December 10, 2024 • 28 mins
In this episode, we explore how gratitude can be a powerful tool to shift your mindset, enhance resilience, and bring joy to your nursing career—even in the face of challenges. As we enter the holiday season, it's important to reflect on what we’re thankful for and practice gratitude daily. Drawing inspiration from renowned thought leaders like Mel Robbins and Gretchen Rubin, we’ll unpack the science of gratitude and how it rewires the brain to combat stress, improve mood, and reduce burnout.
Join me as I share practical strategies for incorporating gratitude into your workday, the connection between gratitude and resilience, and how these practices can help manage compassion fatigue and reignite your passion for nursing. Whether you’re at the bedside, in leadership, or navigating the “hospital grind,” this episode will equip you with tools to balance the good and the hard, stay grounded, and build a career filled with purpose and joy.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
- The Science of Gratitude:
- How gratitude activates the brain's reward system to release dopamine and serotonin.
- Why practicing gratitude can reduce stress and improve your mood.
- Practical Gratitude Tips for Nurses:
- Easy ways to incorporate gratitude into your day, such as journaling before a shift or leading team huddles with gratitude reflections.
- Examples of how gratitude can help you set a positive tone for your day and navigate workplace challenges.
- Gratitude and Resilience:
- How gratitude helps nurses bounce back from setbacks and enhances emotional resilience.
- The role of gratitude in overcoming compassion fatigue and burnout.
- Inspiration from Thought Leaders:
- Insights from Mel Robbins’ Let Them Theory and Gretchen Rubin’s The Four Tendencies.
- How these frameworks can help you focus on what matters and create balance in your career.
- Faith and Gratitude:
- A reflection on how faith supports a mindset of abundance and resilience, reminding us that “we have enough and we are enough.”
Resources Mentioned in the Episode:
- The Happiness Project and The Four Tendencies by Gretchen Rubin
- Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins
Actionable Steps for Nurses:
- Start each day by writing down three things you’re grateful for before your shift.
- Lead your team with gratitude moments during huddles or meetings.
- Reflect on your career and identify areas of passion that fuel your joy.
Connect with Me:
- Join my email list for resources, tools, and tips to grow your nursing career: The Ambitious Nurse Insider
- Join My Free Community Career Growth For Experienced Nurses.
Tune in to learn how to embrace gratitude, overcome challenges, and reignite your passion for nursing!
Want to continue the conversation? Send me a text right here.
Ready to take the next step in your nursing career with confidence?
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Grab your free guide today! Click Here
Join me for a **1:1 Nurse Career Clarity Coaching Call**—a 1:1 coaching session where we’ll get you unstuck and find clarity to make the next move in your career.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Bonnie Meadows (00:01):
One of the pillars of my business and of
this podcast.
Is two.
Make sure that you keep is fromme to help lead you and keeping
joy in work top of mind.
Help you understand that havingjoy in work is possible, but
(00:21):
there are some things that wehave to do on our end.
To make sure that we accomplishthat.
There's a mindset that you haveto shift into.
To find that joy in work, eventhough you may not think that
you have joy in work.
Sometimes we don't realize thatwe're in a good place.
(00:43):
But others around us may notfeel like they're in a good
place.
And it's okay to be in a goodplace, even when others don't
feel like they're in a goodplace.
At this point in time, we areentering into the holidays and.
It's important for us to.
Really understand and reflect onwhat we're thankful for our
(01:06):
gratitude.
This is a season of givingnurses give all the time.
It's important for us.
To really, really grab a holdof.
What are, what are we grabbing ahold of and being thankful for
and grateful for as we aregiving, even during this time,
(01:27):
we give all your long as we'regiving, even during this time.
So look forward to engaging withyou in this episode.
Are you feeling stuck in yourcurrent clinical environment?
Do you want to make a change inyour nursing career but not sure
what to do next?
Exhausted, burnt out, and maybeeven ready for different
(01:49):
leadership?
I'm Bonnie Meadows, a BoardCertified Nurse.
Clinical Nurse Specialist,Influential Leader, Career
Coach, and Well Being Coach.
Being in the nursing andhealthcare profession since
2004, I have felt stuck andunsure about what was next for
me.
I wanted to be fulfilled in mypurpose, to have a voice at the
(02:10):
table.
And to be a resource for others,I kept telling myself I wanted
more, but didn't have thedirection I needed until I found
clarity and career growthstrategies for experienced
nurses like me.
In this podcast, you will find.
Simple tactical steps that allowyou to gain the clarity you
(02:31):
need, solutions for how to groweven without supportive
leadership, and guidelines forsetting boundaries at work so
that you can grow purposefullyin your career as a nurse with a
graduate degree who makes a hugeimpact in the profession.
So get ready to trade yourscrubs for yoga pants.
Pop in those earbuds and let'schat.
(02:54):
Nursing is one of the most rewarding
professions.
But it's also one of the mostchallenging.
Working longer than 12 hourshifts.
Especially if you work nightshift, sometimes not knowing how
you got home.
Patient mental and physicalcomplexities, family dynamics.
Endless technology notificationsand phone calls.
(03:16):
And sometimes.
Limited resources, finding joycan be impossible and that.
Whether you are working at thebedside.
Or in a leadership positionwithin the hospital.
Leadership, meaning you could bea nurse educator, you could be a
nurse practitioner.
(03:36):
You could be.
ACR and you could be, in nursinginformatics, you could be, and,
and working in that hospitalgrind is what I call it.
It is sometimes a grind.
Sometimes it's a great energy.
Sometimes it's a grind andfinding joy can sometimes feel
very impossible.
But today.
(03:57):
I want to talk about gratitude.
