVID nursing, so

Christopher (20:37):
Do you know what?

Colby (20:38):
Did you like it?

Christopher (20:39):
Well, here's my oh.
For the people that are notnurses when they hear this I
enjoyed COVID nursing because Idid not have to see any patient
family members.
Fair enough, I didn't have todeal with that.

Colby (20:56):
Yeah, that's true.

Christopher (20:59):
There is a fine line between a patient's family
member being very helpful andjust being in my way, and most
people don't know what that fineline is yeah and some nurses
don't even know what that fineline is.

Colby (21:14):
I was.
I was gonna say, and I last year, unfortunately my, my gran pass
, which you know but we were atthe bedside with her and I was
like do I say something?
Do I stay quiet?
And this is like I mean my the.
The hospital that she was atwas also where my aunt worked in
the.
She works in the ED now and wewere in an ICU and so like we

(21:40):
were trying to be helpful butalso like like two nurses, two
RNs in the room were like thisis what we want, but also trying
not to like step on toes orlike be annoying, like we would
just like both look at eachother.
And then she'd be like what doyou think?
And I'd be like whatever youthink, and then we'd just look
at the doctor and be like comeon, come up with the same idea
as us, that we're thinking inour head.

Christopher (22:06):
We're trying to telepathically send it to you
because we don't want to saywhat we want.

Colby (22:09):
Yeah, but we had a plan in our head

Christopher (22:12):
yeah, I mean, I, honestly I, yes, I.
I hated the fact that peopledied and everything, but I did
appreciate that part COVIDnursing

Colby (22:21):
yeah, yeah.

Christopher (22:22):
so I do not want to go back to it.
If it meant people dying likethat, so yeah, covid nursing.
No, I also am not the biggestfan of anything that deals with
saliva.

Colby (22:39):
Oh yeah, oh trach, oh.

Christopher (22:42):
But see, I love me suctioning a trach.

Colby (22:44):
You can do a suctioning a trach, so.

Christopher (22:45):
I can do a suction because it comes out of a
different place.

Colby (22:48):
So it's saliva and straight out of the mouth, yeah
so where are you seeing that alot?
Where's that concentrated at?

Christopher (22:55):
I guess babies.

Colby (22:56):
Oh okay, so you're like don't want to?
no, thank you.

Christopher (22:59):
Please don't no, I don't need you to drool on me.
Um, but I which is weird,because I do love babies I think
they're very cute, I thinkthey're fun.

Colby (23:08):
It's like the toddler to small child section that you're
not a fan of

Christopher (23:11):
Don't spit on me.
Oh, I guess psych would also bethat, because if you spit on me,
who knows, I might have tocatch a charge.

Colby (23:23):
Hand swing first, mind comes in later.
Just kidding um.
But no, I agree with that.
I don't think I' m uh.
I don't think I'm cut out forpsych nursing.
I don't think I have thetherapeutic enough touch

Christopher (23:37):
no,

Colby (23:38):
verbally

Christopher (23:39):
yeah

Colby (23:40):
make it through psych.
But man, the ones that do.
I mean, I've met some reallygood psych nurses and I've been
like jaw on the floor, like wow,you just finesse that so well,
like how did?
Because you know whether youtake, whether you work on a
psych floor or not, you're stillgoing to take care of patients
with psych conditions,

Christopher (24:01):
yeah 100

Colby (24:02):
and we get them in cardiology, you get them in
transplant.
People with psych diagnoses havethose issues and we have
something in our facility that'scalled a BERT call or a
behavioral emergency responseteam, and so when you have and
this isn't just for psychpatients, this could be anybody
acting up being crazy um, wherewe feel like things are

(24:26):
escalating to the point where,like we could, get hurt yeah,
like where staff could get hurtor the patient can hurt
themselves and like securitycomes um, the psych resident
team will come and give theirrecommendations as far as meds
and all that good stuff.
And like I've seen people talk,I've seen staff talk patients
down like so magically andyou're like wow, like where were

(24:49):
you 15 minutes ago when thiswas like getting a little nuts
Like you?
That was magic, legitimately,that was magic.
You're a star.
Thank you so much.

Christopher (24:59):
Good Job.

Colby (24:59):
Good Job.

Christopher (25:02):
Well, and you know also, it's just because you also
work with workplace violence,right?
Yeah, so like it's importantfor us as nurses to know that we
do not have to take the abuseof people.
Like it is okay to be, like Iam.

(25:24):
I understand you're frustrated,I understand you know
something's not going the rightway, but I am a human, just you
know.
you don't say this, but I I'm ahuman just as much as you are
and I deserve just as muchrespect as you're wanting and I
do not need to be treated thatway yeah and I think that's

(25:45):
something that's very hard fornew nurses, because it's like
you, you just you're like, Ijust want to help out, I just
want to make sure they're okay
yeah
like, but your mental health is important and
you do not need to be ragged outlike that.

