The Squeeze - Tay & Taylor Lautner: Your Nursing Questions Answered

Episode Date: April 24, 2024

Today’s episode has been a long time coming as girl Tay answers all of the Lemon Drops’ questions about her nursing career, a topic near and dear to her heart! But first, your two hosts answer some Citrus Got Real Q’s, one involving a surprising twist in childhood crushes. Then, in anticipation of Nurses Week, Taylor asks Tay about all things nursing, from her nursing school experience to coping mechanisms at the bedside to egos in the workplace. There’s no wonder why, in our healthcare system especially, nurses are facing burnout and struggling with mental health, and Tay is sharing her own experiences and giving advice to any healthcare professionals who may be facing similar struggles. Tay also shares a very exciting partnership with CeraVe and The Daisy Foundation in an effort to support all the extraordinary nurses out there. Thanks to our awesome sponsor for supporting this episode!   To learn more about nominating a nurse who has profoundly impacted your life, visit CeraVe.com/Nurses or DAISYfoundation.org!  To email us your questions or share your story, you can reach out to [e-mail]. Be sure to rate, review, and follow the podcast so you don't miss an episode! Plus, follow us on Instagram, @thesqueeze and personally @taylautner and @taylorlautner + on TikTok @thesqueezepodcast    To learn more from The Lemons Foundation, follow @lemonsbytay on Instagram and visit lemonsbytay.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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be chaotic. But who zorgalose an auto-hurt says, Uno dos, no stress. No idea. Nocted cost. Always fullledgely forze.

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with our nurses and our nursing shortage, it's very hard to prevent burnout. We as nurses can do everything we possibly can to prevent it, but at the end of the day, it's the environment that we're in. If you are burnt out, that's okay. You are not like any less of a nurse. No, that it's not just because of you. It's because of you. It's because of the environment that you're in. When life gives you lemons, what do you do with them? Over here at the squeeze, we talk about it. Hello, hello, hello. Happy Wednesday. Happy, happy Wednesday. we are here with two tailors and a doge. A little rami. Little rami. Okay, should we start with a citrus carto? Sure, we should, so we don't forget.

What came first? The chicken or the egg? I always say that when I died, this is going to be one of the first questions I asked. The chicken had to come first. Yeah, it's a tough one because, yeah, but I would say the chicken, because how do you get an egg without a chicken? And then the other people would say, how do you get a chicken without an egg? Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. That's a tough one. I honestly just hate that question. Every time anybody asks it, I'm like, I know. I get it. It's a fun question, but it just pisses me off that I don't know. I'm going to go with the chicken. You want to pull one more?

Yeah. Who was your childhood actor-actress crush? Oh, wow. Depends like how deep into childhood. Because like I... I know. I'm trying to give a... have one. I feel like as far back as I can remember, I feel like it was like Ashley Tisdale from

High School Musical. So you live, Zach and Coney? Yeah, maybe it was from that. I know. That's funny though, because I was going to say, like, I was trying to think of male, like, characters that I would watch and I would probably say one of them, one of Dylan or Cole. Well, so both from. So basically, Zach and Cody I developed some some good crushes. Did you, would you have watched that? I forgot she was on that show.

Yeah. Who did she play? Maddie. Whoa. What? Hey, sweet thing. That's what Zach Dillon's character was in her. I think it was Maddie. Yeah, I definitely saw it, but it wasn't.

I think it was just a little light for me. Yeah. Which is that's why it's, that's hard for me to believe that she. could have been my first crush. I wonder when it came out. Let me see. Jessica Alba is like who I always like say.

The first episode of this came out in 2005. Okay. Yeah. I mean, I would have been 13. Yeah, that makes sense. And she was like, they were like, it's supposed to be that age-ish in the show. I think they were younger than that.

Yeah, maybe actually I'm looking at this in there. Yeah, what? Wow, that unlocked a memory of Tillon's character going, Hey, sweet thing. Okay, let's get to this episode because I'm going to keep reminiscing on the good old Disney Nays. But as you guys know, Nurses Week, or I guess if you don't know, Nurses Week is coming up. It's May 6 through 12th.