And how we find that gratitude?
Even in the little things we doon a day to day basis.
So gratitude is not aboutignoring the heart stuff because
the first thing we think aboutis, oh, here we go.
Sometimes we may feel like ourleaders are using this as a
(04:20):
manipulative tactic.
Depending on who it's comingfrom, how it's coming across.
I know I'm one of those people.
I mean, I've been in the gamefor 20 years, so I'm always
reading everyone's people'sintention when they say words
like resilience and gratitudeand.
All of these other things.
(04:42):
Some are very intentional.
About.
Making sure we understand thatwe can look at and say, we're
grateful for this, but thisthing is hard.
Gratitude is not about ignoringthe hard stuff, it's about.
Shifting our focus to what isgood, even in the midst of
challenges.
(05:02):
There are a few Arthur'spodcasters.
They're big names that I willmention in this podcast today.
They are people who I listenedto frequently and they are
realistic about the importanceof setting boundaries.
Much of what they talk about.
Helps you find.
(05:23):
The joy, the happiness, thepeace.
That is out there.
But we're overlooking on a dailybasis.
It's a choice.
It's a choice that we're taking.
And so one I would like tomention is Mel Robbins.
I've been listening to her a lotlately.
She is phenomenal.
Love listening to her.
(05:43):
She's got a couple of books out.
Her most recent one is the letthem theory.
I am looking forward to buyingthat book and then hopefully.
Doing a review of the chapterson this particular podcast,
because.
I have heard from many nursesthe whole, they won't let me.
(06:04):
It's either they won't let me orthis, or that, or whatever the
case may be.
I think it's important to readthrough that book and articulate
how you can get your power backfrom, they.
Back to Mel Robbins, she saysgratitude is not just an
emotion.
It's a practice that rewiresyour brain.
(06:26):
The goal is not to rewire yourbrain just so that you don't
think about bad things or thehard stuff.
But you're holding both.
This is the good stuff, and thisis the hard stuff.
If we only focus on the hardstuff.
We end up in a spiral downwardand can't bring ourselves back
(06:47):
up but if we hold both truthsI'm grateful for this, but this
thing is.
I don't like it.
It's hard.
Whatever the case may be, orit's not, it's not bringing me
peace or.
I'm uncomfortable or I'm bored.
Those two can be true at thesame time.
So in this episode, I want toexplore the science behind
(07:09):
gratitude.
I'll share where I am withgratitude and how I am
practicing it every day.
My rhythm for practicinggratitude.
And, try to leave you with sometools and tactics to help bring
more gratitude into your life.
Even on the worst days on yourhardest days.
(07:31):
So let's talk about the scienceof gratitude.
Gretchen Rubin.
Is one of the, persons that Ifollow.
Let me give you the name oftheir books just in case you've
not heard of them.
Gretchen Rubin has, a bookcalled the happiness project.
Gretchen Rubin also has someleadership development.
Tools, one thing that she has iscalled.
(07:55):
The four tendencies.
This book is phenomenal.
Itchy even has a quiz that goeswith it.
That helps you understand whoyou are in relation to other
teammates and people that youlead.
The four tendencies that shecalls out.
These are just phenomenalpeople.
And I think you should look intothem.
(08:15):
Maybe this is another book we'lldo next year, what I'm looking
forward to is just bringing outsome books.
That we can apply to our careerdevelopment, because it's not
just, how do I get my next job?
But what skills are you takingfrom that job?
How are you building up thoseskills, how you recognize in
those skills and then how do youwork?
(08:37):
Together with others.
Gretchen Rubin has this bookcalled the four tendencies.
And the four tendencies shementions and I'm hoping I'm not
forgetting.
It's.
The upholder.
The questioner.
The rebel.
And the obliger.
(08:57):
It's a quiz and I will try mybest.
I send the links out to myambitious nurse insiders, my
email newsletter group if youwould like, the link to the
fortune you could either Googleit yourself or get it by way of
email.
I send out my emails on a weeklybasis within the month of
(09:17):
December, And so back to thescience of gratitude.
Gretchen Rubin says that.
When we give thanks foreverything we have, we can focus
on what we have instead of whatwe don't.
So gratitude really activatesthe brain's reward system.
It releases dopamine andserotonin.
(09:40):
Which helped to then improveyour mood and reduce your
stress.
So I would say.
One way that you can apply this.
On how gratitude can impact yourbrain.
If one of the things that itdoes is to activate your reward
system or lucid releasing,improving your mood and reducing
your stress.
(10:01):
One of the main things thatnurses deal with.
On a daily basis is going intowork and feeling high stress.
That's an opportunity for.
You either before work.
You're starting your day.
Before you either walk intowork, it's sitting in your car.
Or get to work a few minutesearly and write the three things
(10:26):
that you're grateful for.
Being there.
3, 3, 3 things that you'regrateful for.
That's an opportunity to do it.
There's an opportunity for youto lead during huddles.
Before you start your shiftbefore you start your day.
If you are someone who works onprojects and you're working five
days a week.
It's a time for you to stop.
(10:48):
And set your expectations forthe day I'm thankful for this.
And a team that I like to workwith I'm thankful for.
The person who smiled at me theother day and I'm thankful for a
good laugh.
Just small things like that,that you can write.
Before you start your shift.
To help get you in a mindset ofbeing present and.
(11:12):
Helping to reduce your stress.
That way you can, combat many ofthose negative thoughts that you
may have going into your shift.
Another thing about the scienceof gratitude.
Is the connection to resilience.
Studies show that practicinggratitude can enhance
resilience.
Making it easier to bounce backfrom setbacks.
(11:33):
We have a lot of setbacks duringthe daytime.
