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Welcome to this episode of the Feeding Our Young podcast.
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If you have been loyal listener for a while, you know we've had a wide variety of guests on the podcast as it stands right now, a lot of nursing students, which is really the goal, right?
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But also sprinkling in a few nurses here and there, a few amazing nurse educators.
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Well, today I have the honor of introducing someone who fills or has felt, has felt, who has filled a different role.
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that role being a nurse manager.
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And so I'd love to just unpack what Meghan Smith has for us today.
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Welcome to the podcast, Meghan.
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How are you?
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Awesome.
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Thank you so much for carving time out of your families and your life's busy schedule.
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We'll talk about why I emphasize family there later.
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But in the meantime, I'll let you introduce yourself.
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Meghan, where are you from?
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How did you get where you're at?
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Let's start with just graduating.
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So you obviously carry a degree or two.
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Where and when did you graduate from if you want to let people know about?
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I graduated, I got my BSN in 2004 in Canada.
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I graduated in British Columbia, I am Canadian, and I graduated at Okanagan University College, which is now known as UBC Okanagan.
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my goodness, Canadian native, I love it.
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So after the bachelors, any other degrees from that, point forward I'd imagine.
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Yeah, I have a bad habit of alphabet souping.
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So 2014 I graduated with my MSN not really knowing what I wanted to do with it and then in 2020 I graduated with my MBA in healthcare management.
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HAHAHAHA back, so I had been a nurse for 10 years when I went back the first time.
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And I thought that education was probably my path at that point.
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But I wasn't certain because at the hospital I was at at the time, we didn't have educators, designated educators.
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Our managers did the education.
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So when I went into the MSN program, they sort of recommended that I do the leadership track versus the education because it was a bit more versatile, that I could go either direction with it.
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So I did that, still not having a clue where it would take me at the time.
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Yeah, that's awesome.
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No, that's fantastic.
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And knowing that, hey, I'm going to use this somewhere somehow.
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Something's going to happen.
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Let's get it done.
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You recognize the opportunity was then, for sure.
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I ask everybody, and this might be a little bit, you know, we're both out of the nursing school scene for a while.
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But that being said, would you like to give the listeners three words that you would use to either describe nursing school or nursing in general?
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Yes, nursing, I'm going to go with nursing in general just because nursing school, I feel like it would be hard to pull back those emotions.
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But my nursing career, nursing in general, I would say fulfilling, evolving, and educational.
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Awesome.
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Well, we'll see what those, we'll see why you chose those words here at the end.
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Let's open up with some softballs.
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Mainly, you're from Canada.
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One of my personal heroes.
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People already hear like, I love Deadpool.
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I can't wait for this third movie to come out.
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So Ryan Reynolds, he's my celebrity crush if I've got one.
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And man, if I meet that guy someday, I don't even know what I'd do.
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That being said, being from Canada as well, what is that like?
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What does that look like for Meghan?
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You know, I, that was, it was what it was.
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It was life.
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I, am I maintain my Canadian citizenship.
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I am here on a green card.
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I have been for 20 years now because I am a proud Canadian.
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I love my heritage.
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I love the roots.
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But it definitely, you know, when I came down as a new grad, what a difference, right?
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The healthcare systems, learning how to practice in different environments like this.
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It was an eye -opening experience, that's for sure.
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sure.
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Is there, can you like peel behind the curtain a little bit for those of us who have just been, you know, boring old Americans our entire lives.
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What is one of the some of the key differences between the healthcare, the healthcare model and being a nurse or potentially being a nurse in Canada versus the United States?
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Well, I think back to, well, you know, we're talking about socialized medicine versus the American healthcare system, right?
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So very different systems.
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And I think back to, you know, my life and work has all been in labor and delivery.
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And I just use the examples, let's just say, of...
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when I had babies versus when my friends had babies.
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So when I had a baby, I basically named my date, right?
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We had an induction, we had a plan.
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I was in and out because we have a couple of days in the hospital and then you're moving on kind of experience.
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Where my friends had babies, they were expected to be post dates for an induction.
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So if they were going to be induced, they were going to be 41 or greater weeks.
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Heheheheh one of my best friends was kept multiple days after delivery because breastfeeding wasn't well established.
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So the financial burden of getting her out of the hospital didn't override the needs of the patient, which was very different sometimes.
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Yes, well stated, well stated.
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It's a systemic thing and you know, how do you fix it one person at a time?
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But by golly, if we knew how to fix it, it'd be fixed, right?
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Right.
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So what made you want to become a nurse to begin with?
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Well, funny story, it was kind of a second choice for me actually.
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I thought for my entire life I was going to be a veterinarian.
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But I was in that really great category where like...
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got to go to a certain school to get into veterinary school.
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Like you do your prereqs at a certain place.
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Canada, it was harder to get into vet school than it was med school at the time.
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And my parents made too much money for me to have student loans, but not enough to pay for me to go to college.
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Mm -hmm, yeah, I'm well intimately acquainted with that scenario right now, with having teenagers myself.
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Right.
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So I stayed closer to home and honestly, my best friend was looking at nursing and there was somebody in my life that was a nurse, a friend's mom.
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She was a labor and delivery nurse and she spoke about her career.
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like it was the best thing ever.
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She was so excited about it always.
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Her stories were so exciting and she really got me excited about the idea.
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So I have never wanted to do anything except deliver babies.
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That was it for me.
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That was always it.
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And to know that piece very early on, that's pretty rare.
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That's pretty rare, right?
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And maybe advantageous for you in a way, yes?
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I mean, I think so.
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I was able to really tailor my interests and focus.
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You know, nursing school looks a little different up in Canada as well.
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So I was really able to tailor my clinicals and things like that to, you know, help me meet my goals.
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nice.
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Slightly envious to hear that actually, thinking back on even my own experience.
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So yeah, no that's great.
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So then you, any memories from nursing school you want to unpack or anything that's that's lingered around back there?
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Any what one of our previous guests called a core memory since you know Inside Out 2 is out right now.
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Kind of a core memory that sticks out to you during your time of being educated as to become a nurse?
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Gosh, there's a whole lot of them.
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I had a really great experience in nursing school.
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I had a really great group of gals.
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We lived about 35 minutes from school, so there was a group of us that carpooled together, studied together, typically did our projects together because we were out of town, so we sort of focused them in our area.
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And they really were a...
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They were so much support.
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They were so uplifting.
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I was definitely, I was by far the youngest of that crowd.
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And they really helped carry me through it.
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I was working while I was going to school, trying to pay for school as I went.
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And I'd close a restaurant at midnight and have to be at class at 8 a And they would put me in the back seat and take me to school while I was trying to study or catch up on what I didn't do while I was working.
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I just, I mean, I had such great support from this group of women that really uplifted me and made me want to do better.
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You know, they really pushed and it was pretty exciting.
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That's awesome.
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I get a picture of driving Miss Meghan.
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I love it.
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Come, Edder, where should we go today, ma 'am?
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You take care of your business and we'll get you to the school on time.
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Don't worry.
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So you graduate, you become a nurse, and you've said OB from day one.
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So briefly or longly, tell us about your history as a nurse in that field.