I don't think most people know that. Well, now you do. It's a very important week one that I hold near and dear to my heart because I am a nurse. If you did not know that. Surprise, surprise. I'm registered nurse. I worked during COVID. I also worked when it wasn't COVID.

but yeah we kind of like briefly touched on my experience in our first episode which was like a really long time ago yeah February 22 yeah wait no February 2023 yeah I was going to say wait what wow so long ago it feels like it was yesterday I can't I don't even remember filming it it feels like so long ago the studio look different I agree with that but then the thing February 23 was over really just over just a very year feels like it was very recently. Yeah, I guess so. I figured that we could kind of like dive into my experience a bit more because we get so many questions about my nursing experience.

Can you do a nursing episode? Can you share more about your experience? Here it is. And here it is. And we're so excited to share that we've partnered with Sarah V to bring you an episode that is all about nurses, not only to share my story, but to celebrate the nurses in our lives because we could do that a little more. But mental health and nursing just truly go so hand in hand. I think before working, as a nurse, if you were to have asked me that, I don't think

I would have said, yes, those two go together as quickly as I would now. But burnout has become such a prevalent thing in the health care system among nurses leading to dangerous shortages of nurses and healthcare professionals in the system, which is something that I experienced and is kind of a big part of my story, but it's so important for us to show things and appreciation to nurses along with providing tangible, mental, emotional, and physical support. And that was a driving factor of why I created the Lemon's Foundation, our nonprofit. I wanted to give back to the community, both nurses and people, you know, not in the health care system because everyone needs it.

But I knew so many nurses that were struggling that didn't have access to things and didn't have tangible mental health advice. Or just not, yeah, or just not know where to go. Yeah, for sure. So that was kind of the reason why I started it. And yeah, I'm excited to keep going with it. Absolutely. But should we dive into some questions?

You guys have submitted so many questions. For a very long time. For a very long time. We've gotten lots of DMs. And we kind of just compiled them together. And I'm going to have my lovely husband interview me. Hi. Okay.

I am nervous. All right. You ready for this? I haven't done this in a while. All right. This is questions for day. Nursing style. Edition.

Edition. Style. All right. When did you decide you wanted to switch into nursing? And I feel like I might add, whoever wrote this question, knows that you did switch into nursing. Yeah. Because nursing isn't what you always thought you were going to do. So great question, whoever did this. Yeah. And, you know, I feel like it's kind of something that just fell into my lap. I don't really remember a time where I was like, this is what I do. I want to be a nurse. Obviously, once I started nursing school, I was like, oh, this is what I'm supposed to be doing.

But I had originally gone to school for dance. I was a dance major. Dance, dance, baby. At Cal State Long Beach. And I didn't really know what I wanted to do. I was the first person in my family to go to college. So my parents and I were like, let's, I don't really know what's going on. Let's just try dance.

And I loved it. But it was a lot. I was dancing every single day for a lot of hours and did not really have time to. do anything. Do life. Do life. So I ended up going back home and just was taking classes at community college there because I did not want to waste money and go into debt. Just hanging out at a university.

So I went back home, was just taking prerex. And I was also volunteering randomly. I had volunteered in the postpartum. unit at our local hospital. And I don't know why because that ended up being my least favorite thing, which is kind of funny. But I was kind of volunteering. And then nursing came up.

And I think I was just kind of like, like I'll give it a shot. Like I, you know, I loved, I liked the prerex. I loved like anatomy and physiology in high school. That was the class I did the best in by far ever. And I like science. So I was like, I might as well just like take these prerex for it and apply and see if I get in.

to the nursing program and I ended up doing it and ironically my best friend ended up applying as well and we both got into the same program but once once I got in I was like oh this is it this is what I'm supposed to be doing what was it that you think immediately hooked you and made you feel so sure I think it like ignited a passion in me that you didn't know was there yeah really because I never, growing up I never really like enjoyed school. I just like did what I had to do to get by. Like I wasn't like a study or I didn't do things like that. It's bizarre.

I know you've said this before, but that it's so bizarre for you to say because when you were in nursing school, you were at the opposite. I think we'll dive into that somewhere in here. I just, I freaking loved it. Wow. Just freaking loved it. I freaking loved it. Wow.