Some days we have great days.
And then there are some weekswhere it's just like, can I get
this week over with.
We need to know how to build upthat resistance, not so much so
that we are.
Hardcore, but that gratitudehelps to make that emotional
connection.
(11:54):
Bernay brown.
Someone else who I love too.
Read and talk about.
Says, practicing gratitude ishow we acknowledge that there's
enough.
And that we are enough.
There is enough.
And we are enough.
Now sometimes that's not alwaysthe reality.
(12:16):
But I will say this.
If you are a follower of Christ.
Then in whatever situation youare in, there is enough.
That belief is there.
I don't say that as if, oh,well, those who don't are not a
follower of Christ, they don'thave that.
Like, you don't have enough.
That's not necessarily true.
(12:36):
God loves all of us.
And he always wants us to haveenough, but we.
As followers of Christ, know.
We've been given that word.
To say.
Because of Christ.
We have enough.
And we are enough.
All of a sudden God loves all ofus.
He's not gonna want anybody lefthanging if you don't believe
(12:58):
that you are enough, that.
That you have enough N.
And you're not relying upon yourfaith to help feed in that extra
that you don't feel like you cangive yourself.
Then it can feel like a downwardspiral.
There has to be.
An element of faith there.
Even when we're practicinggratitude.
(13:20):
Which helps us to enhance ourresilience.
There is enough.
We have enough now, sometimesagain, you don't feel like, oh,
we don't have enough resources.
We don't have enough.
This, we don't have enough debt.
What do you have?
How can you use what you dohave.
To make the best out of thesituation and let God take care
(13:40):
of the rest.
And that's how you make thatconnection.
That's one thing that you cando.
And again, that practice ofgratitude.
That's taking a break.
Possibly in your day when you'restressed and you're like, I
can't do this because this,this, this, and this.
Then take a step back and say,what do I have?
(14:02):
I actually have a good examplefor this.
Mainly for those home.
Are trying to get a name forthemselves in a leadership
position.
Um, Or just trying to.
Work to build your skills up.
I was in a conversation with.
(14:22):
A manager who was very much amicromanager.
I was warned about her.
And I found out the wrath ofher.
She was an interim manager andkept asking me.
So, what is your role again?
What are you supposed to bedoing?
I was working as a clinicalnurse specialist at the time.
And so then she tells me, well,the VP says, here's what she
(14:43):
wants to do.
I said, okay, that's fine.
But.
As we're having thatconversation, I would like for
the director to be at the table,because the director was in the
conversation.
Of hiring me.
So I've no one else knows whatthe intention was for me to do.
She should know.
(15:05):
So we get in the conversation.
We sit down at the table and theconversation is nothing.
Of what she said.
Does she want it to talk aboutthe conversation was all about.
What I am not doing.
I was blindsided.
Now was I coming out of thatconversation like, well, I'm
grateful for, and I'm going topray.
(15:26):
I'm thankful for.
Here's one thing that I did.
And I guess this is a result ofjust kind of.
Being in the career long enough.
This was my second rodeo dealingwith a micromanager in my, in my
20 years.
Micromanager, who was.
(15:46):
A bully.
Leader bully.
Again, I'd been warned abouther, that she was a bully.
I walked away from thatconversation and here's how my
resilience kicked in.
I was told, I don't want to tellyou.
I despise.
If you want to get rid of me,start micromanaging me.
I'm gone.
I am gone because I know myskills are way too valuable.
(16:09):
For you to be dictating all ofthe work that I do.
I don't mind followingdirections.
I don't mind being a teamplayer.
Tell me what you want me to do.
And I will walk in thatdirection.
But you can't.
Not every.
Single step of everything that Ido I don't appreciate.
So I walked away from thatconversation.
(16:31):
And I probably did something ofan act of connection to
resilience.
Because then I started thinkingabout all of the things that she
listed, that she wanted me todo.
We're really just, okay, well,this is what you want me to do.
To say that I'm doing a goodjob, those things that I'm
passionate about, didn't touch.
(16:54):
She didn't say, oh, you can't dothis anymore.
You can't do that anymore.
And that's where my mind turned.
And that's what practicinggratitude.
And really understanding.
Who you are, what you desire,what you want out of life.
I was thankful, honestly, thatshe didn't even touch any of
(17:15):
that.
Because that's where my passionwas.
All of the things that she hasmentioned.
In other conversations with me,she didn't even touch and those
were my areas of passion.
And so I walked away from thatconversation.
Thankful resilient.
And knowing what I could do.
(17:36):
Okay.
You want to limit me to justthese things?
Gotcha.
Now you best believe I was gonewithin a month.
But that's that connection toresilience.
It's really understanding it'sbouncing back.
Like that was a setback.
It was a blow because I wasblindsided.
(17:56):
But my resilience to that wasoh, okay.
This is what you want me to do.
I'm going to give you exactlywhat you want.
And then we'll go into thisother stuff over here, too.
So with gratitude.
Gratitude helps us as nursesmanage compassion, fatigue.
And burnout by reminding us ofour positive aspects of work.
(18:19):
Those things really make adifference.
In the way we care for ourpatients.
The energy that we bring intothe room of our patients.
The patients can tell if youwant to be there, if you don't
want to be there, unless you arereally good at faking it.
But that compassion, fatigue andthat burnout can really show.
(18:39):
So you're not doing any favorsto any patients or any family
members.
When you have that compassion,fatigue, and you have that
burnout.
And you're not really positiveabout your work.
And so when we say things ofgratitude and focus on
gratitude.
It helps us.
To really connect.
(19:01):
With patients and families andwith our coworkers too.