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So yeah, so my mom and I went to a job fair.
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We went down to, so I was a couple of hours away.
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We drove down to Vancouver where they had a job fair and met a whole bunch of recruiters.
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And I started interviewing probably November to my May graduation, prior to my May graduation.
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And L &D was what I was looking for.
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and I interviewed in a bunch of different places and eventually accepted a job in central California in a smaller town called Porterville.
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And I was so excited.
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This is my dream job.
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For me, one of the biggest things there was they did a decent number of deliveries.
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A lot of places that were willing to hire a new grad at the time, it was sort of still in the time where you needed to have some years of experience to get into L &D and people were there and stayed there.
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But it was also in 2004 when California was putting in nurse to patient ratios.
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So they were recruiting heavily for nurses to come down from Canada at the time as well.
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I had this great opportunity, accepted this job sight unseen in January, waited six months to graduate.
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And I remember, so naive, so naive.
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I had no clue.
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So they had told me about the beautiful mountains and lakes and how close to the ocean I was.
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And so a couple of weeks before I moved down there, I flew in to go get my nursing license.
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I had passed my NCLEX.
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I needed to go to Sacramento to pick up my license in person because I had to have it in hand to cross the border and get my work visa.
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So in the meantime, I went down to find an apartment and I get down and I'm driving into town and I'm like, there's no mountains here.
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Where are the mountains?
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But what I realized is you just actually couldn't see them through the smog.
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Ha ha ha ha! I mean they weren't the mountains that I'm used to in British Columbia and this part of the world, but they were they were some there.
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They just you know weren't real seen at the time.
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And then the next day after meeting at the hospital they told me I should go check out the lake and I thought okay I'm gonna drive up to the lake and I you know again Canadian I grew up on Okanagan Lake in the Okanagan.
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Okanagan Lake's like 75 miles long like beautiful travels through three different cities.
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So I got up to the next town and I stopped and I said, so how much further to the lake?
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And they're like, you passed it.
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And I was like, surely that's not what they were talking about.
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Did you blink?
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I'm sorry, we told you to keep your eyes open.
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was a dam there that had some water on the inside of it, but a lake?
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Yeah, I was so naive.
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But I went to this small town.
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I had never lived out of my parents' house.
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I lived at home through nursing school, literally.
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My parents drive me down to California.
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My mom's showing me how to do laundry in the laundromat in my apartment complex because I worked basically full -time through nursing school, so she just did all those things for me.
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I'm not gonna pretend I wasn't spoiled.
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So here I am, on my own for the first time.
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And I get to work for the first day and PS most of your patients don't speak English.
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Little white Canadian girl.
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Good luck.
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You would say a heavy Hispanic population maybe, yes?
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Yes.
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Hispanic.
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It was a very migrant area, lots of dairies and lots of citrus in the area, so lots of migrant workers.
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But it was a great experience.
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I learned that I understood more than I could say because I had been taking French my whole life, which is very similar to Spanish.
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And I honestly feel very blessed to have started in that hospital.
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Although it was small, wasn't tiny.
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It was busy at the time we did probably about 1600 to there was a time where we did almost 2 ,000 deliveries In a year so smaller, but we were quite a ways from our referral facility.
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We were about an hour and a quarter by ground and We didn't have an airplane that traveled so we or well We we did have an airplane that traveled but it was to the airport outside of town.
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So there was time and the fog really thick in the winters there so there was a lot of you know barriers to transport at times so we kept a lot of things that typically a smaller hospital would transport because there just wasn't the resources to get them where they needed to go so it really was a great hospital to start with because you learn to work with what you've got versus having all of the resources at your fingertips at all times.
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Yeah, and that's huge.
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That's huge because, you know, I mean, everybody's perspective is different depending on where you start and what's going on.
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You know, I've only my career has always existed in a larger hospital, you know, six hundred seventy plus beds, I think, if I recall correctly.
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But it's so, you know, resources are generally available when you need them.
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And that includes human resources as well.
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Right.
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I mean, leading up to the pandemic anyway, that's a whole different story.
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And we're not going to unpack that box.
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So, yes.
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But, so that being said, so you're a bedside nurse today, right?
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Like you just, that was your dream, that was it, or did something happen along the way?
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How did you get into leadership and management?
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So this is a not, I say a funny story, but not a funny story.
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So as I was doing my MSN, When I graduated actually, when we were going to my graduation and my mom and dad decided to come and meet us in Salt Lake for my convocation and we were excited.
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This was, you know, we hadn't been on a trip with just my parents in a while.
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Like we were gonna, we were gonna have a great time.
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So on the way down, my mom did tell me, she's like, you know, your dad's gonna have a scope coming up pretty quick.
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They think you might have a hiatal hernia or something.
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He's lost some weight.
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Don't be surprised when you see him.
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So we saw him.
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He was definitely skinny.
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know, but we did a three -day pub crawl of Salt Lake City.
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Like everything was fine.
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He maybe didn't need as much, but he was fine.
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I went home and went straight up to my parents on vacation with my kids and I took them to a scope and what we learned a couple weeks later is that they they told them that day that he found cancer, they found cancer, esophageal cancer from a life of reflux and he told them it was actually my sister -in -law's aunt that was taking care of him and he told her that his family was all together and they were having a good vacation and if she told anybody she was dead meat basically because he didn't have a good time and he wasn't telling any of us that.
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So we waited a couple weeks and then he started treatment and Hahaha So he was moved through the system really quickly.
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He was only 62 and he was really healthy.
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The day before he started treatment, he was golfing, you know, up.
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When we were up there, he was mowing the lawns.
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He did have to sit down between the front and the back, which was different for him.
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But we just figured that with all the weight loss and not being able to eat much, nobody really thought.
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Well, he started treatment and they sent him home with a chemo pump on.
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So 24 -7 chemo because the tumor was too long to treat well.
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It wasn't...
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It was never going to go well.
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But he had a heart attack two days into chemo, which the doctor eventually said he would have had anyways.
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He had quite a bit of underlying heart disease, but he was so healthy he masked all of his own symptoms of it, essentially.
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So he...
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went down at home.
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My mom was nearby.
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My mom, who is absolutely not medical, saved his life.
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She started CPR and did a really great job until the first responders arrived.
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The first responders, there were some amazing people.
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My dad was a policeman in our hometown and coached youth sports.
00:19:31.954 --> 00:19:40.654
Most of the responders were either kids whose dads he'd worked with or kids he'd coached at some point.
00:19:41.335 --> 00:19:45.795
My neighbors, after the fact, actually said to their like, Meghan, we didn't know.
00:19:45.795 --> 00:19:50.734
We figured somebody died because the firemen were outside crying.
00:19:52.440 --> 00:20:06.260
I learned later from one of the firemen who I'd gone to school with my whole life that the ambulance crew had suggested calling the code and they refused.
00:20:06.361 --> 00:20:08.300
They told them they were going to get him there.
00:20:08.941 --> 00:20:14.361
Amazing enough, they got him to the hospital, they got his stents placed, they got him cleaned up.
00:20:14.500 --> 00:20:18.681
I got there, he came around.
00:20:20.734 --> 00:20:21.744
was crazy.