Freaken love nursing. I think, and I think that's why. something that made school a little bit easier because school was very stressful and nursing school was very hard and you learn if you actually want to do nursing or not while you're in school because of how hard it is. Yeah. But I loved it. I loved making my study guides and learning.

It's just something that, like, fascinated me for the first time. Isn't it nice when you get to do something that you love and are passionate about? Yeah. It's helpful. All right. Next question. where do you even start with this? What was the most challenging part of nursing school for you?

Most challenging part, all of it. No. I would say sticking with, like being disciplined. You have to be so disciplined on yourself to make sure you're studying, to make sure you're doing the things you need to do because you have a test like every other week. And if you aren't doing good, then you're... Bye-bye.

Well, then you're kicked out. So you. If you start struggling and start, like, doing bad on test, they'll literally be like, yeah. You're out. Peace out, Girl Scout. Yeah. Really?

I mean, yeah, you have to, like, fail. But they'll work with you if you're struggling. So I don't want to scare anyone away. Yeah, that's a little brutal. Sorry. No, that's if you're just like, keep falling. No, they work with you if you're struggling with something. And, you know, the teachers are, at least at my program, the teachers were so great.

And if I needed help with anything, they're. You can go during their office hours, and I felt like they all loved their jobs, so they were all really helpful. But I think being disciplined and staying, like, you are, that was the first time I really felt like I was truly responsible for, like, getting it done. Yeah. Like on my own. So I think that would be, obviously this, obviously it's hard having to learn all this stuff and take these tests, but if you're not on top of your studying and you're not being stern with yourself saying, I need to study. I can't go out or I can't go be with the girlfriends or go see this movie or whatever it is. You have to be on top of your setting.

That makes sense. I mean, you didn't seem to struggle too much with that, though. And it helped because I loved it. Yeah. So I wasn't like. I feel like you were never like, oh, I really want to go do that. But, you know, I got a study for this test. You took it very seriously.

I didn't. I did. You're proud of it. Be proud of it. Did you ever think of dropping out? or switching majors. No. No.

Yeah. After what we've talked about, I think we could have guessed that. Yeah, no. Once I was in there, I was locked and loaded. Yeah. Although I was,

there was still like fear in me that I wasn't going to, I mean, it's hard because you can, you know, I got A's in nursing school. I never did that, ever in any form of school.

That's so surprising to me. I was on Earth, pass with flying colors. But you can do all that, but you still have to take the N-Clex, which is the state license exam. You still have to do that and you still have to pass. So it's like you feel comfortable,

but then there's like always just like this like impeding sense of like fear that just slowly gets closer and closer and closer as you graduate. Don't you kind of just like, this probably isn't the right way to think about it? But is it correct to say you kind of just have to get through nursing school? Because ultimately all it comes down to is the NCLEX. Well, I mean, in a sense, yes. But there's so much you learn in school that's on the test anyways. I mean, you could just study for the NCLEX.

But I learned so much in school, especially during my clinicals, that I used with me, like, actually working as a nurse in the hospital. Right. Yeah. You can't get by if you're not doing it correct. Yeah. Yeah. That's understandable.

Yeah. So I have been using Sarah V for years now. If you guys haven't used a serravi product before, you need to incorporate one of them into your routine. I've been using the body moisturizer and the face. moisturizer for years, years and years and years. And I've actually recently started to incorporate their hydrating sheer sunscreen into my routine as well. And it has been a game changer. But today I'm happy to partner with the skincare brand Sarah V as well as the Daisy Foundation to help

spotlight the resilient community. As a therapeutic skincare brand rooted in the medical community, Sarah V has committed to a multi-year partnership with the Daisy Foundation, a nonprofit organization that recognizes nurses for their service and support to patients and families. Together, Sarah V and the Daisy Foundation are on a mission to encourage patients and colleagues to thank and celebrate the nurses in their lives, both during National Nurses Week and year-round. You can go to saravie.com slash nurses or visit daisyfoundation.org to learn more about the Daisy Foundation and how to honor a nurse in your life.