It helps you to acknowledge yourlimitations.
And be okay with them.
Those limitations.
Help you to choose.
What you will and will not doregarding your career.
And that's what gratitude doesfor you.
Normally, I try to have apersonal story.
(19:22):
I just gave you one of how I usegratitude.
But as far as a practice, Idon't really have a personal
story of, oh, I did gratitudefor like 20 days.
I've been doing good.
Writing three things that I'mgrateful for, here's how it
worked for me.
I don't really have a story likethat, but I am actively working
(19:42):
on this activity.
I am one of those people who isgenerally optimistic it takes a
lot for me to spiral.
So in general, cup, half full.
Now, do I see wrong?
I'm always just looking for adifferent way to influence.
That's probably why I'm veryoptimistic.
That I can.
(20:03):
Help persuade and influence.
You to do the right thing.
Not by my own.
But.
I know that God has given me.
The gift.
To help persuade.
And influence.
One nurse called it.
You got a lot of power.
I don't call it power.
I don't see it as power.
(20:24):
I call it influence because I'mvery intentional.
About.
People and them.
Being their best selves.
I tend to be thankful.
Very forward-thinking and to me,gratitude activities.
Our EI either present activity.
(20:45):
Or it's more of a reflectiveactivity.
And I don't do a good job ofreflecting.
I make a plan and then I move onto the next thing.
I've recognized that within me,probably within the last six
months, and I have been workingon intentionally.
We're reflecting.
So right now, currently on adaily basis.
(21:09):
I write three things that I'mthankful for.
And I try to go deeper than, oh,I'm thankful that they're
sunshine today, which you couldbe thankful for depending on
where you live.
But I live in North Carolina.
So there's more than likely I'mgoing to have some sunshine.
Now am I thankful that I can seethe sunshine today?
Absolutely.
So it's a very present.
(21:30):
And reflective activity.
I'm trying to work on that alittle bit more to increase my
presence and crease beingpresent.
And.
To not.
Just do a thing and move on.
But really understand thesignificance of what I've just
done, what I've justaccomplished.
Be in that and then moveforward.
(21:54):
Here's some practices that youcan do.
As busy nurses as we are.
And you can do these even withinyour workplace.
You can do these for developingyour home.
Into an atmosphere of peace andhappiness and gratitude.
You could do it.
If there's something personalthat you want to work on.
(22:16):
To cultivate a little bit moregratitude you can do this.
One is to.
Journal on a daily basis andwrite.
Two to three things that you'regrateful for.
Maybe even at the end of yourWorkday.
So I talked about how it'simportant to do it at the
beginning.
To help reduce that stress.
(22:37):
But even at the end of yourWorkday to debrief.
Just a little bit.
Sometimes we have some bad days.
Those might be the best days towork on it.
Or some days skip it.
Because you're just trying toprocess what happened that day.
Most days are just run of themill.
And so it's important.
(22:58):
To not just be walking throughlife and not noticing.
What's going on with your lifeand that gratitude practice at
the end.
Of your day or at the end ofyour shift.
Is important.
To help you to notice what'sgoing on with your life and work
life.
Gretchen Rubin says the days arelong, but the years are short.
(23:21):
Writing down what you'rethankful for helps you capture.
Those fleeting moments.
You can do gratitude rounds,many, of us as teams.
We are usually huddling on adaily basis on a weekly basis.
And so it's just a goodopportunity to share one thing
with your colleagues you don'thave to do this formally.
(23:42):
You can do this as a group ofnurses who might be part of the
sunshine committee.
The social committee or taggedwith wellbeing for your group.
That's one thing that you can doto help positive, to help.
Foster a positive team culture.
You can have gratitude andpatients' care.
(24:03):
Sometimes our patients, are.
Tough.
And they press through.
We can take a moment toappreciate their resilience,
their progress, honestly, evento cause a lot of times they're,
they're either tough or eitherthey are struggling mentally if
you have a patient who isstruggling and you're trying to
(24:25):
encourage them, that's a goodmoment to think of like, what
are three things we're gratefulfor?
What are one or two things we'regrateful for or.
Sometimes they don't know theprogress that they're making.
Here's some that tell themhere's some things that you can
be grateful for.
You've made progress with this.
They don't know where theyshould be sometimes we don't
communicate well on where theyshould be on the spectrum of
(24:50):
their healing process.
So, this is a good opportunityfor us to communicate to them.
Here's how you're doing.
Everybody wants to know howthey're making progress even if
it's something small, make it apractice to say, here's how
you're making progress.
Here's what I see in you.
Sometimes we can say that to ourteammates, that we're working
(25:11):
with.
Here's what I see in you today.
And I'm proud of you.
Mel Robbins also suggeststarting your day with five
minutes of a gratitudereflection.
What if you woke up every dayand said, I'm grateful for this
day and I'm going to make itcount.
The other thing you can do iscreate a gratitude board.
In your break room.
(25:34):
On your screen saver, maybe.
To remind you of what you'regrateful for.
During tough moments.
In closing.
Just remember gratitude is morethan a feeling.
It's a practice to transformyour mindset and help you find
joy.
Even during the hardest times.
Remember that Bernay brown saysgratitude, invites joy into our
(25:58):
lives.
It's not joy that makes usgrateful.
It's gratitude that makes usjoyful.
So if you're wanting more joy inyour life, start with gratitude
practices.
In this season of giving, I wantto challenge you to try at least
one gratitude practice that Imentioned.
Whether it's journaling Sharon,a moment of thanks with a
(26:18):
colleague.
Or just reflecting on the impactthat you're making.
You just need to do one thing.
Just one.
As I end this podcast, I will betaking a break for the rest of
20, 24.