00:20:21.744 --> 00:20:27.194
They couldn't believe that he had survived the size of the heart attack he'd had.
00:20:28.351 --> 00:20:34.641
Anyways, long story short, essentially, it took months, right, to recover from that.
00:20:34.641 --> 00:20:40.851
And in that period of time, it was the first time in my career I felt like maybe I wasn't doing the right thing.
00:20:40.851 --> 00:20:46.711
You know, I was taking care of these people, building families, watching these really great experiences.
00:20:46.711 --> 00:20:51.961
And one of the people that I loved the most was really suffering and struggling.
00:20:51.961 --> 00:20:58.257
And not just him, but my mom at home trying to take care of him, my younger brother and his wife.
00:20:58.257 --> 00:21:08.436
bearing the burden of a lot of the housework and the taking care of things for my mom and dad because my mom was so busy with my dad.
00:21:08.436 --> 00:21:11.067
And really, it was a hard time.
00:21:11.067 --> 00:21:17.436
It was hard to be in California and knowing that that's what was happening there.
00:21:17.436 --> 00:21:18.136
So.
00:21:19.550 --> 00:21:38.321
as I would this this is where it gets funny a little bit okay here that's the heavy part of my crazy story The funny part of the story is really when, again not funny, my mom calls me at work one day and says, you know, I just went and met with the doctor and he says that he is palliative.
00:21:38.321 --> 00:21:42.311
They're not going to do any more treatment and he doesn't know how long it's going to be.
00:21:42.311 --> 00:21:46.200
It could be a couple days, could be a couple weeks, but.
00:21:46.200 --> 00:21:49.619
I don't know what to do, your dad doesn't want to go to hospice.
00:21:50.079 --> 00:21:53.500
And I said, well, I'll be there tomorrow.
00:21:53.779 --> 00:21:57.240
My kids and I were supposed to be going up for the weekend anyways.
00:21:57.279 --> 00:21:59.099
The kids hadn't seen him sick.
00:21:59.099 --> 00:22:06.640
They didn't know, they knew what was going on because they'd seen me having to come and go, but they didn't know the extent of it.
00:22:06.743 --> 00:22:13.703
So my kids and I packed up and I was well, I was at work that day and I said to my boss, I gotta go.
00:22:13.703 --> 00:22:16.144
I don't know when I'll be back.
00:22:16.624 --> 00:22:25.144
And honestly that day or maybe the day prior, one of the managers on our unit had handed in her resignation.
00:22:25.144 --> 00:22:29.284
And I told my boss when I come back, I wanna do that job.
00:22:30.624 --> 00:22:35.064
Somebody should have thought, does she really?
00:23:03.669 --> 00:23:07.592
Hahaha just feel very divided in that moment.
00:23:07.612 --> 00:23:12.182
So in the long run, I ended up going back.
00:23:12.182 --> 00:23:15.872
We were there for about four weeks before he passed.
00:23:15.872 --> 00:23:18.932
We did all of his care at home.
00:23:19.511 --> 00:23:22.352
Again, that's where the Canadian healthcare system came in.
00:23:22.352 --> 00:23:28.751
As soon as he was deemed palliative, they brought everything we could ever possibly need so that we could take care of him well.
00:23:28.751 --> 00:23:32.412
All the medications, all of the supplies, everything.
00:23:33.231 --> 00:23:39.571
And then until he passed and then I went back, I worked a couple weeks and then moved into leadership.
00:23:39.692 --> 00:23:42.412
And there I have stayed basically.
00:23:42.448 --> 00:23:43.468
Wow.
00:23:43.468 --> 00:23:51.647
And that's what a, you're entering this area of nursing brand spanking new for the most part.
00:23:51.647 --> 00:23:58.198
And after such a powerful life moment, what is that?
00:23:58.198 --> 00:23:59.647
How do you even concentrate?
00:23:59.647 --> 00:24:01.314
What does that look like?
00:24:02.200 --> 00:24:05.220
sure that I knew.
00:24:05.220 --> 00:24:07.900
I just sort of did it, you know.
00:24:07.900 --> 00:24:17.846
So on that unit we'd had a lot of leadership turnover, director level particularly, and people...
00:24:19.000 --> 00:24:22.480
It just, it felt like we needed some consistency.
00:24:23.039 --> 00:24:32.079
I don't really know that the position itself, it was, the position also changed from when I said, I think I want to do this to when I actually did it.
00:24:32.079 --> 00:24:37.640
So when I initially had talked about it, it was a postpartum NICU manager, but we were all one unit.
00:24:37.640 --> 00:24:52.352
So it was, you know, we still worked labor and managed, but by the time I took it, I had, the NICU, I had peds I had a clinical decision unit at like a short stay cardiac and the float pool.
00:24:52.471 --> 00:24:53.852
and lactation.
00:24:54.161 --> 00:24:55.361
That's all?
00:24:56.215 --> 00:24:58.955
PS, we're going to be baby friendly in a year.
00:24:59.016 --> 00:25:01.355
So it was a crazy experience.
00:25:01.355 --> 00:25:10.596
But when I took the position, knowing all that I went through with my dad and knowing my mom, I did tell them, I've got one year to give you.
00:25:10.596 --> 00:25:14.615
I can't promise longer than a year because I may be needed.
00:25:14.615 --> 00:25:16.655
I might need to get closer.
00:25:16.655 --> 00:25:17.935
And so I did.
00:25:17.935 --> 00:25:24.296
I was there for exactly one year in leadership before I moved up this direction.
00:25:25.144 --> 00:25:33.523
Yeah, I was in one year, you know, we started working on We did a lot of quality improvement kind of work.
00:25:33.523 --> 00:25:49.903
We did a lot of Risk mitigation work with our insurance companies and providers lots of work with CMQCC, which is the California quality initiative group that works with maternal and newborn outcomes, which was really exciting.
00:25:49.903 --> 00:25:51.223
I love that sort of stuff.
00:25:51.223 --> 00:25:57.564
So it gave me a really great foundation for moving to another hospital and starting.
00:25:57.564 --> 00:26:00.253
But in that hospital, I had been a new grad.
00:26:00.253 --> 00:26:07.003
So all of a sudden here I am 10 years later, sure, but still one of the young ones on the unit.
00:26:07.003 --> 00:26:10.544
And I'm leading nurses that taught me how to be a nurse.
00:26:10.544 --> 00:26:12.364
It was wild.
00:26:12.737 --> 00:26:16.998
Yeah, that's got to present its own set of challenges, I imagine.
00:26:17.337 --> 00:26:17.903
Yeah.
00:26:17.903 --> 00:26:22.284
you showed me how to do my very first vag exam, but now can you do this for me?
00:26:22.284 --> 00:26:23.963
You know, it's so strange.
00:26:23.963 --> 00:26:30.364
Fortunately, the women on that unit were so incredible and there were such great mentors and nurses.
00:26:30.644 --> 00:26:41.363
It was just another learning experience for me and they were so they were so kind and so gentle and let me let me learn what leadership looked like.
00:26:41.363 --> 00:26:47.843
and let you breathe enough to make the mistakes that inevitably are gonna come with learning something like that.