Colby (25:59):
yeah, and there's also I mean.
There's a huge culture shiftacross the US, I think, right
now, involving workplaceviolence with, like,
patient-related care, and thisis getting a little tangential.
But we as a whole nursing inthis country are subjected to a

(26:21):
lot of violence, um frompatients and we have, like a
measure standards, um that a lotof hospitals provide data for,
um, we are we're trying to movetowards a culture change where
we're you're not accepting that,like in the past, it's always
been like Oh, it's just part ofthe job.

(26:42):
I got a urinal thrown at me.
Oh, it's just part of a job.
This person hit, hit me or dugtheir nails into my arm, like
when I was just trying to givethem a medication, or, you know,
talk to them, talk to them withtherapeutic, in a therapeutic
manner.
It's not part of our job.
It's basically what I'm gettingat.

(27:02):
Is that what Christopher issaying, Like we do not need to
accept that behavior and, infact, when people do those sorts
of things, like, we have theright to press charges on them
and and and we should in somecases, or in a lot of those
cases.
But I think we um as a facilityare getting really better about
documenting these cases Um andthen also with people like

(27:28):
myself who are in these likechampion roles.
Um are part of the subcommitteefor hospital wide um to educate
our nurses, our floor nurses,bring back the um to bring back
the um information and educationto to our staff, to empower
them.

Christopher (27:47):
Yeah,

Colby (27:47):
yeah,

Christopher (27:48):
100%.
And yeah, I don't want tocontinue on the tangent, but it
is important and I think thatthat tangent was important and
something that.

Colby (28:00):
yeah, we could do a whole episode on workplace violence
truthfully.

Christopher (28:03):
Well, I'll let you lead that one, because

Colby (28:06):
season three

Christopher (28:08):
season three.
Wait, you skipped season two,

Colby (28:13):
season two excuse me, I need that much time to get my
thoughts

Christopher (28:18):
okay, that's what it is.
Okay, got it.
So, um, okay, got it.
So one specialty that I'm likeactually excited about also is
the whole legal nurse consultingthing.

Colby (28:34):
Yeah that is a cool one.

Christopher (28:50):
I'm like it's so different.
So new, you are like chart.
And I do this a little bit interms of like when I review BE
SAFEs and when a patientcomplains and I get the patient
complaint.
You know I always diving into achart and trying to figure out,
at least in terms of chartingand why it's important to chart
specific things and the rightway, what the charts are saying,
because If you didn't chart it,you didn't do it Yep.

Colby (29:07):
That's a tale as old as time classic it is.

Christopher (29:09):
It is.
And so you know, if you'retaking anything away from this,
make sure you don't get beat upfor any.

Colby (29:18):
Protect yourself.

Christopher (29:19):
Protect yourself and make sure you're charting.
You know like that's that'simportant.
So legal nurse consulting kindof allows you to kind of dive
into that perspective in termsof, like looking at a chart and
seeing how that's going, andthen sometimes you'll actually
sit out sitting in court andlike testify

Colby (29:39):
yeah, and give like a professional opinion on
something.
I think it's cool because italso gives like your bird's eye
view, um, and also you'resomeone who's educated and a
specialist in the field, soyou're a nurse and you.
You are doing that type ofcharting in your own job, so
you're specialists in this fieldand you're giving your

(30:02):
professional opinion onsomething that you're removed.
You're like a you know, anoutside eye.
It's an interesting take yeahdefinitely cool.
It also pays very well.
In case anyone's wondering,it's not like a full time, like
I'm sure there's people outthere that do full time, um, but
I think there's a lot of casesthat like are like PRN or like

(30:24):
an as needed thing, like a lawoffice will utilize you, which
is pretty cool.

Christopher (30:29):
Yes, it's neat, our segment break this time, which
is a different one than the lasttime, is scrub hacks

Colby (30:36):
Scrub hacks.

Christopher (30:38):
So now it's time for scrub hacks.
In this segment, we'll sharequick tips, tricks and little
shortcuts that make life inscrubs a bit easier.
From time-saving tools to waysto stay organized during the
craziest shifts, these are thehacks that help keep us going.
Let's dive in and find a fewways to make your day run a

(30:59):
little smoother.

Colby (31:00):
All right, christopher.
What's your scrub hack today?

Christopher (31:03):
Well, so you know, I know, the first thing when I
was in nursing was like how inthe world do I give a report?

Colby (31:14):
That's a big one when you're starting out.

Christopher (31:16):
It's interesting because I've now worked on the
same unit that Colby's worked onand now I'm working on a
different unit.
The way that majority of peopleon the unit that Colby works
for gives report differentlythan those on mine and

Colby (31:41):
they're two different specialties,

Christopher (31:42):
right

Colby (31:43):
Do you think that's what plays a part in the difference?