And I will be back with you.
In January.
And I'm so excited about that.
(26:39):
I'm so excited about being ableto take this time.
To reflect on the podcast andsee what I want to do
differently.
If you have any ideas, feel freeto drop me an email.
If you want more interviews, ifyou want book reviews of theirs.
A certain subject that you wantme to cover please feel free to
send me an email and let meknow.
(27:00):
I am more than willing to helpyou walk through that process
or.
Give you more information aboutit.
I'm grateful for each of you wholistens, learns and grows with
me here on the ambitious nursepodcast.
Your dedication to your careersand your patients inspire me.
All the time.
And I am grateful for theopportunity.
(27:23):
To lead you in growing yourcareer.
If this episode resonated withyou, share it with a fellow
nurse and let them know you'rethankful for their impact in
nursing.
Don't forget to subscribe formore career strategies and
inspiration, and I'll see you in2025.
(27:45):
I hope you enjoyed today'sepisode.
If so, would you take 30 secondsand share it with another nurse
who may be unsure of where to gonext in their career or maybe
need some career clarity?
Also, please leave a quickreview for the show on Apple
podcast.
It brings me so much joy and somuch encouragement to know this
(28:06):
podcast is helping you.
Now go get the career you wantand not the one you settle for.
And I'll meet you back here nextThursday for another episode.
See you soon!
One of the pillars of my business and of
this podcast.
Is two.
Make sure that you keep is fromme to help lead you and keeping
joy in work top of mind.
Help you understand that havingjoy in work is possible, but
(00:21):
there are some things that wehave to do on our end.
To make sure that we accomplishthat.
There's a mindset that you haveto shift into.
To find that joy in work, eventhough you may not think that
you have joy in work.
Sometimes we don't realize thatwe're in a good place.
(00:43):
But others around us may notfeel like they're in a good
place.
And it's okay to be in a goodplace, even when others don't
feel like they're in a goodplace.
At this point in time, we areentering into the holidays and.
It's important for us to.
Really understand and reflect onwhat we're thankful for our
(01:06):
gratitude.
This is a season of givingnurses give all the time.
It's important for us.
To really, really grab a holdof.
What are, what are we grabbing ahold of and being thankful for
and grateful for as we aregiving, even during this time,
(01:27):
we give all your long as we'regiving, even during this time.
So look forward to engaging withyou in this episode.
Are you feeling stuck in yourcurrent clinical environment?
Do you want to make a change inyour nursing career but not sure
what to do next?
Exhausted, burnt out, and maybeeven ready for different
(01:49):
leadership?
I'm Bonnie Meadows, a BoardCertified Nurse.
Clinical Nurse Specialist,Influential Leader, Career
Coach, and Well Being Coach.
Being in the nursing andhealthcare profession since
2004, I have felt stuck andunsure about what was next for
me.
I wanted to be fulfilled in mypurpose, to have a voice at the
(02:10):
table.
And to be a resource for others,I kept telling myself I wanted
more, but didn't have thedirection I needed until I found
clarity and career growthstrategies for experienced
nurses like me.
In this podcast, you will find.
Simple tactical steps that allowyou to gain the clarity you
(02:31):
need, solutions for how to groweven without supportive
leadership, and guidelines forsetting boundaries at work so
that you can grow purposefullyin your career as a nurse with a
graduate degree who makes a hugeimpact in the profession.
So get ready to trade yourscrubs for yoga pants.
Pop in those earbuds and let'schat.
(02:54):
Nursing is one of the most rewarding
professions.
But it's also one of the mostchallenging.
Working longer than 12 hourshifts.
Especially if you work nightshift, sometimes not knowing how
you got home.
Patient mental and physicalcomplexities, family dynamics.
Endless technology notificationsand phone calls.
(03:16):
And sometimes.
Limited resources, finding joycan be impossible and that.
Whether you are working at thebedside.
Or in a leadership positionwithin the hospital.
Leadership, meaning you could bea nurse educator, you could be a
nurse practitioner.
(03:36):
You could be.
ACR and you could be, in nursinginformatics, you could be, and,
and working in that hospitalgrind is what I call it.
It is sometimes a grind.
Sometimes it's a great energy.
Sometimes it's a grind andfinding joy can sometimes feel
very impossible.
But today.
(03:57):
I want to talk about gratitude.
And how we find that gratitude?
Even in the little things we doon a day to day basis.
So gratitude is not aboutignoring the heart stuff because
the first thing we think aboutis, oh, here we go.
Sometimes we may feel like ourleaders are using this as a
(04:20):
manipulative tactic.
Depending on who it's comingfrom, how it's coming across.
I know I'm one of those people.
I mean, I've been in the gamefor 20 years, so I'm always
reading everyone's people'sintention when they say words
like resilience and gratitudeand.
All of these other things.
(04:42):
Some are very intentional.
About.
Making sure we understand thatwe can look at and say, we're
grateful for this, but thisthing is hard.
Gratitude is not about ignoringthe hard stuff, it's about.
Shifting our focus to what isgood, even in the midst of
challenges.
(05:02):
There are a few Arthur'spodcasters.
They're big names that I willmention in this podcast today.
They are people who I listenedto frequently and they are
realistic about the importanceof setting boundaries.
Much of what they talk about.
Helps you find.
(05:23):
The joy, the happiness, thepeace.
That is out there.
But we're overlooking on a dailybasis.
It's a choice.
It's a choice that we're taking.
And so one I would like tomention is Mel Robbins.
I've been listening to her a lotlately.
She is phenomenal.
Love listening to her.
(05:43):
She's got a couple of books out.
Her most recent one is the letthem theory.