To learn more about nominating a nurse who has had a profound infancy. impact on your life. Visit serri.com slash nurses or daisyfoundation.org. Where and when were you when you first heard about COVID? And where were you when you realized what it was going to mean for the future of your health care career? We know exactly where we were and what we were doing because we were 30 minutes away from hopping in a car to drive to the airport. Oh, wow. I actually forgot about that until you just said that. Yeah, we were, what was it? Probably March, something like right before.

My birthday is March 16th. So we were about to leave to Florida to go to a golf tournament that we'd gone to the year before. We're like, oh, let's make this an annual thing. This is so fun. For your birthday. For my birthday. And we wake up and there's like all these like news alerts, whatever the tournament ends up reaching out to us. They're like, hey.

They're canceling the tournament. Or I think they, I think they had it. They said you can come. They said you. can come here, but it's just... They had closed it off to, like, spectators, and then I think they ended up canceling it on like, they did end up canceling it. They were like, you guys can still come.

Like, we'll still, like, you can go to the hotel, whatever, relax, go to the spa. And our bags are fully packed. Like, our Uber is on the way to get us and bring us to the airport. And I remember just like, we were like, do we go? Do we stay? Like, what do we do? It was like the morning of... I remember calling my dad and I was like, what was?

we do. Yeah. But like it was the morning of where like it like just really just dropped like all over the news. Yeah. And the news was, you know, saying that things are going to potentially shut down. Yeah. And that was the morning that we were supposed to be traveling. So we, we made the correct call and decided to cancel the trip. Yeah. That was how we first learned about it. Yeah. I guess at that time, I had no intention of working in a hospital when I got my license. I was working at a couple outpatient surgery centers, one plastic surgery place, and then one place that does knee replacements, just surgery. And all of those shut down because they were elective surgeries and everything that wasn't a necessity shut down. So then I went back home and then after being home for a couple months, I was like, okay.

well, I want to do something. I need to do something. So that is what prompted me to apply. I was like, I'm going to apply to this one trauma center that I love. It was my favorite hospital during my clinicals. And I was like, if I get into their new grad program, then I'll go work there. And if not, then I'll just wait this thing out. And I got the job.

You did. You did. I did. And then you were thrown into the fire. Yeah. When I started, we weren't COVID, though. I was on just like a cardiac observation unit. Yeah.

And it honestly was not seeming like we only had a few COVID patients when I started working, which would have been like August of 2020. September, August September of 2020. I'm surprised. There wasn't more patients then. They were only on one floor, one unit. Oh, they still had COVID patients confined to. Yeah, but there was also a non-COVID patients on that unit. That was like the respiratory, like cardiac unit.

And that's where they put COVID patients at the beginning. Yeah. And then every unit got flipped. December, January. Then we were just fully, everything was COVID. Everything. Everyone was coming. There's no like different floors and this is this and this is that.

It was just COVID everywhere. Yeah. Basically. Yeah. Do you have any tips for mental health and balancing nursing school? I would say to make sure that I think having a schedule. really helped me because I was like, I'm going to study from these hours to from this time to this time. Or I did a lot of study sessions with my friends. Like we made up at a coffee shop and we

all study together. And that was like my designated time. But then I still had like downtime and relaxed time where I wasn't studying or, you know, I was hanging with Taylor. We were, you know, with family. I still had a break from studying. And I think it's very easy to get wrapped up. And like, I need to study. I need to study because you have to study. But making sure you find the groove of how you study. For me, it was making color coded study guides. Whatever disease we were on, I don't know, diabetes. I would make that like one color. So then when I was taking my test, I was like, oh, I remember doing diabetes in blue. And that would help me remember. Some people would do flashcards. That was flashcards were not a thing for me. I can't do flashcards. And so you just got to find how you study and then get that into a routine. Yeah. To get somewhere where you're comfortable. And don't procrastinate.

Yeah. That was a big thing because I would feel very stressed if I ever had to procrastinate. A little good thing. I'm not a procrastinator. El-O. Why are you saying L-O? You can read the next question. Oh.