Christopher (31:48):
I think, so I think also, and you can, I feel free
to disagree, I think.

Colby (31:55):
Oh boy, here we go.
I'm very passionate aboutreports, so wait for me to share
.

Christopher (32:00):
I also think.
Did I ever give you report?

Colby (32:06):
oh my God, if you did, it's been far too long for me.

Christopher (32:08):
OK, that's fair.
I think it's management styles.
You know, like my managerDefinitely has a she.
She came from ICU, ok, and so Ithink that Perspective she has
kind of makes us have more of adetailed, like full-body report

(32:36):
where I don't know in terms ofyour unit and like the
management style, because y'allbe giving report real quick.

Colby (32:48):
Oh yeah, I give report very quickly.
Yes, I give report quick anddirty.
I'm going to tell you what youneed to know, right, but go
ahead, you continue, and thenI'll.
And then I'll give my side ofthings on this one.
Ok, my own scrub hack.

Christopher (33:02):
So so my when I was given a report, I literally was
like I, yes, I, I can probablyregurgitate a good bit of
information in terms of whathappened on the shift, an
assessment of a patient, but Ilike to have it on paper, and so
I actually created a handoffpaper in terms of a report sheet

(33:28):
that included when my meds weredue.
I could circle the hours thatthey were due.
It has been adapted briefly,but which organ the patient
received their brief medicalhistory, HEENT all the way down,

(33:49):
you know, and also a placewhere any lines or drains, um,
and I had it, where I could putthree patients on one page, um,
and if you want to see it, youcan join our Patreon.
Yeah, NL101 office hours.

Colby (34:08):
Yep, so there's that, but you'll be able to download it
on there if you become a memberof our Patreon.

Christopher (34:14):
It's true

Colby (34:17):
Mm-hmm

Christopher (34:17):
But it really helped me to be.
If I needed to be succinct Icould be, and there was a little
you flipped it over.
It was like the updates portionwhere if I needed to update
anyone, I could just updatesomeone.
Yeah, um, but yeah, I, I'm moreof a.
I need to know, like do theyhave glasses?

(34:38):
Are they missing teeth?
How's their lung sound?
Because I think

Colby (34:43):
that's I mean No, those are important things.
I put those in mine.

Christopher (34:49):
I don't think we ever give a report to each other
because I'm like I don'tremember any time

Colby (34:56):
I mean, if I have it written down, I'll tell you my I
, I am I.
I would love to see our reportsheets on Patreon side by side.
Okay, like these are the twostyles.
I definitely think when you'regetting started and I think and
again, we've established, I'vebeen a nurse for 10 years, I'm
still using a report sheet whenI'm, if I do have an opportunity

(35:19):
to take patients on the floor,then I have a report sheet.
I am not one of those peoplewho, like, just have it all up
in the brain.
That scares me.
When someone comes up to me andthey're not holding a piece of
paper and they just starttalking about a patient, I'm
like everything you're saying isa lie, because you don't have
anything in front of you to tellyou.
This Lies, all of it.
I don't trust any of you.
I do have a report sheet, mineis more.

(35:45):
I don't want to know about yoursurgery, about the patient
surgery that they had 25 yearsago.

Christopher (35:50):
Okay, that's fair.

Colby (35:51):
I don't care about it.

Christopher (35:52):
That's fair, okay.

Colby (35:54):
I also feel like a lot of stuff that is given in report
which makes it lengthy is stuffthat I'm going to have to do on
my own assessment anyways.
So we're required to ask thepatient glasses, dentures,
hearing aids, where are they, doyou have them?
That we have to document thatevery shift anyways, so you can
share that with me when you'regetting report.
I might write it down, I mightpass it on to the next person,

(36:16):
but if you don't share it withme, I'm not going to be like, do
they have glasses?
Do they have dentures?
Are the dentures in their mouthor in the cup next to them?
Like I have to do all thatanyways when I'm going into the
room Because you could tell methey have dentures in their
mouth and I go in there andthere's no dentures in their
mouth.
So, like what you say, I'm likethat's cool, I'll take your
information.
I don't I'm not listing offevery allergy.