I am looking forward to buyingthat book and then hopefully.
Doing a review of the chapterson this particular podcast,
because.
I have heard from many nursesthe whole, they won't let me.
(06:04):
It's either they won't let me orthis, or that, or whatever the
case may be.
I think it's important to readthrough that book and articulate
how you can get your power backfrom, they.
Back to Mel Robbins, she saysgratitude is not just an
emotion.
It's a practice that rewiresyour brain.
(06:26):
The goal is not to rewire yourbrain just so that you don't
think about bad things or thehard stuff.
But you're holding both.
This is the good stuff, and thisis the hard stuff.
If we only focus on the hardstuff.
We end up in a spiral downwardand can't bring ourselves back
(06:47):
up but if we hold both truthsI'm grateful for this, but this
thing is.
I don't like it.
It's hard.
Whatever the case may be, orit's not, it's not bringing me
peace or.
I'm uncomfortable or I'm bored.
Those two can be true at thesame time.
So in this episode, I want toexplore the science behind
(07:09):
gratitude.
I'll share where I am withgratitude and how I am
practicing it every day.
My rhythm for practicinggratitude.
And, try to leave you with sometools and tactics to help bring
more gratitude into your life.
Even on the worst days on yourhardest days.
(07:31):
So let's talk about the scienceof gratitude.
Gretchen Rubin.
Is one of the, persons that Ifollow.
Let me give you the name oftheir books just in case you've
not heard of them.
Gretchen Rubin has, a bookcalled the happiness project.
Gretchen Rubin also has someleadership development.
Tools, one thing that she has iscalled.
(07:55):
The four tendencies.
This book is phenomenal.
Itchy even has a quiz that goeswith it.
That helps you understand whoyou are in relation to other
teammates and people that youlead.
The four tendencies that shecalls out.
These are just phenomenalpeople.
And I think you should look intothem.
(08:15):
Maybe this is another book we'lldo next year, what I'm looking
forward to is just bringing outsome books.
That we can apply to our careerdevelopment, because it's not
just, how do I get my next job?
But what skills are you takingfrom that job?
How are you building up thoseskills, how you recognize in
those skills and then how do youwork?
(08:37):
Together with others.
Gretchen Rubin has this bookcalled the four tendencies.
And the four tendencies shementions and I'm hoping I'm not
forgetting.
It's.
The upholder.
The questioner.
The rebel.
And the obliger.
(08:57):
It's a quiz and I will try mybest.
I send the links out to myambitious nurse insiders, my
email newsletter group if youwould like, the link to the
fortune you could either Googleit yourself or get it by way of
email.
I send out my emails on a weeklybasis within the month of
(09:17):
December, And so back to thescience of gratitude.
Gretchen Rubin says that.
When we give thanks foreverything we have, we can focus
on what we have instead of whatwe don't.
So gratitude really activatesthe brain's reward system.
It releases dopamine andserotonin.
(09:40):
Which helped to then improveyour mood and reduce your
stress.
So I would say.
One way that you can apply this.
On how gratitude can impact yourbrain.
If one of the things that itdoes is to activate your reward
system or lucid releasing,improving your mood and reducing
your stress.
(10:01):
One of the main things thatnurses deal with.
On a daily basis is going intowork and feeling high stress.
That's an opportunity for.
You either before work.
You're starting your day.
Before you either walk intowork, it's sitting in your car.
Or get to work a few minutesearly and write the three things
(10:26):
that you're grateful for.
Being there.
3, 3, 3 things that you'regrateful for.
That's an opportunity to do it.
There's an opportunity for youto lead during huddles.
Before you start your shiftbefore you start your day.
If you are someone who works onprojects and you're working five
days a week.
It's a time for you to stop.
(10:48):
And set your expectations forthe day I'm thankful for this.
And a team that I like to workwith I'm thankful for.
The person who smiled at me theother day and I'm thankful for a
good laugh.
Just small things like that,that you can write.
Before you start your shift.
To help get you in a mindset ofbeing present and.
(11:12):
Helping to reduce your stress.
That way you can, combat many ofthose negative thoughts that you
may have going into your shift.
Another thing about the scienceof gratitude.
Is the connection to resilience.
Studies show that practicinggratitude can enhance
resilience.
Making it easier to bounce backfrom setbacks.
(11:33):
We have a lot of setbacks duringthe daytime.
Some days we have great days.
And then there are some weekswhere it's just like, can I get
this week over with.
We need to know how to build upthat resistance, not so much so
that we are.
Hardcore, but that gratitudehelps to make that emotional
connection.
(11:54):
Bernay brown.
Someone else who I love too.
Read and talk about.
Says, practicing gratitude ishow we acknowledge that there's
enough.
And that we are enough.
There is enough.
And we are enough.
Now sometimes that's not alwaysthe reality.
(12:16):
But I will say this.
If you are a follower of Christ.
Then in whatever situation youare in, there is enough.
That belief is there.
I don't say that as if, oh,well, those who don't are not a
follower of Christ, they don'thave that.
Like, you don't have enough.
That's not necessarily true.
(12:36):
God loves all of us.
And he always wants us to haveenough, but we.
As followers of Christ, know.
We've been given that word.
To say.
Because of Christ.
We have enough.
And we are enough.
All of a sudden God loves all ofus.
He's not gonna want anybody lefthanging if you don't believe
(12:58):
that you are enough, that.
That you have enough N.
And you're not relying upon yourfaith to help feed in that extra
that you don't feel like you cangive yourself.
Then it can feel like a downwardspiral.
There has to be.
An element of faith there.
Even when we're practicinggratitude.
(13:20):
Which helps us to enhance ourresilience.