00:26:48.343 --> 00:26:50.123
Yeah, that's amazing.
00:26:50.182 --> 00:26:58.762
So talking about being in management, how long, let's not give away the ending here, but how long have you been in management?
00:26:58.762 --> 00:27:05.782
And what does that, if any nursing students are out there going, man, you know, this is something that I think I might wanna do from the get -go.
00:27:05.823 --> 00:27:07.633
What advice do you have for them?
00:27:07.633 --> 00:27:08.063
What is that?
00:27:08.063 --> 00:27:09.809
Can you paint a picture of what?
00:27:09.809 --> 00:27:15.650
the realities of that position look like, obviously with the limited perspective of one person.
00:27:15.650 --> 00:27:20.910
You know, this may vary from location to location, but what is Meghan's experience with this?
00:27:21.463 --> 00:27:32.503
So I, about nine years of management and I think...
00:27:34.327 --> 00:27:38.008
I think that there are some people that just naturally gravitate towards leadership, right?
00:27:38.008 --> 00:27:41.667
Like that's just something that sort of happens in your life.
00:27:41.667 --> 00:27:45.127
I say it happened to me multiple times, you know?
00:27:45.127 --> 00:27:48.887
My first job was in fast food and I was promoted there.
00:27:48.887 --> 00:27:54.907
You know, those are just, you end up on teams and you take leadership roles on teams or whatever it is.
00:27:54.907 --> 00:28:03.307
So, you know, there are probably a lot of nursing students that see themselves in the future moving in and trying to make a difference differently.
00:28:03.352 --> 00:28:21.132
And that was one of the things I'd say when I first started in leadership that I didn't, I was really worried that I was going to regret it because again, like I made this crazy change at a crazy time, but it wasn't about the when or how it happened.
00:28:21.132 --> 00:28:27.006
It was over time what I learned was I was still taking care of people.
00:28:27.006 --> 00:28:30.536
I was just taking care of the people that took care of the people.
00:28:30.955 --> 00:28:36.215
And you know, you're working really hard on trying to create an environment where people can succeed.
00:28:36.395 --> 00:28:39.319
And sometimes...
00:28:39.319 --> 00:28:41.619
that's a great day at work.
00:28:41.619 --> 00:28:43.490
Sometimes people really appreciate that.
00:28:43.490 --> 00:28:59.200
And then there are times where people don't really appreciate that, you know, when that comes to the accountability pieces and trying to create some consistency and, you know, really working towards creating the best and safest environment possible.
00:28:59.680 --> 00:29:07.400
So if I were talking to a nursing student that we're thinking about, you know, that may be somewhere I wanted to go, I'd say go for it.
00:29:07.400 --> 00:29:17.753
You know, I don't think that needs to be a nurse for 20 years or have a ton of bedside nursing experience to be a leader.
00:29:17.753 --> 00:29:21.493
I think that being a leader comes from within.
00:29:21.854 --> 00:29:31.614
And some of that experience will definitely make your experience richer and make your decision making a little simpler as you move through that process.
00:29:31.614 --> 00:29:34.173
But I think that...
00:29:34.455 --> 00:29:36.435
We need great nursing leaders too.
00:29:36.435 --> 00:29:42.276
We need people that care about people and want to make sure that people can succeed in our career.
00:29:43.636 --> 00:29:44.116
I love that.
00:29:44.116 --> 00:29:53.507
I love that perspective because I don't, you know, I'm sure nursing students probably catch it too, but you know, nurses, you got the rank and file, right?
00:29:53.507 --> 00:30:04.576
Us rank and file nurses and you've got leadership, you've got someone who's steering the ship or needs to at least provide some sort of modicum of direction for the unit or for the facility or for the whatever.
00:30:04.576 --> 00:30:10.019
And so there's oftentimes that, you know, I mean, a whole sitcom was built out of it, right?
00:30:10.019 --> 00:30:13.539
You got The Office you've got the management, and you've got the rank and file.
00:30:13.539 --> 00:30:16.039
And that's a story as old as time, right?
00:30:16.039 --> 00:30:19.569
Upstairs, downstairs, Downton Abbey, you know what I mean?
00:30:19.569 --> 00:30:20.960
Like all these things.
00:30:21.039 --> 00:30:36.460
And I don't mean to paint that drastic of a picture, but the point being that as I've often heard and experienced in various other facets of my life, leadership, management, a lot of times you're on an island.
00:30:36.468 --> 00:30:38.948
It's a very lonely position.
00:30:39.448 --> 00:30:41.137
How do you navigate that?
00:30:41.137 --> 00:30:44.087
How did you navigate that personally if you want to unpack that?
00:30:44.087 --> 00:30:50.188
But what does that look like to be on the other side of, my gosh, that's our manager.
00:30:50.188 --> 00:30:52.278
All she wants to do is this, that, and the other.
00:30:52.278 --> 00:30:54.198
Or all he wants to do is this, that, and the other.
00:30:54.198 --> 00:30:58.622
How do you navigate those waters as a person, as a human being with a heart?
00:30:58.968 --> 00:31:05.698
Yeah, you know, in the beginning I found it a lot harder because you take it so personally, right?
00:31:05.698 --> 00:31:08.968
When you're young and...
00:31:09.336 --> 00:31:16.415
drawing those lines are so much different, especially again, when I started out on that unit where I had grown up, these people were my friends.
00:31:16.415 --> 00:31:25.885
They were nurses that I had worked with from the beginning and to have them giving me a hard time about having to hold them accountable, I was like, what in the world?
00:31:25.885 --> 00:31:27.635
Like, what's wrong with you?
00:31:27.635 --> 00:31:46.622
And I did it very personally and it could be really anxiety inducing at times because I'd be going into conversations and just dreading it because I didn't want to create rifts or create, you know, those challenges within my working relationships.
00:31:46.622 --> 00:32:00.336
But what I learned is that by not doing that and by not facing the challenges that were present, I was creating bigger problems.
00:32:00.756 --> 00:32:19.375
So what it really comes down to is being able to recognize that when you're leading, you have to lead from a place of, of course, there's policy and procedure and blah, blah, all the things that go on in a hospital.
00:32:20.250 --> 00:32:27.109
also has to be that, you know, you want to, that's what the manager takes care of in you.
00:32:27.109 --> 00:32:32.180
The leader takes care of the people, the heart, and really manages what they can do.
00:32:32.180 --> 00:32:44.130
And a lot of that is that accountability and holding people, you know, to a certain standard in the sense of ensuring that people know what they can count on at work.
00:32:44.130 --> 00:33:15.064
So I think that a lot of it comes down to, Once you draw your lines in the sand and really start to communicate with people about what your expectations are, you start to build a team of people around you that are either going to help you move that dial or maybe people, maybe you start to lose people here and there because they're not interested in the same outcomes and then maybe they're not on the right bus.
00:33:15.743 --> 00:33:18.778
Really great book I read recently called The Energy Bus.
00:33:18.778 --> 00:33:25.877
I would recommend it for anybody, frankly, anybody working in any kind of team environment.
00:33:25.877 --> 00:33:31.337
But it really talks about, you know, as a leader.