(36:41):
I say allergies yes or or no onmy paper.
I don't list off every piece ofthe past medical history, just
pertinent to what they're therefor.
So a lot of cardiology, I don'tcare necessarily that, um, I'm
trying to think of something.
Oh, I'm only thinking ofpertinent information.
Right now I'm like this is whatI wrote down on my papers today

(37:02):
hypertension, coronary arterydisease.
Like I'm like, I'll write downthat stuff like yeah they had
some like gyn surgery like twoyears ago, even if it like, even
if it was two weeks ago, if itwasn't, if it has no reason why
they're what they're doing rightnow, like why they're in the
hospital has nothing to do withit, and it it's like basically

(37:23):
like their gyn won't see themfor them for like another year,
like I don't care about it, thatdoes not matter to me, I do.
I basically do brief pastmedical history, only what
pertains to what we're dealingwith,

Christopher (37:37):
right,

Colby (37:37):
what they came in with, what the plan is, what we've
done so far, and then likesystems would like you know,
neuro, all that good stuff, andthen lines, and that's it I'm.
But I'm gonna, I'm gonna giveit to you quick

Christopher (37:53):
do you, do you have like a template?

Colby (37:56):
yeah, I don't, I, I write it physically on the piece of
paper, like

Christopher (37:59):
I remember you saying

Colby (38:00):
I, I will.
I get a blank piece of paper, Ifold it in half.
I can put four patients, two oneach side, and I write down
like I'll literally write downthe patient's name at the top
and then like who their team areattending is Full code status
allergies.
That's top left corner, on theright-hand side.
I'm doing past medical history,okay, so I'm not gonna we'll.

(38:21):
We'll put it on patreon so youcan see it, but I, I'm, I'm
gonna give it to you quick.
My scrub hack, though, istwofold.
So one is you need a reportsheet, two different color pens.
Okay, when you're taking report, have your one color and

(38:42):
throughout the day, or sometimebefore you give your next,
before you give handoff to thenext nurse, use the other color
to write in updates or thingsthat have changed.
So that way, if you're givingupdates to like the nurses
coming back and you don't needto go through that full report,
you can just say, hey, these arethe things that changed today.
That way you're not staring atyour paper trying to figure out

(39:03):
what's going on or givinganother full report because the
nurse that had them last night,they know all that stuff.
So, like, let's keep it movingthat.

Christopher (39:09):
That is the important part.
And yeah, I didn't think aboutthe.
I used to have that multi-colorpin.
I just

Colby (39:16):
yeah, those are like four top the clickers.
Yeah, highlighters,

Christopher (39:20):
I had more than four

Colby (39:22):
highlighters.
I mean I can I highlight stuffI'll have, like if I have the
same patient three shifts in arow.
I mean I've got all kinds ofcolors on my paper but I know
like red was today, green wasyesterday, blue was the day
before, that, like I.
I think color coordinating yourupdates it helps a lot to kind
of get the information,especially if you're passing the
same patient back and forth tothe same nurse.

(39:43):
But also like it just gives you, it just keeps it more
organized.
I mean I wish I had a reportsheet that I can show you.
It's so bad right now.

Christopher (39:55):
It's like here it is,

Colby (39:58):
yeah, my art project.
Yeah, but truly like we, it'slike common to say like, oh my
brain, let me get my brain,that's like what we call our
report sheets.
It truly is, because you can'tkeep all of that information in
your brain on four patients ormore, or, you know, even like
two critical, critically illpatients.

(40:18):
You can't keep all thatinformation in your brain.
Let's just.
It's not possible.
You've got to write it down.
So you psychopaths that are outthere but don't write anything
down, I'm scared for you.

Christopher (40:29):
So you know, I have asked somebody and their reason
is most pathophysiology is thesame if you know the patient
population.

Colby (40:42):
Yeah.

Christopher (40:43):
And so if you know the patient population and I, I
mean very much to your pointyou've been here for 10 years
I'm sure if somebody's comingfrom the cath lab you can
regurgitate anything that youneed to know from what's going
to come from, like

Colby (41:04):
it's pretty predictable,

Christopher (41:05):
yeah rough estimate , and so that was their caveat,
and the reason or a reason whythey don't actually write
anything down is because they'relike the pathophysiology just
doesn't change

Colby (41:21):
I don't know, though.
I mean there are a lot ofsimilar things, but I still
think that's wild.
I also, I did think, find itinteresting that you said you
think it might have something todo with manager style

Christopher (41:30):
I do

Colby (41:32):
I maybe for y'all.

Christopher (41:33):
Maybe,

Colby (41:34):
I don't think it's necessarily for us, though.
Because, we've had a wide range.
We've gone through somemanagers in my 10 years.

Christopher (41:46):
But I'm sorry, I'm going to interrupt just for one
second.
Yeah, that is correct, butbefore the merge, y'all had.
Y'all had one for a while no?

Colby (42:02):
Yeah, yeah, she was, yeah , the manager that we had before
our two units merged togetherand we shared a manager.
Yes, there was.
She had been there for more thanfive years, I think.

Christopher (42:17):
So I I think it was that manager that created the
culture in my opinion.
I'm like yes,

Colby (42:24):
I can, I could semi agree with this, but I'm gonna argue
to the point where the turnover,also on my floor, has changed
so much like maybe because thepeople who are precepting are
teaching.