There is enough.
We have enough now, sometimesagain, you don't feel like, oh,
we don't have enough resources.
We don't have enough.
This, we don't have enough debt.
What do you have?
How can you use what you dohave.
To make the best out of thesituation and let God take care
(13:40):
of the rest.
And that's how you make thatconnection.
That's one thing that you cando.
And again, that practice ofgratitude.
That's taking a break.
Possibly in your day when you'restressed and you're like, I
can't do this because this,this, this, and this.
Then take a step back and say,what do I have?
(14:02):
I actually have a good examplefor this.
Mainly for those home.
Are trying to get a name forthemselves in a leadership
position.
Um, Or just trying to.
Work to build your skills up.
I was in a conversation with.
(14:22):
A manager who was very much amicromanager.
I was warned about her.
And I found out the wrath ofher.
She was an interim manager andkept asking me.
So, what is your role again?
What are you supposed to bedoing?
I was working as a clinicalnurse specialist at the time.
And so then she tells me, well,the VP says, here's what she
(14:43):
wants to do.
I said, okay, that's fine.
But.
As we're having thatconversation, I would like for
the director to be at the table,because the director was in the
conversation.
Of hiring me.
So I've no one else knows whatthe intention was for me to do.
She should know.
(15:05):
So we get in the conversation.
We sit down at the table and theconversation is nothing.
Of what she said.
Does she want it to talk aboutthe conversation was all about.
What I am not doing.
I was blindsided.
Now was I coming out of thatconversation like, well, I'm
grateful for, and I'm going topray.
(15:26):
I'm thankful for.
Here's one thing that I did.
And I guess this is a result ofjust kind of.
Being in the career long enough.
This was my second rodeo dealingwith a micromanager in my, in my
20 years.
Micromanager, who was.
(15:46):
A bully.
Leader bully.
Again, I'd been warned abouther, that she was a bully.
I walked away from thatconversation and here's how my
resilience kicked in.
I was told, I don't want to tellyou.
I despise.
If you want to get rid of me,start micromanaging me.
I'm gone.
I am gone because I know myskills are way too valuable.
(16:09):
For you to be dictating all ofthe work that I do.
I don't mind followingdirections.
I don't mind being a teamplayer.
Tell me what you want me to do.
And I will walk in thatdirection.
But you can't.
Not every.
Single step of everything that Ido I don't appreciate.
So I walked away from thatconversation.
(16:31):
And I probably did something ofan act of connection to
resilience.
Because then I started thinkingabout all of the things that she
listed, that she wanted me todo.
We're really just, okay, well,this is what you want me to do.
To say that I'm doing a goodjob, those things that I'm
passionate about, didn't touch.
(16:54):
She didn't say, oh, you can't dothis anymore.
You can't do that anymore.
And that's where my mind turned.
And that's what practicinggratitude.
And really understanding.
Who you are, what you desire,what you want out of life.
I was thankful, honestly, thatshe didn't even touch any of
(17:15):
that.
Because that's where my passionwas.
All of the things that she hasmentioned.
In other conversations with me,she didn't even touch and those
were my areas of passion.
And so I walked away from thatconversation.
Thankful resilient.
And knowing what I could do.
(17:36):
Okay.
You want to limit me to justthese things?
Gotcha.
Now you best believe I was gonewithin a month.
But that's that connection toresilience.
It's really understanding it'sbouncing back.
Like that was a setback.
It was a blow because I wasblindsided.
(17:56):
But my resilience to that wasoh, okay.
This is what you want me to do.
I'm going to give you exactlywhat you want.
And then we'll go into thisother stuff over here, too.
So with gratitude.
Gratitude helps us as nursesmanage compassion, fatigue.
And burnout by reminding us ofour positive aspects of work.
(18:19):
Those things really make adifference.
In the way we care for ourpatients.
The energy that we bring intothe room of our patients.
The patients can tell if youwant to be there, if you don't
want to be there, unless you arereally good at faking it.
But that compassion, fatigue andthat burnout can really show.
(18:39):
So you're not doing any favorsto any patients or any family
members.
When you have that compassion,fatigue, and you have that
burnout.
And you're not really positiveabout your work.
And so when we say things ofgratitude and focus on
gratitude.
It helps us.
To really connect.
(19:01):
With patients and families andwith our coworkers too.
It helps you to acknowledge yourlimitations.
And be okay with them.
Those limitations.
Help you to choose.
What you will and will not doregarding your career.
And that's what gratitude doesfor you.
Normally, I try to have apersonal story.
(19:22):
I just gave you one of how I usegratitude.
But as far as a practice, Idon't really have a personal
story of, oh, I did gratitudefor like 20 days.
I've been doing good.
Writing three things that I'mgrateful for, here's how it
worked for me.
I don't really have a story likethat, but I am actively working
(19:42):
on this activity.
I am one of those people who isgenerally optimistic it takes a
lot for me to spiral.
So in general, cup, half full.
Now, do I see wrong?
I'm always just looking for adifferent way to influence.
That's probably why I'm veryoptimistic.
That I can.
(20:03):
Help persuade and influence.
You to do the right thing.
Not by my own.
But.
I know that God has given me.
The gift.
To help persuade.
And influence.
One nurse called it.
You got a lot of power.
I don't call it power.
I don't see it as power.
(20:24):
I call it influence because I'mvery intentional.
About.
People and them.
Being their best selves.
I tend to be thankful.
Very forward-thinking and to me,gratitude activities.
Our EI either present activity.
(20:45):
Or it's more of a reflectiveactivity.
And I don't do a good job ofreflecting.
I make a plan and then I move onto the next thing.