00:33:31.703 --> 00:33:40.433
talking to people and even, you know, laying out the expectations, laying out that foundation and then offering tickets on the bus.
00:33:40.433 --> 00:33:43.983
Like you can join me on this bus or you can get off.
00:33:43.983 --> 00:33:46.584
If this isn't the right bus for you, find a different.
00:33:46.584 --> 00:33:58.384
But I think that's part of how navigating those that, yeah, being on an island at times is creating a team that wants to be on the island with you.
00:33:58.384 --> 00:34:39.893
You know, whether you're still going to be a jerk sometimes, like day somebody is going to be upset with you because I you know somebody always gets the worst assignment somebody always ends up with that extra duty that they just didn't hope for or maybe they didn't get their vacation approved because Frankly, you just can't because we need to provide safe staffing or whatever it may be There's always going to be somebody but if in the end they know that you're doing your best to be consistent and fair and You're holding every the same standard, then again that bus starts to fill up with the right kind of people and you really start to move the mission forward.
00:34:40.237 --> 00:35:00.398
So that's a fantastic perspective, Meghan, because I think, especially with a lot of nurses that don't have the opportunity to experience what leadership slash management slash whatever looks like in that role, getting a peek behind that curtain really, really hopefully helps those that maybe have zero to no tolerance of the man.
00:35:00.398 --> 00:35:00.728
I don't know.
00:35:00.728 --> 00:35:01.657
You know what I mean?
00:35:01.657 --> 00:35:03.458
For lack of better.
00:35:03.697 --> 00:35:04.597
Yeah.
00:35:05.094 --> 00:35:17.534
People don't think about how much goes into a leadership role sometimes.
00:35:17.534 --> 00:35:25.414
I think about, most recently, my team, 105 to 10 people.
00:35:25.494 --> 00:35:33.427
And when I leave work, Not only are you still thinking about work because it's important work that's happening whether you're there or not.
00:35:33.427 --> 00:35:36.068
You want to make sure, you know, did I leave them well set up?
00:35:36.068 --> 00:35:37.617
What is the, you know, what's the scenario?
00:35:37.617 --> 00:35:38.137
What's going on?
00:35:38.137 --> 00:35:39.898
But you're also thinking about the people.
00:35:39.898 --> 00:35:45.737
Like you really truly care or you should if you're in leadership, you know.
00:35:46.318 --> 00:35:47.438
Please.
00:35:48.054 --> 00:36:28.108
I think about, you know, like so -and -so who's going through a divorce and how can I support them best and how do I, you know, make sure that when they're at work they feel like they still have the tools to do their best or they have a safe space if they need to break down for a minute or, you know, so -and -so's kid is sick and they've used up all of their safe sick time and how do we support them best by making, but also, you know, do it legally and, you know, make sure that we're doing the right things and you spend, you know, don't think about this amount of time that you put into just caring about the people and that is a big part of that job.
00:36:28.655 --> 00:36:37.514
And I've been very fortunate personally just to have amazing management everywhere I've gone, which isn't a lot of places, but even with management changeover.
00:36:37.514 --> 00:36:41.425
So there's that key, I think one of the key lessons there is anyone thinking about going that direction.
00:36:41.425 --> 00:36:47.405
Don't lose the heart amidst the politics and the policies and the procedures and the things that need to happen.
00:36:47.405 --> 00:36:50.295
You keep that heart just alive and fresh.
00:36:50.295 --> 00:36:52.375
So thank you for that, Meghan.
00:36:52.414 --> 00:36:57.326
For the nursing students that are listening who are like, yeah, no, I definitely don't want to become management.
00:36:57.326 --> 00:37:03.286
They do all interact with some form of management, obviously in their careers, but more importantly at the point of hire.
00:37:03.286 --> 00:37:07.525
They want to get a job and a lot of them got to sit through some interviews.
00:37:07.525 --> 00:37:14.925
So any advice for nursing students says, okay, Meghan, I got to know, how do I successfully interview for a job?
00:37:15.597 --> 00:37:19.177
Okay, I'll tell you, there's a few things.
00:37:19.318 --> 00:37:21.518
Be authentic and be you.
00:37:21.518 --> 00:37:23.597
Be real in your interview.
00:37:23.597 --> 00:37:29.018
You don't need to try and show up and be who you think we want to talk to.
00:37:29.018 --> 00:37:30.797
I want to talk to you.
00:37:31.157 --> 00:37:35.338
My interviews, I think, are often different than a lot of other managers.
00:37:35.338 --> 00:37:37.070
I'm not going to...
00:37:37.070 --> 00:37:47.710
I don't ask nursing students about behavioral, critical thinking, necessary clinical scenario kind of questions because you don't have any experience.
00:37:47.710 --> 00:37:56.739
I don't really care what happened that one time in nursing school when there was a clinical instructor standing behind you when you placed your first Foley.
00:37:56.739 --> 00:37:57.559
I do care.
00:37:57.559 --> 00:37:58.969
You had to learn those things.
00:37:58.969 --> 00:38:04.389
But that isn't what tells me about you and your work ethic and who you are.
00:38:04.389 --> 00:38:18.463
I would rather hear, honestly, examples your job at Dairy Queen while you were going through and how you worked as a teammate there or gosh, please tell me about any team sport experience you had.
00:38:18.463 --> 00:38:23.923
I love to hear about people who have worked with teams or functioned as part of a team.
00:38:23.923 --> 00:38:30.963
Those are huge things to me when I'm interviewing because teamwork is the core of nursing practice.
00:38:30.983 --> 00:38:35.804
Like yes, we all have our own patients, but without each other, we cannot be successful.
00:38:35.804 --> 00:38:40.815
So, Be honest, be yourself in those interviews.
00:38:40.896 --> 00:38:44.815
Talk about some of those struggles you've had.
00:38:44.856 --> 00:38:52.016
Talk about the things that got you there or why you think that you'd be the right person.
00:38:52.016 --> 00:38:54.135
That's one of my favorite questions to ask.
00:38:54.135 --> 00:39:00.596
So I get, with a new grad, I have tons of applications every time I post a new grad position.
00:39:00.596 --> 00:39:02.576
So why should I pick you?
00:39:02.733 --> 00:39:06.494
You know, what have you done to make yourself stand out?
00:39:06.534 --> 00:39:07.744
What are the struggles?
00:39:07.744 --> 00:39:10.673
What are the life lessons that you'd have?
00:39:11.469 --> 00:39:14.469
you know, how have you really gone above and beyond?
00:39:14.469 --> 00:39:20.469
You know, people are always saying, you know, lots of like the Facebook groups and stuff, how do I get hired?
00:39:20.469 --> 00:39:23.489
And it's like, do I need to take NRP before I go?
00:39:23.489 --> 00:39:24.460
No, you don't have to.
00:39:24.460 --> 00:39:26.389
The hospital will totally put you through it.
00:39:26.389 --> 00:39:39.150
But if I see that I have a nursing student that's taken beginner's fetal monitoring and she's also done NRP because she is so gung -ho, she just really wants to make herself stand out, I'm in.