I'll let the lemon drops. Think what they want of my L-O. Shots are fired. Well, that's why we make a team. Okay. team there we go yeah yeah i'm procrastinating and you're saying hey let's get this done because you know it needs to be done in three weeks from now and i'm like if it needs to be done three weeks from now why the heck are we doing it now and like because we have time and you're like no it's funny i can wait and then it's

like let's move on all right uh what coping mechanisms did you find most helpful when you were at bedside. When I was at bedside, I don't fully know if I understood coping mechanisms very well. Yeah. I think the limited coping mechanisms that I had, I think talking with my fellow nurses, I remember, you know, I would call my best friend who was also a nurse driving home or when we get together, we would like, you know, talk about some things. And then that was kind of like my talk about it and get over it because they can't really. I talk to you about stuff, but it's kind of hard to explain things. Yeah.

And to that point for people listening that doesn't fully understand what bedside is, does that does that mean they like, people can be, you can be bedside, but the patient, like, is very low risk or very high risk, right? Yeah, bedside. Bedside is just, like, if you think about, like, all. hospital like all the patients were in a bed. Yeah. Yeah. So it can be all different kinds of patients.

Yeah. Like you could be bedside with a patient that, you know, has the flu. A walkie-talkie. Okay. And would you like to explain what that means? That'll come up in a later episode, a little foreshadowing. A walkie-talkie is someone that is fully like alert oriented up walking around and talking and knows everything that's going on.

But then you also can be bedside with somebody who's not, you know, They're speaking. Yeah. I imagine just the coping mechanisms would need to be different with what kind of bedside you're dealing with that day. For sure. I think that a good coping mechanism is making sure you're not, I guess this isn't really coping mechanism, but making sure you're not taking more shifts than, you know, you can handle, like picking up extra ones because when I was working, we were very short, which is still very much a thing.

I think that was something that I really struggled with, and I don't know if I'm giving a very clear answer, but I think talking about it, I think debriefing is a big thing that can sometimes get forgotten if it's a busy shift and there's things going on. It's really important to still debrief with someone on your team or your nurse manager, whoever it is.

I think that's super important to do because you're able to process a code that just happened or something or you're able to process your day. But I think talking about it would be a big thing. Yeah, that makes sense. What is something you wish you could tell to every healthcare professional? Oh, wow. Yeah, that's a large one.

I think. I would have something that also is a foreshadowing to the same episode that we're just talking about. I think I would say to remember that your life is also important. I think, you know, a lot of the time when I was working, I was so quick to push aside my basic needs. I think I held my pee for five hours one day because it was just nonstop. But it's a really good reminder that obviously, you know, there's circumstances that come up, you know, if you have to push your lunch an hour because one of your patients like just became critical, that's one thing. that's one thing. But if it's time and time and time again, you can't expect to be able to pour into your patients and be able to be the best nurse you can be if you are not the best

version of yourself that you can be. And I think that's something that I've really struggled with. And a lot of nurses did and still are struggling with because of this shortage and just where we're at in our healthcare system. I think that is very good advice. I think that is very good advice. I think that's something that every health care professional, yeah, could definitely here. Yeah. I like that. How to better prevent burnout? I think that.

What I just said. So preventing burnout by just realizing knowing that your life and time and energy and mental health and physical health all matter too. I think it's hard because where we're at with our nurses and our nursing shortage, it's very hard to prevent burnout. I think, you know, I think we as nurses can do everything we possibly can to prevent it. But at the end of the day, it's the environment that we're in that causes the burnout. And know that if you are burnt out, that's okay. You are not like any less of a nurse because you feel burnt out. And that was something that I struggled with for a very long time and still kind of do honestly.

You know, people like, I'm like, oh, I worked for a year. They're like a year. I'm like, yeah, I couldn't even see straight. I was so burnt out. Like, I think there's still like a lot of judgment around burnout because they're like, oh, people are very quick to assume. But burnout is a very real thing. And if you are feeling that and you feel like you've done everything you can know that it's not just burnout.

It's not just because of you is because the environment. that you're in. Yeah. Yeah. We've talked about this before, but I think there is a lot of judgment in the nursing world as a whole. And I think that can transition us to our next segment because we're going to touch on that. Yeah. So we're going to transition this into a little tea time with Tay. Tea time with Tay. Tea time with Tay. Tea time with tase. So I have a couple questions for you here. Hit me, baby. One more time. And I would love the tea.