Christopher (42:34):
I was going to say, yeah, but you still have a core
.

Colby (42:36):
Yeah, that's true.
The people who have precepted,have, are precepting, have been.
Yeah, I see what you're saying.
Maybe that's it.
Maybe that is it.

Christopher (42:44):
I'm not saying it's good or bad, I'm just just
saying, that's what I think.

Colby (42:50):
That's okay, that could be it.
You might have cracked the nuton that one.

Christopher (42:59):
No, I don't think I did.
I think I just pissed peopleoff.

Colby (43:05):
No, no, no, I don't think so at all.

Christopher (43:08):
Oh God, but it is just different ways of like the
same information is being saidReally and truly.
It just there might be lessbeing said in terms of your
report than my report.

Colby (43:20):
Yeah.

Christopher (43:20):
And my manager does say, you know like, she doesn't
care about the tooth extractionthey had in 2001 if they're
here for respiratory failure orlike you know, like it doesn't
it doesn't make any sense andthat's what she teaches also in

(43:40):
in clinicals when she she's likeI don't want to hear about that
yeah it's cool that they had it.

Colby (43:45):
Oh yeah someone starts listing off like 50 allergies, I
said oh no, no, no, no, no.
I just yes or no is fine withme and I'll take a look at my
own time.

Christopher (43:56):
Yeah, the only reason why I say this do you
actually pay attention to somethose?

Colby (43:59):
To allergies?

Christopher (44:00):
Yeah, yeah, how well do you?

Colby (44:01):
Oh, if the list is really long.
I actually will look because,I'm like, okay, what's going on?
Here, Like are these realallergies or are these like I
can't take that.
It gives me a headache andyou're like okay, that's not an
allergy.

Christopher (44:13):
My left toe itch.
Yeah, I got it.

Colby (44:15):
Or or um.
I can't take Lasix, which is adiuretic, because it made me pee
a lot.
You're like, no, that's thepoint of it, it's not an allergy
.
Oh goodness, someone needs alittle education on that
medication but like A littleeducational on that medication.
Yeah, like it's stuff like that.
Usually if the list is reallylong, there's some fake ones out

(44:37):
there.
So I'm like what's going on?

Christopher (44:39):
It's like, it's okay, you don't have to have
Lasix, We'll just give you Bumex.

Colby (44:42):
Yeah, Bumex is so much better, you'll pee even more.

Christopher (44:46):
Good luck.

Colby (44:47):
Metolazone.

Christopher (44:48):
Yeah, yeah.

Colby (44:56):
Diuril.

Christopher (44:56):
The only reason I say that is because, uh, within
the last couple of months,someone had a heparin allergy
and there was something thatthey were giving.
I can't remember at the presentmoment.

Colby (45:06):
But it had heparin in it.

Christopher (45:07):
It had heparin in it and it was like a legit
allergy like they had HIT yeah,um which, if you don't know what
HIT is um, is heparin inducedthrombocytopenia right, yes, you
nailed it oh man, butessentially it's just.

Colby (45:29):
No, essentially it's like your body's having allergic
reaction to heparin.
It's an abnormal or adversereaction to heparin.
Um

Christopher (45:37):
I can't remember what it was

Colby (45:38):
I think, okay, not that.
What I'm about to say is notthat these mistakes don't happen
in different style hospitals,but we also work in a teaching
hospital, and so when newpharmacy pharmacists are doing
their residency, we have newdoctors doing their residency.
I feel like it, we definitelyhave like an even bigger

(46:01):
responsibility to kind of doublecheck those things.
During certain times of theyear, meaning, like, when these
individuals are first startingtheir career and their first,
you know, learning how to be apharmacist or learning how to be
a doctor um, that's a there's amuch bigger margin for mistakes
to be made, and in that case,meds and that kind of stuff.

(46:23):
So it really the swiss cheesemodel that is commonly used.
Um, we're definitely like wecould be like hey, like this,
we're raising our hand at thisred flag here.
We're definitely one of thepeople that can stop, prevent
something from happening.

Christopher (46:41):
Yeah, and nurses have such an important role in
terms of just that.
It's like we are the last holethat a problem will go through.

Colby (46:56):
Yeah.

Christopher (46:56):
If we are not diligent enough to make sure we
shift our hole just out of theway to block this, you know
catastrophe from happening, thenyou know we missed it.
And going back to what we weresaying last week, these are
people's life and that's yourgrandmother, your grandfather,

(47:22):
your mother, your father thatcould also be having that issue
if that nurse is also notdiligent.

Colby (47:29):
Yep.

Christopher (47:30):
So, just stay diligent out there.

Colby (47:32):
That's why it's important to have a report sheet.
Get your brain organized.