00:39:39.329 --> 00:40:12.869
If I see a student that has up for something like a one our Association for women's health obstetric and neonatal nursing your professional organizations your commitment to a professional organization will go a long way it really it really sets you apart from a lot of other people because It shows that you're you're committed to doing the right thing and and finding you know best practice resources So to me, I think that really knowing what you're interviewing for and knowing your why that's the biggest is why are you doing it?
00:40:12.869 --> 00:40:21.820
So if you sign up for A1 because I told you to in a podcast but you don't even know what the initials stand for, great thanks.
00:40:21.820 --> 00:40:24.690
But probably still not my first pick, right?
00:40:24.690 --> 00:40:26.090
Why are you doing this?
00:40:26.090 --> 00:40:30.219
What is it that you feel like you're going to get from these experiences?
00:40:31.019 --> 00:40:36.840
So yeah, I'd say my interviewing tips are come prepared to be yourself.
00:40:36.840 --> 00:40:39.280
Like truly, truly be yourself.
00:40:40.621 --> 00:40:46.561
you know, when we talk about things like, you know, how you handle conflict.
00:40:47.382 --> 00:40:49.362
Give a genuine example.
00:40:49.362 --> 00:40:51.322
Again, I don't care if it's from nursing.
00:40:51.322 --> 00:40:56.981
I don't care if it was that happened at the grocery store where you were bagging groceries through nursing school.
00:40:56.981 --> 00:41:05.322
Give us something that you've really worked through and show that you know how to manage those issues as they arise.
00:41:05.322 --> 00:41:19.076
Because that's what we really want to see is that you can function with our team and that your and your values really align with those of the team that we have created for our units.
00:41:20.148 --> 00:41:21.168
Outstanding.
00:41:21.168 --> 00:41:22.699
Take those words to heart, everybody.
00:41:22.699 --> 00:41:25.208
There you go, that's straight from a manager's mouth.
00:41:25.208 --> 00:41:29.009
Well, I said I didn't want to give away the ending, but I mean, let's go to the ending now.
00:41:29.009 --> 00:41:30.398
So, Meghan, are you still in management?
00:41:30.398 --> 00:41:31.289
And if so, why?
00:41:31.289 --> 00:41:32.860
If not, why not?
00:41:33.070 --> 00:41:40.389
So no, I recently took a different position which was wild for me honestly.
00:41:40.389 --> 00:41:42.590
The position came to me.
00:41:44.530 --> 00:41:50.170
For about a year I had been doing a little bit of per diem with a company, a vendor company.
00:41:51.021 --> 00:42:00.461
I was approached about a full -time position in this world, so I work for a company called Perigen, which is a obstetric software company.
00:42:00.461 --> 00:42:12.802
We sell a fetal surveillance and fetal analytics program, AI program, that essentially has an early warning software for moms and babies.
00:42:15.309 --> 00:42:20.429
When I was approached about it, I have a couple of kids at home.
00:42:20.429 --> 00:42:33.429
I have a 16 year old daughter who is a competitive softball player and I have a 14 year old son who is a hockey player and a lacrosse player and he also struggles with ADHD.
00:42:33.429 --> 00:42:55.115
And we were at the end of the first semester when this came to be and he was, we were just like dragging his feet through every day just trying to get him through school and was offered the opportunity to work from home primarily and at this point in my life it was just a little bit too much to say no to.
00:42:55.115 --> 00:43:02.255
I was, you know, I have been in leadership since my daughter was in first grade.
00:43:03.342 --> 00:43:06.882
Yes, halfway through her first year grade year.
00:43:06.882 --> 00:43:12.181
So there have been times, of course, where I can do things like field trips and things like that.
00:43:12.181 --> 00:43:24.021
But there's been a lot of times where I couldn't or even if I could, you know, the optics to your staff while she's leaving again, you know, those sort of things that are just really challenging.
00:43:24.021 --> 00:43:27.952
And this allows me to be where I need to be.
00:43:27.952 --> 00:43:31.442
I've got three more years with kids at home and.
00:43:31.789 --> 00:43:35.570
I feel like I'd be crazy not to take advantage of them right now.
00:43:35.570 --> 00:43:36.831
Yeah, and there it is.
00:43:36.831 --> 00:43:38.840
And that's, I mean, right there, what did you just hear?
00:43:38.840 --> 00:43:47.231
You heard priorities, you know, this is, you know, we can be as passionate as we want to be about our career and whatever area of our careers were in as nurses.
00:43:47.231 --> 00:43:54.891
But when it comes down to it, you know, it's it's dad, it's mom, it's, you know, my kids, it's my family comes first.
00:43:54.891 --> 00:44:01.130
And, you know, we've faced that ourselves many times and you've likely listener face that yourselves as well.
00:44:01.130 --> 00:44:08.465
So that's just, you know, it's one of those things that nursing provides for as well as the ability to have that movement.
00:44:08.465 --> 00:44:15.505
That's the other takeaway from that is that here, you know, management, I'm locked in, I'm dialed in, wait, here's this opportunity.
00:44:15.505 --> 00:44:19.686
and this opportunity is coming at about the same time that I'm needing this flexibility.
00:44:19.766 --> 00:44:25.806
And so nursing is just, we talk about that horizontal movement, we talk about that vertical movement, diagonal.
00:44:25.806 --> 00:44:26.675
You can go anywhere.
00:44:26.675 --> 00:44:27.777
You can do anything.
00:44:27.777 --> 00:44:34.038
reality is, is in three years, let's just say, the hospital's not going anywhere.
00:44:34.577 --> 00:44:38.338
So, so I could happily go back and work the bedside.
00:44:38.438 --> 00:44:41.887
You know, I, I loved every minute of working bedside.
00:44:41.887 --> 00:44:44.117
I did not leave that.
00:44:44.590 --> 00:44:46.550
to management because I was unhappy with it.
00:44:46.550 --> 00:44:48.699
I'd be thrilled to go back and take care of patients.
00:44:48.699 --> 00:44:49.989
That'd be great.
00:44:50.030 --> 00:44:55.769
So, you know, in a couple of years, if that's what it comes to, I don't see that right now.
00:44:55.769 --> 00:44:57.460
I'm really enjoying what I'm doing.
00:44:57.460 --> 00:44:58.630
I'm really loving it.
00:44:58.630 --> 00:45:06.429
A little bit of travel, a lot of time at home and still being able to make an impact with moms and babies and outcomes.
00:45:06.429 --> 00:45:12.570
So for me, you know, it's sort of ticking the boxes what I'm doing, but.
00:45:13.454 --> 00:45:15.114
You know, it's there.
00:45:15.114 --> 00:45:17.653
The option is not lost.
00:45:17.907 --> 00:45:19.146
Yeah, yeah.
00:45:19.146 --> 00:45:25.907
Well then rapid fire, this leads right into the first words you chose are the three words you wanted to use to describe nursing.
00:45:25.907 --> 00:45:28.467
Not necessarily nursing school, but nursing in general.
00:45:28.467 --> 00:45:30.420
Fulfilling, why fulfilling?
00:45:32.077 --> 00:45:33.318
That's what it is.
00:45:33.318 --> 00:45:35.538
For me, it fills my cup.
00:45:36.858 --> 00:45:39.737
I love learning.