I've recognized that within me,probably within the last six
months, and I have been workingon intentionally.
We're reflecting.
So right now, currently on adaily basis.
(21:09):
I write three things that I'mthankful for.
And I try to go deeper than, oh,I'm thankful that they're
sunshine today, which you couldbe thankful for depending on
where you live.
But I live in North Carolina.
So there's more than likely I'mgoing to have some sunshine.
Now am I thankful that I can seethe sunshine today?
Absolutely.
So it's a very present.
(21:30):
And reflective activity.
I'm trying to work on that alittle bit more to increase my
presence and crease beingpresent.
And.
To not.
Just do a thing and move on.
But really understand thesignificance of what I've just
done, what I've justaccomplished.
Be in that and then moveforward.
(21:54):
Here's some practices that youcan do.
As busy nurses as we are.
And you can do these even withinyour workplace.
You can do these for developingyour home.
Into an atmosphere of peace andhappiness and gratitude.
You could do it.
If there's something personalthat you want to work on.
(22:16):
To cultivate a little bit moregratitude you can do this.
One is to.
Journal on a daily basis andwrite.
Two to three things that you'regrateful for.
Maybe even at the end of yourWorkday.
So I talked about how it'simportant to do it at the
beginning.
To help reduce that stress.
(22:37):
But even at the end of yourWorkday to debrief.
Just a little bit.
Sometimes we have some bad days.
Those might be the best days towork on it.
Or some days skip it.
Because you're just trying toprocess what happened that day.
Most days are just run of themill.
And so it's important.
(22:58):
To not just be walking throughlife and not noticing.
What's going on with your lifeand that gratitude practice at
the end.
Of your day or at the end ofyour shift.
Is important.
To help you to notice what'sgoing on with your life and work
life.
Gretchen Rubin says the days arelong, but the years are short.
(23:21):
Writing down what you'rethankful for helps you capture.
Those fleeting moments.
You can do gratitude rounds,many, of us as teams.
We are usually huddling on adaily basis on a weekly basis.
And so it's just a goodopportunity to share one thing
with your colleagues you don'thave to do this formally.
(23:42):
You can do this as a group ofnurses who might be part of the
sunshine committee.
The social committee or taggedwith wellbeing for your group.
That's one thing that you can doto help positive, to help.
Foster a positive team culture.
You can have gratitude andpatients' care.
(24:03):
Sometimes our patients, are.
Tough.
And they press through.
We can take a moment toappreciate their resilience,
their progress, honestly, evento cause a lot of times they're,
they're either tough or eitherthey are struggling mentally if
you have a patient who isstruggling and you're trying to
(24:25):
encourage them, that's a goodmoment to think of like, what
are three things we're gratefulfor?
What are one or two things we'regrateful for or.
Sometimes they don't know theprogress that they're making.
Here's some that tell themhere's some things that you can
be grateful for.
You've made progress with this.
They don't know where theyshould be sometimes we don't
communicate well on where theyshould be on the spectrum of
(24:50):
their healing process.
So, this is a good opportunityfor us to communicate to them.
Here's how you're doing.
Everybody wants to know howthey're making progress even if
it's something small, make it apractice to say, here's how
you're making progress.
Here's what I see in you.
Sometimes we can say that to ourteammates, that we're working
(25:11):
with.
Here's what I see in you today.
And I'm proud of you.
Mel Robbins also suggeststarting your day with five
minutes of a gratitudereflection.
What if you woke up every dayand said, I'm grateful for this
day and I'm going to make itcount.
The other thing you can do iscreate a gratitude board.
In your break room.
(25:34):
On your screen saver, maybe.
To remind you of what you'regrateful for.
During tough moments.
In closing.
Just remember gratitude is morethan a feeling.
It's a practice to transformyour mindset and help you find
joy.
Even during the hardest times.
Remember that Bernay brown saysgratitude, invites joy into our
(25:58):
lives.
It's not joy that makes usgrateful.
It's gratitude that makes usjoyful.
So if you're wanting more joy inyour life, start with gratitude
practices.
In this season of giving, I wantto challenge you to try at least
one gratitude practice that Imentioned.
Whether it's journaling Sharon,a moment of thanks with a
(26:18):
colleague.
Or just reflecting on the impactthat you're making.
You just need to do one thing.
Just one.
As I end this podcast, I will betaking a break for the rest of
20, 24.
And I will be back with you.
In January.
And I'm so excited about that.
(26:39):
I'm so excited about being ableto take this time.
To reflect on the podcast andsee what I want to do
differently.
If you have any ideas, feel freeto drop me an email.
If you want more interviews, ifyou want book reviews of theirs.
A certain subject that you wantme to cover please feel free to
send me an email and let meknow.
(27:00):
I am more than willing to helpyou walk through that process
or.
Give you more information aboutit.
I'm grateful for each of you wholistens, learns and grows with
me here on the ambitious nursepodcast.
Your dedication to your careersand your patients inspire me.
All the time.
And I am grateful for theopportunity.
(27:23):
To lead you in growing yourcareer.
If this episode resonated withyou, share it with a fellow
nurse and let them know you'rethankful for their impact in
nursing.
Don't forget to subscribe formore career strategies and
inspiration, and I'll see you in2025.
(27:45):
I hope you enjoyed today'sepisode.
If so, would you take 30 secondsand share it with another nurse
who may be unsure of where to gonext in their career or maybe
need some career clarity?
Also, please leave a quickreview for the show on Apple
podcast.
It brings me so much joy and somuch encouragement to know this
(28:06):
podcast is helping you.
Now go get the career you wantand not the one you settle for.
And I'll meet you back here nextThursday for another episode.
See you soon!
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