Christopher (47:36):
Also true.
So yeah, I think that wraps upour scrub hacks.

Colby (47:42):
Yeah, that's it.

Christopher (47:44):
So you know, I think we have to go back to we
reminisce about what we've gonethrough so far.
So you've been here for 10years.
Can you tell me what you'regoing to do like next year, or
three years, or five years fromnow?
Yeah, do you want to go first,or I mean I can go first.

Colby (48:08):
Okay, you go first.

Christopher (48:09):
Okay, okay, here we go.

Colby (48:10):
Give me more time.

Christopher (48:10):
Yeah, that's fair.
Uh, so year one I, which is nextyear, I mean, honestly, I I
really want to do legal nurseconsulting.
I really want to.
I'm gonna add something more tomy plate.

Colby (48:26):
I was gonna say what are you gonna take off your plate to
make room for that?

Christopher (48:28):
I don't do that, okay.
I actually somebody asked meearlier.
They were like how do you haveall of this on your plate?
And I was like, well, reallyand truly, this is what it
happens.
It's.
It's like if, like, I'm liftingweights right, I can lift a
five pound weight pretty easily.
If I get to 10 pounds, it'sgoing to be a lot harder not

(48:53):
really all I'm good um than thefive pound weight.
Yeah, but if I keep using that10 pound weight, sooner or later
it's going to get lighter.
So I add a 15 pound weight.

Colby (49:04):
you've made this analogy up to to work and something that
you wanted to make this workand you're like it's like
lifting weights.

Christopher (49:11):
It is like lifting weights you're building muscles.
I'm just building my workingmuscle.

Colby (49:17):
Okay, this is not a healthy work-life balance for
all of our new grad listeners.

Christopher (49:26):
Well, we'll talk about that.

Colby (49:28):
We'll talk about work-life balance in the future.

Christopher (49:31):
But honestly Legal Nurse Consulting.
This podcast is

Colby (49:35):
Yeah.

Christopher (49:36):
It's something that I hope to continue at least
three years.
I would hope five years.
That that would be great, yeah,but you know, five years from
now, I hope to be in a differentplace than I am now so either
you follow me or we're gonnahave to figure out a remote way

(49:56):
to do this.

Colby (49:57):
Oh, we could definitely figure it out if needed, but I
feel like we just we're lockedin me and christopher, we are
just gonna follow each othereverywhere.

Christopher (50:10):
Also three years, I will probably be transitioning
away from the ANM position andprobably going back towards
bedside.
I don't know manifesting thismyself, hoping that it'll

(50:33):
actually happen, that I'll beable to like be somewhat of a
financial partner in the dripbar, at least the one here in
town.
And then, yeah, so I have thesehuge goals.

Colby (50:49):
You have way.
Okay, I should have gone first,because I'm going to be like
meh.

Christopher (50:51):
I have these huge goals.

Colby (50:52):
That's awesome.
Well, I just want to say I'mgoing to call back from last
week again.
It's okay for you to be alittle on the.
Yeah, after our wins and woes last week.

Christopher (51:04):
I want to say your woe was not a mistake on your
part, it was just a woe.

Colby (51:12):
I misinterpreted the assignment.

Christopher (51:14):
I was like dang it.
I look like a terrible nurseand Colby's over here advocating
for patients to get theircardiac MRIs on time.
That's not fair.
I already said mine I can'ttake it back.

Colby (51:31):
I misinterpreted the assignment.
I'll come up with a better onenext time.

Christopher (51:34):
That's okay, but but yeah, I think that huge mess
of one, three, five years, fiveyears.
I won't be here

Colby (51:44):
yeah

Christopher (51:45):
um, and I'll probably be back at bedside.

Colby (51:47):
Okay,

Christopher (51:48):
probably, I don't know.

Colby (51:50):
Yeah,

Christopher (51:55):
things can happen

Colby (51:56):
things can change and they so often do.
My 1, 3, 5 plan, okay.
So I'm like laughing in mybrain right now because I feel
like I I used to be really goodlike with career oriented goals
and I changed my mind so manytimes that I've kind of.
That's probably partially whythe reason I'm still doing what

(52:17):
I'm doing for as long as I havebeen, because I just keep
changing my mind.
So I think my one year goal, um, I don't have.
I know, in one year, if I'mlike picturing my one year, I'll
probably still be in what I'mdoing, but in the next, which
includes this podcast.
This is like a new fun endeavor,which is great.
Um, I think in three years Iwant to start looking.

(52:40):
I want to start looking for mynurse retirement job or I want
to be in it

Christopher (52:45):
oh dang,

Colby (52:46):
yeah,

Christopher (52:46):
I was not ready for that one.

Colby (52:47):
Yeah and I have I have some um ideas

Christopher (52:51):
okay

Colby (52:53):
cardiac rehab

Christopher (52:53):
I was like are you gonna explain?