00:45:39.737 --> 00:45:42.577
I love taking care of people.
00:45:42.918 --> 00:45:51.318
I love improving outcomes and the quality work and really just knowing that we're moving the dial.
00:45:51.378 --> 00:45:55.737
And that in any area of nursing, you have those opportunities.
00:45:56.050 --> 00:45:58.210
What about evolving?
00:45:58.702 --> 00:45:59.822
Well, that's it.
00:45:59.822 --> 00:46:14.521
Like career wise, it's been evolving, you know, from a new grad at the bedside to a charge nurse to leadership to a different facility and leadership.
00:46:14.521 --> 00:46:23.742
And now into the vendor world, like there's, you know, there's been a lot of opportunity, but also nursing practice, the evolution of nursing practice.
00:46:23.742 --> 00:46:28.867
Like I said, I, I feel too young to have been practicing for 20 years, which is actually this month.
00:46:28.867 --> 00:46:30.927
my 20 years in nursing.
00:46:32.047 --> 00:46:47.789
Why thank you! But I think, you know, like 20 years ago when we were charting on paper and, you know, scanning or you know, the machine that had the little face plate so we could put our patient's names on paper.
00:46:47.789 --> 00:46:58.349
And like there was crazy things and you know, what we were doing in our healthcare world, like the things that we were doing that now we look back on and laugh.
00:46:58.349 --> 00:47:03.519
Like healthcare is evolving because we learn more and we do more with best practice and research.
00:47:03.519 --> 00:47:09.190
So I think that the world of nursing, not just our careers is always evolving, which is exciting.
00:47:09.523 --> 00:47:11.833
and extrapolate that forward, you know?
00:47:11.833 --> 00:47:20.664
I mean, imagine the evolution that'll take place in the next 20 years when, you know, you nursing student are sitting in the chairs that we're sitting in at 17 and 20 years of experience.
00:47:20.664 --> 00:47:21.804
And you know what I mean?
00:47:21.804 --> 00:47:24.103
And you're bringing up that next generation.
00:47:24.103 --> 00:47:25.664
Like, what does that even look like?
00:47:25.664 --> 00:47:33.123
I can't wrap my mind around it, but there are people that, I mean, we're all in it together to try and shape that future, right?
00:47:33.123 --> 00:47:34.664
I could talk about that forever.
00:47:34.664 --> 00:47:36.052
And your last word.
00:47:36.052 --> 00:47:37.442
I'm really surprised by it.
00:47:37.442 --> 00:47:37.992
Educational?
00:47:37.992 --> 00:47:40.351
I thought that was done after nursing school.
00:47:40.735 --> 00:47:41.726
right.
00:47:42.222 --> 00:47:46.012
The commitment to being a lifelong learner is so essential in this career, right?
00:47:46.012 --> 00:47:49.422
So seeking out those opportunities to know more and do better.
00:47:49.422 --> 00:47:53.782
As I said, that's our commitment and it should be our commitment as nurses.
00:47:53.782 --> 00:47:58.442
You know, if I show up to work to do what I've always done, I'm not doing the right thing.
00:47:58.802 --> 00:48:05.161
My job should always be to ask the whys, to know the whys and to seek opportunities.
00:48:05.161 --> 00:48:30.481
So whether it's certifications or classes or degrees, which again while I joke that I have collected an alphabet, it's not really about that, it's about learning and I unfortunately am not a very think outside the boxer in the sense of like how I learn so for me it's just like they're gonna tuck this all into a little box for me, I'll take that so that I can grab it all within this little box.
00:48:30.601 --> 00:49:22.411
But even like, you know people forget about the continuing education opportunities, conferences, getting out there, you know taking classes and seeking out and that's honestly with this new role part of the excitement for me as well as getting to travel to some of these conferences and get into I was just at our national A1 conference and some of the information was amazing you know there the speakers there was I mean who doesn't know about Jen Hamilton in our world of L &D these days but she was one of the keynotes and was so funny and so engaging but there were also just some really great speakers really great topics and I just think that, as I said, I think that all of us should be very committed to that ongoing educational process as we continue through our career.
00:49:22.677 --> 00:49:23.317
Very true.
00:49:23.317 --> 00:49:26.936
It's okay to take a breather after you're, you know, once you've graduated.
00:49:27.556 --> 00:49:35.996
Yeah, no, but it's there and it's waiting and you'll be surprised because you may be one of those that says, no, when I'm done with this man, that's it.
00:49:35.996 --> 00:49:42.327
And you're gonna get to a point where you're gonna hunger for a little more knowledge, a little more, well, how can I do this better?
00:49:42.327 --> 00:49:44.027
Well, is this the right way to do this?
00:49:44.027 --> 00:49:45.661
Like, and you're gonna find yourself.
00:49:45.661 --> 00:49:48.742
why would we do it like this when we could do it like this?
00:49:48.742 --> 00:49:50.577
You could be very right.
00:49:50.577 --> 00:49:50.976
Yeah.
00:49:50.976 --> 00:49:55.817
There are a lot of things that we did in medicine, say 50 years ago, that we're not doing today for that very reason.
00:49:55.817 --> 00:49:58.516
Thank God, because...
00:49:58.516 --> 00:50:07.309
Alright, so wrapping it up, one piece of advice for nursing students if they take nothing else away from this podcast episode, what is that piece?
00:50:07.309 --> 00:50:08.449
to know your why.
00:50:08.449 --> 00:50:14.010
Know why you do it, know why you plan to do it, and know what you want from it.
00:50:14.469 --> 00:50:16.550
And you'll never go wrong.
00:50:18.585 --> 00:50:20.065
There's nothing else I need to say.
00:50:20.065 --> 00:50:23.625
Meghan, thank you so much for taking time out of this afternoon.
00:50:23.625 --> 00:50:24.454
Thank you, thank you.
00:50:24.454 --> 00:50:26.349
You have a lovely, lovely rest of your day.
00:50:26.349 --> 00:50:26.960
You too.
00:50:26.960 --> 00:50:28.083
Thank you.
00:00:00.444 --> 00:00:04.724
Welcome to this episode of the Feeding Our Young podcast.
00:00:04.724 --> 00:00:13.944
If you have been loyal listener for a while, you know we've had a wide variety of guests on the podcast as it stands right now, a lot of nursing students, which is really the goal, right?
00:00:13.944 --> 00:00:18.324
But also sprinkling in a few nurses here and there, a few amazing nurse educators.
00:00:18.324 --> 00:00:28.891
Well, today I have the honor of introducing someone who fills or has felt, has felt, who has filled a different role.
00:00:28.891 --> 00:00:31.292
that role being a nurse manager.
00:00:31.292 --> 00:00:36.542
And so I'd love to just unpack what Meghan Smith has for us today.
00:00:36.542 --> 00:00:38.121
Welcome to the podcast, Meghan.
00:00:38.121 --> 00:00:39.972
How are you?
00:00:40.292 --> 00:00:40.962
Awesome.
00:00:40.962 --> 00:00:45.832
Thank you so much for carving time out of your families and your life's busy schedule.
00:00:45.832 --> 00:00:49.371
We'll talk about why I emphasize family there later.