Okay. I'm sure whoever made up these questions also would love the tea. We should get cute little mugs. Oh. Sorry, that was my squirrel brain. Just like tea time with tea. Like. Okay.

And we'll just be sipping on them while we do this. Yeah. Oh my gosh. Those lemon mugs that we got. Which ones? The, um. Oh. Oh.

The ones I got you for Christmas? Oh, you got me this for Christmas? The super cute ones? Oh, yeah. I was like, who got me those for Christmas? Uh, me, bro. Oh, okay. Yeah, this one.

Those are so cute. I was thinking more of like a teacup, though. Those are like mugs, but they're really cute. I haven't used it because I'm scared. It's so cute. Okay, squirrel. Okay. Sorry.

Okay. Do you plan on having another nurse on the podcast? I think that would be a great idea to do. Do do do. Well, you should mark your calendars for our episode that will come out during Nurses Week, which is between May 6th and May 12th, which I believe happens to be the 8th. There we go. So you should mark your calendars for May 8th.

You should make sure you subscribe if you're looking at me right now. And you should follow on Spotify, Apple, however you're listening to us so that you don't miss the episode. Because, man, is it a freaking episode? You don't want to miss this episode. Yeah. Don't spill. Okay. Don't spill.

I want to talk right now. Guys, it's so good. I can't. I can't. Yeah, it's insane. I will say it is one of... My jaw was on the floor. One of our top episodes yet.

Yeah. For sure. All right. We'll move on from that. Tune back May 8th for the answer to that. All right. Next question. What has been the hardest part of your transition from RN registered nurse to on the sidelines?

I know going from direct patient care to non-directed care to non-directed patient care can sometimes make nurses feel like they are not a real nurse anymore. And this is definitely something that you can relate to. Stupid. It's stupid. It's stupid. If you took your enclux and you passed, you are an RN and there is no job you can or can't do that will make you more or less of a nurse. Period.

Yeah. Period. End of sentence. But yes, for me, that has been a very hard thing. I actually just, I literally told Taylor today, I was out at an appointment. And I was talking to someone and we're kind of talking about something that I've been struggling with. And I was like, yeah, I've kind of struggled with this since I was like working as a nurse. And they were like, oh, you're a nurse?

And I was like, yeah. And they're like, R.N? The way it was asked, it was like, oh, you don't seem like. You don't give RN vibes. Yeah, you don't seem like you would actually be like an RN. And we literally just talked about this today. So that's funny that this is coming up. So you just got to say I'm a nurse period.

Obviously easier said than done because I say that all the time. And I still struggle with it. And what about the difference between because, you know, you've also heard this, you know, as well. What about the difference between working in the hospital and working in other forms of nursing? Yeah. I think my answer to that is we have to keep reminding ourselves that there's nurses everywhere and there are so many nurse jobs that like you're working as a nurse. So you're not less than a nurse.

Like nurses that are in that work in the hospital, nurses that have been there for 20, 30 years, they just have the personality type that can do that. They're, you know, they mentally can do that. I've worked with a lady who had been on night shift for 25 years. And like, I could never do that. I did night shift for a couple months. And I was like, bye, I can't do this. So it's just, it's whatever suits you.

You know, we're not all, we're not all the same pants size. We don't like the same food. We don't like the same color. We don't like the same music. We all, we all are. different. And we have to remember to carry that into our line of work. You got to love what you're doing. Yeah. When you're working. But if you are a registered nurse and you're a nurse and there is something that makes you more or less of a nurse from the job that you do. Yeah. I just feel like as a

whole, there just needs to be so much less judgment cast, you know. You want to read the next question? Oh, sure. Okay. Senior nurses making you feel less than. Was that something you ever dealt with. Well, yes, it was, Taylor. Thank you for asking me. I have a feeling. It was for sure one, which I just never understood because even when I was working and there was a new nurse that came, like, I just wanted to help them. I wanted them to thrive and succeed and make them feel important and valued and a part of the team because at the end of the day, you are a team. Like, your unit, you work like obviously you as an individual nurse have your own patients but you're all you're a team you go on break like so many times I had nurses help you know cover my patients or you know I was busy with the one