Colby (52:55):
Yeah?
yeah, cardiac rehab, if you askme, is my future retirement job
it's just finding the right, theright position, uh, the right
job offer, where that will be,it's wherever Christopher will
be.
No, I'm kidding, I don't know,I could be also be anywhere.
Um, I always I'm.
I always say I'm not married tothe area that we live in, and I

(53:16):
have lived here for 10 years.
I left and came back, so Imight be reluctantly married to
the area that we live in.
But I am also completely opento moving.
I love traveling as we alreadydiscussed earlier.
I'm ready to get away from thebedside on some level.

Christopher (53:40):
You know I have a question.
Why haven't you thought aboutmanagement and the reason why I
literally said today I callColby for questions where I'm
like I should know this as amanager.
But let me call you and ask youwho do I call for dentistry and
who I need to transport them to?

Colby (54:01):
You don't need to know that.
For your job, you don't need toknow that.
It's helpful sure.
It would have made your day asmidge easier but that's why.
They couldn't pay me enough.

Christopher (54:12):
Okay.

Colby (54:13):
Yeah, I'm gonna start with that.
That's the main reason.
They couldn't pay me enough.
But truly to be seen by yourstaff as a good manager and to
be a good manager, in my opinion, is that's like no separation

(54:35):
of church and state, like thejob is your life, and I say this
to you all the time like youhave no work-life balance, I and
we've already established, whenI'm not at the hospital, I'm
not I mean, which is notcompletely true I do have
meetings and stuff that Iparticipate outside of yeah, out
, you know, outside of my like,core job, but it's, it's a.

(54:57):
I have a work-life balance, Ihave boundaries with it and I, I
I just couldn't be the managerI would want, or even the
assistant manager that I wouldwant, because I cannot commit
that much time to I think Iwould lose my mind.
I'm not built for it.
We talked a little bit lastepisode about my anxiety and

(55:18):
like my need to achieve and likebe a, you know, triple gold
star player and I just like Iknow that in order for me to
feel like I'm, I'm all of thosethings in that role would be too
like I would lose myself intothe, into the job.
So that's why I have not pursuedthat

Christopher (55:39):
okay,

Colby (55:40):
yeah,

Christopher (55:41):
what about like a clinical nurse leader or like a
nurse educating?

Colby (55:47):
Yeah

Christopher (55:47):
nurse education coordinator.

Colby (55:49):
To go back to school and I touched on this like for a
second and then the first in ourfirst podcast.
But because I graduated 10years ago, a lot of my
bachelor's credits are expired.
So in order to go on and getlike further, get another degree
, like in CNL or anything likethat, I would have to redo like
some basic credits and I'm justlike I just paid off my

(56:09):
bachelor's.
I'm not going to redo mybachelor's degree so I can get a
master's degree.

Christopher (56:15):
And actually this is a good point.
Why don't you utilize theorganization's money instead?

Colby (56:24):
Also.
It just like it seems liketorture.
I think I'm still also also thetrauma of nursing school.
I'm like I don't want to goback.

Christopher (56:30):
Well, I mean, you know that's different,

Colby (56:32):
but this is also my I say I like have have changed my
mind so many times and likeleading up to it, like I changed
my mind so many times so Icouldn't commit like to applying
and like following through onlike a program.
Because I was like when I firstgraduated I was like, okay, I
stumbled into cardiology, likethis isn't really what I wanted.
I think I want to be a pedsnurse.

(56:53):
And then I was like I've alwaysbeen passionate about, and then
I was like no, I couldn't do it.
Like very quickly realized likepeds wasn't for me, so okay.
So I've always been passionateabout women's health.
So I thought like MP midwiferyI was like all over the place
and so that was like, oh well,now I've been in cardiology for
three years, like maybe I needto consider just like staying

(57:15):
with that.
And then three years turnedinto four and then so on and so
on.
But I'm also recently I say inthe last year I've become
interested in like legislationaround nursing and that sort of
stuff.

Christopher (57:27):
What's that organization that?

Colby (57:29):
Nursing in STEM.

Christopher (57:30):
Yeah.

Colby (57:31):
Yeah, yeah.
So in an old facility that Iworked at back where where I
grew up, there were nurses thatwere working on the nursing and
STEM coalition and trying to getSTEM nursing recognized as a
STEM like occupation in the USso that more grants and
scholarships to people to go toschool, we can get international

(57:51):
nurses on longer visas, likethat kind of stuff, we can get
international nurses on longervisas, like that kind of stuff.
And I just was like soenthralled in it when they were
like trying to get people tosign the petition to be
presented at Congress.

Christopher (58:04):
Let me tell you, she sent me an email.

Colby (58:07):
Oh, I sent yeah.