they'd go like change the IV bag on another patient and vice versa so you are a team and this is something that I don't I've never I never understood and I remember I would come home and be like this like this senior nurse she would this one lady would tell me things like, you know, I'm the only person that's left of my new grad program. Like, I'm, I was the strongest one. I was the only one that like made it out. And yeah, but just it made it feel like, oh, so I can't like leave like me back to the previous question. Me leaving makes me like less of a nurse. And that was like there was so much bullying. And there was like a few other things from different nurses too that I got. And I was always nothing

but kind to them. Um, and also so quick to help them with. their patients because I wanted to gain their respect, too. Yeah. So it's just something I'm also just, I'm not that type of person that believes in, like, seniority of things. Obviously, you know, there'll be a nurse that's like, so basically like on units, you float to other units that are short. And all the two other units on our floor, they all just went through their whole.

whole nurse list. And ours would reset every two weeks, every pay period. So the senior nurses never, ever, ever had to float. And I was floating every two weeks. I would go to a different unit every two weeks. I think if you're saying you don't believe in seniority, that's a little, they deserve something different. I am, I do believe in that. Yes, but. It's like, it's the same thing is if you're a pilot. If you've been a pilot for 20 years versus a year, the pilots that have been 20 years get to choose their schedule over, you know, the person. They do get that. They do get for scheduling. I'm fine with that. They've been there longer. But I think like them, you know, I just think it needs, it needs to be a good environment, like things like that, of course.

Like, I understand that completely. But when it changes the environment and, you know, the new nurse is being kicked to the curb every time. And it's not the same on the other units because that was a big thing as the other units weren't like that. They would all shift through for floating. But when I'm trying to learn how to be a nurse on my floor, I have to float to rehab every two weeks. Yeah. And that's not, that's something I know absolutely nothing about, nor do I work on that floor and need to gain that knowledge.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that's something to figure out. But the biggest problem is competitiveness. Yeah. Nurses shouldn't be competitive with one another because like you said, that's a teamwork job. Yeah. There should be no competitiveness.

Ego. There should be no ego. You know, it's such an amazing job that everybody that does it is truly a hero, but you can't let an ego get involved with that. Because, like, yeah, what you're talking about, that's all just ego. Yeah. which is, you know, unfortunate because everybody there is working their butt off. Yeah. For others.

Yeah. So. Yeah, I think that was my biggest thing. It's like, I'm working just as hard, if not a little harder because I have to come in early because I don't know exactly what I'm doing. Yeah. The bullying is. The bullying, the competitiveness. Like, just that whole side of it is definitely real and something that I don't know how you fix it.

But. I don't know how I. fix it, but there is movement. We'll go forward with that. All right. Last one. Was there ever a time a patient said or showed a thank you that really touched your heart? So I had to think about this one.

And at first, I was like, there's actually, I can't really think like of a time that, like, stands out. But then I actually thought back to nursing school. I don't know if you'll remember this, but during my psych rotation, I got. to do a rotation with kids that were in the psych unit at a hospital. And it ended up being one of my favorite things. I always say the only reason I didn't become a psych nurse is because their shifts are eight hours and not 12. So you have to work another day. So that was the whole reason I didn't do psych.

But I got to work with these kids. And it was, I just spent the day with this one girl. And she was probably like 12. Wow. And I just had like the most fun with her. Like just, you know, getting the love on her and learn about her. And at the end of the day, when we were leaving, she had come up to me and during one of their sessions. She had drawn me a picture of us and said, thank you and like signed it.

A picture of you and her? Yes. Oh my gosh. Like with crayon in the most, it was just the sweetest thing. I have it somewhere. I have it in one of my nursing binders. I kept it in. It was like in the front of my binder.

So I was like, this is why I'm doing this. Because if I, that 12 year old girl, I did something to make an impact on her. And that was like one of the most tender things I've ever experienced. Yeah. It's so funny that you say that, that that is the one that you had to think about and go back to. because as beautiful as it is that it was a 12-year-old girl, it is also unfortunate that most adults can't think like a 12-year-old girl, you know, because she, kids are just so, kids are so wonderful.

And, you know, for her to, like, do that to you just shows how thankful she was for you. And I think it's just important for people in general to thank and show thanks and show love and care and support to nurses, you know, just more in general. Like, you know, it can't just be the 12 year old little angel girls doing that. Yeah. Everybody has to be doing that more. Yeah. I mean, when you put it that way, it's so true. But that is more of a reason why I'm so excited to talk to you guys about the Daisy Foundation,

because this is something that truly just goes hand in hand with that. But a little bit about the Daisy Foundation. It was established in 1999. It's a nonprofit organization that was established in memory of J. Patrick Barnes by members of his family because of the compassionate care Patrick and his family received from the nurses while he was ill. As the international leader in meaningful recognition of nurses, the Daisy Foundation seeks to recognize and support nurses who have gone above and beyond to serve their patients and their families, expressing gratitude for the profound difference nurses can make in a person's life. They work to honor nurses internationally in over 5,900 healthcare facilities in schools of nursing and fund nursing research and evidence-based practice. And Sarah V, our sponsor for today, is actually a partner of the Daisy Foundation.

Foundation. Sarah V is a therapeutic skincare brand rooted in the medical community. Sarah V has an ongoing commitment to nurses, which I love. Last year, Sarah V entered a multi-year partnership with the Daisy Foundation to continue to further their commitment to the medical community and encourage and support generations of nurses who are tirelessly serving in the field. Together, Sarah V and the Daisy Foundation are on a mission to encourage patients and colleagues to think and celebrate the nurses and their lives, both during National Nurses Week and Year Round, because it's important to do that all the time.

All the time. All of the time. And we are so happy to be partnering with Sarah V to continue to bring awareness to the resilient nurses serving in the field and to help direct individuals to beneficial resources that serve them. And we kind of thought, what better way to lead up to Nurses Week than, to nominate someone.

Hmm. Yeah. Does that sound intriguing to you? That sounds very intriguing to me. How do we do that? So lemon drops, I want you in you. No, you can't go and you can't go and nominate me, so don't do that. Oh, I know other nurses.

Okay, great. You ain't my only nurse. Great. It's Marissa. My best friend. I'm just teasing. Okay. I want you guys to think of a time.

You, a family member, a friend, someone you love, had a health care experience. where a nurse made a difference in their life and your life, we encourage you all to reach out and to share your stories with the Daisy Foundation and on social media. You can take a nurse who's impacted your life by nominating them for the Daisy Award for Extraordinary Nurses. This process is as simple as writing a letter expressing gratitude for how they have positively impacted your life.

You can learn more about nominating a nurse who has had a profound impact on your life by visiting daisyfoundation.org. I think this is something that is so important because nurses need to hear more, thank you. Can never hear it enough. Truly. The sacrifices that nurses give day in and day out is something that I'm just so proud to be a part of that group.

You want to prevent burnout? Yeah. Do this. This is what is going to prevent burnout. burnout is going to exist. There's never, unfortunately, I just don't think it's realistic for there never to be a world, especially in the nursing community without burnout. Yeah.

So you want to help that burnout feel easier, get better by making people feel appreciated. Yeah. So I feel like this is the number one thing that will help ease burnout. That's so true. I'll say it again. It's daisyfoundation.org. Daisy like the flower. Daisy like our guest last week.

But thank you guys for coming in. I hope I was able to share a bit more about my experience and express things and not get too passionate about it because it's something that I love. I'm so sorry if I got a little heated. But thank you to Sarah V for sponsoring this episode and for the work that you guys are doing with the Daisy Foundation. It's just something that truly is so important. And I so encourage you guys to go and nominate someone.

Please, please do. Share your gratitude with them because just that little, that little thank you truly goes such a long way. Yeah, that's true. And be sure to mark your calendars, click that subscribe and follow button so you don't miss our episode next week, but also our Nurses Week episode. We are doing some fun stuff on our social medias for Nurses Week.

And we're just excited to share, to share more about nursing and the community and to thank our nurses a little more. Amen, sister. Amen. We will see you guys next week. Have a beautiful rest of your day. And thanks for tuning in. Thanks for being lemon drops. Toodles. This podcast has been brought to you by Podcast Nation.