Christopher (58:11):
I mean it was an extensive email.

Colby (58:12):
I sent the email to the CNO of our facility to the
nursing school director.

Christopher (58:19):
The dean?

Colby (58:20):
The dean, yeah, sorry excuse me, the dean.
I sent it to the dean.
Everybody, I talked about it atour huddles.
I sent it to our nursingdirector.
I just went wild.
I was so passionate about it.

Christopher (58:32):
Did you get anything back?

Colby (58:34):
No

Christopher (58:35):
oh, that's so sad,

Colby (58:36):
I know.
I kind of dropped the ball on,like following up on where
they're at with that, but Ishould, I was really.
I was really.

Christopher (58:43):
You were.

Colby (58:43):
I was totally passionate about it for like a whole month
and then I kind of forgot.
And this is what happens to me.
I like, I get sidetracked.
But honestly I would love toget more involved in that.

Christopher (58:54):
Yeah.

Colby (58:55):
So in the next three years, maybe exploring like
getting more involved withlegislation around nursing?

Christopher (59:02):
Okay, hey, I mean more power to you

Colby (59:05):
or five years, let's go with five years.
That's my five-year goal,

Christopher (59:08):
dang it.
That was like three years.
We could definitely get that.

Colby (59:11):
I would love to go okay, the ideal life.
I would love to go okay, theideal life, because I feel like,
even though when I say, like mynurse, retirement job and
cardiac rehab, like I won't bestimulated enough

Christopher (59:21):
no, you won't

Colby (59:22):
so I would love to also just like be a prn princess and
work like one shift here thereon the floor,

Christopher (59:29):
not the prn princess

Colby (59:33):
work one shift on the floor cardiac rehab, part-time,
loosey-goosey hours and then,like I don't know, do something
like legislation, do something,it's like a passion project yeah
that I could also get paid for.
Possibly we'll see, I don't knowthat.
I just need to start likereally flexing my ivs, my iv

(59:53):
skills and start working at thedrip bar.

Christopher (59:58):
Just come to the drip bar, I'm sure we could hire
you.
It's just a teaching process.
You'll be fine.
A couple of people you'll miss,and that's okay,

Colby (01:00:08):
can't hit them all.

Christopher (01:00:13):
Oh, wow.
So yeah, I think I thinkoverall, overall, like having a
good at least when we start.
Well, when I started at the,the health organization that we,
we work for they, they sit youdown, at least in my first year,
and they were like this is likethe five-year plan First year,

(01:00:38):
you know, get yourselfnormalized Because we're a
magnet hospital, we have to havea certain percentage of
bachelor degree or higher nurses.
So you know, in that five-yearplan was also get your, get your

(01:00:58):
bachelor's degree, you know, byby five year five because we
signed a contract to do so and Ithink it.
But I think that is the reasonwhy, like I ask people, I'm like
, yeah, I know what I'm doingfive years, what are you doing?
you know like I I think it'sgood to have those goals, and

(01:01:20):
it's good to have those goalseven while you're in nursing
school

Colby (01:01:23):
yeah

Christopher (01:01:23):
and if you want to share those goals and want to be
like, hey, just cheer me on.
You know, check in.
Like we're definitely gonna dothat, like we see each and every
one of you as our littlebrothers and sisters.
Um, and you know, likeencouraging you through these

(01:01:50):
trauma classes and thesetraumatic experiences of passing
out when you're going to go toclinicals, forgetting to do
something like PCA skills, thatyou won't be doing that while
you're in nursing school.
But you know, like these thingsare traumatic enough and we're

(01:02:13):
trying to just be that supportsystem to help you get through
and continue to push through andshow you in a real perspective
that someone that's been herefor 10 years and someone who's
been here for five years had twodifferent startups and are
still in two different.
Uh lanes, yeah and we're stillat it,

Colby (01:02:33):
yeah and if you're a listener with you know,
experience and you're not a newgrad, you're.
a you're kindred spirit with mewho's having a little bit of
trouble of commitment of goals?
Let me know, maybe we could doeach other, find a path together

Christopher (01:02:51):
oh, that would be great
Oh boy, well, I think that's it.

Colby (01:02:58):
That wraps it up for the day, yeah.

Christopher (01:03:00):
So class dismissed.
That wraps up for today'ssession of Nursing Lyfe 101.
We hope you found some usefultakeaways to bring back to the
floor.
Remember, nursing is a lifelonglearning journey and we're here
with you.
If you want to connect, find uson.

Colby (01:03:15):
Find us on twitter @ nurse lyfe that's life with a y
l y f e 101.
Or on facebook at nurse lifenursing lyfe 101.
Excuse me, and don't forget tosubscribe and share with fellow
nurses until next time.
Take care of yourselves andkeep making a difference out
there.
Peace peace.