00:00:49.371 --> 00:00:52.451
But in the meantime, I'll let you introduce yourself.
00:00:52.451 --> 00:00:54.292
Meghan, where are you from?
00:00:54.392 --> 00:00:56.072
How did you get where you're at?
00:00:56.072 --> 00:00:57.723
Let's start with just graduating.
00:00:57.723 --> 00:01:00.923
So you obviously carry a degree or two.
00:01:00.923 --> 00:01:05.103
Where and when did you graduate from if you want to let people know about?
00:01:05.968 --> 00:01:13.727
I graduated, I got my BSN in 2004 in Canada.
00:01:13.727 --> 00:01:23.567
I graduated in British Columbia, I am Canadian, and I graduated at Okanagan University College, which is now known as UBC Okanagan.
00:01:24.183 --> 00:01:27.424
my goodness, Canadian native, I love it.
00:01:27.424 --> 00:01:31.953
So after the bachelors, any other degrees from that, point forward I'd imagine.
00:01:31.953 --> 00:01:37.632
Yeah, I have a bad habit of alphabet souping.
00:01:38.793 --> 00:01:51.632
So 2014 I graduated with my MSN not really knowing what I wanted to do with it and then in 2020 I graduated with my MBA in healthcare management.
00:02:04.968 --> 00:02:11.049
HAHAHAHA back, so I had been a nurse for 10 years when I went back the first time.
00:02:11.049 --> 00:02:17.528
And I thought that education was probably my path at that point.
00:02:18.544 --> 00:02:25.564
But I wasn't certain because at the hospital I was at at the time, we didn't have educators, designated educators.
00:02:25.564 --> 00:02:28.365
Our managers did the education.
00:02:28.365 --> 00:02:39.965
So when I went into the MSN program, they sort of recommended that I do the leadership track versus the education because it was a bit more versatile, that I could go either direction with it.
00:02:39.965 --> 00:02:45.533
So I did that, still not having a clue where it would take me at the time.
00:02:45.533 --> 00:02:46.743
Yeah, that's awesome.
00:02:46.743 --> 00:02:47.683
No, that's fantastic.
00:02:47.683 --> 00:02:51.234
And knowing that, hey, I'm going to use this somewhere somehow.
00:02:52.813 --> 00:02:53.764
Something's going to happen.
00:02:53.764 --> 00:02:54.443
Let's get it done.
00:02:54.443 --> 00:02:57.753
You recognize the opportunity was then, for sure.
00:02:57.753 --> 00:03:06.413
I ask everybody, and this might be a little bit, you know, we're both out of the nursing school scene for a while.
00:03:06.413 --> 00:03:14.794
But that being said, would you like to give the listeners three words that you would use to either describe nursing school or nursing in general?
00:03:15.856 --> 00:03:26.356
Yes, nursing, I'm going to go with nursing in general just because nursing school, I feel like it would be hard to pull back those emotions.
00:03:26.356 --> 00:03:37.437
But my nursing career, nursing in general, I would say fulfilling, evolving, and educational.
00:03:37.544 --> 00:03:38.074
Awesome.
00:03:38.074 --> 00:03:41.764
Well, we'll see what those, we'll see why you chose those words here at the end.
00:03:41.764 --> 00:03:43.844
Let's open up with some softballs.
00:03:43.844 --> 00:03:46.224
Mainly, you're from Canada.
00:03:46.264 --> 00:03:48.044
One of my personal heroes.
00:03:48.044 --> 00:03:50.514
People already hear like, I love Deadpool.
00:03:50.514 --> 00:03:51.944
I can't wait for this third movie to come out.
00:03:51.944 --> 00:03:54.731
So Ryan Reynolds, he's my celebrity crush if I've got one.
00:03:54.731 --> 00:03:58.771
And man, if I meet that guy someday, I don't even know what I'd do.
00:03:58.771 --> 00:04:02.822
That being said, being from Canada as well, what is that like?
00:04:02.822 --> 00:04:04.379
What does that look like for Meghan?
00:04:05.182 --> 00:04:08.983
You know, I, that was, it was what it was.
00:04:08.983 --> 00:04:09.823
It was life.
00:04:09.823 --> 00:04:15.522
I, am I maintain my Canadian citizenship.
00:04:15.522 --> 00:04:17.293
I am here on a green card.
00:04:17.293 --> 00:04:23.163
I have been for 20 years now because I am a proud Canadian.
00:04:23.163 --> 00:04:25.583
I love my heritage.
00:04:25.583 --> 00:04:27.142
I love the roots.
00:04:27.523 --> 00:04:32.333
But it definitely, you know, when I came down as a new grad, what a difference, right?
00:04:32.333 --> 00:04:37.442
The healthcare systems, learning how to practice in different environments like this.
00:04:37.442 --> 00:04:41.163
It was an eye -opening experience, that's for sure.
00:04:41.163 --> 00:04:41.704
sure.
00:04:41.704 --> 00:04:48.723
Is there, can you like peel behind the curtain a little bit for those of us who have just been, you know, boring old Americans our entire lives.
00:04:48.723 --> 00:04:59.124
What is one of the some of the key differences between the healthcare, the healthcare model and being a nurse or potentially being a nurse in Canada versus the United States?
00:04:59.807 --> 00:05:08.786
Well, I think back to, well, you know, we're talking about socialized medicine versus the American healthcare system, right?
00:05:08.786 --> 00:05:10.507
So very different systems.
00:05:10.507 --> 00:05:16.226
And I think back to, you know, my life and work has all been in labor and delivery.
00:05:16.226 --> 00:05:22.166
And I just use the examples, let's just say, of...
00:05:23.615 --> 00:05:26.535
when I had babies versus when my friends had babies.
00:05:26.535 --> 00:05:32.774
So when I had a baby, I basically named my date, right?
00:05:32.855 --> 00:05:35.475
We had an induction, we had a plan.
00:05:36.394 --> 00:05:43.235
I was in and out because we have a couple of days in the hospital and then you're moving on kind of experience.
00:05:43.235 --> 00:05:47.714
Where my friends had babies, they were expected to be post dates for an induction.
00:05:47.714 --> 00:05:53.495
So if they were going to be induced, they were going to be 41 or greater weeks.
00:06:00.908 --> 00:06:09.189
Heheheheh one of my best friends was kept multiple days after delivery because breastfeeding wasn't well established.
00:06:09.189 --> 00:06:19.949
So the financial burden of getting her out of the hospital didn't override the needs of the patient, which was very different sometimes.
00:06:19.949 --> 00:06:21.968
Yes, well stated, well stated.
00:06:21.968 --> 00:06:26.809
It's a systemic thing and you know, how do you fix it one person at a time?
00:06:26.809 --> 00:06:30.009
But by golly, if we knew how to fix it, it'd be fixed, right?
00:06:30.009 --> 00:06:30.908
Right.
00:06:30.908 --> 00:06:34.449
So what made you want to become a nurse to begin with?
00:06:36.353 --> 00:06:40.185
Well, funny story, it was kind of a second choice for me actually.
00:06:40.185 --> 00:06:43.535
I thought for my entire life I was going to be a veterinarian.
00:06:44.095 --> 00:06:49.595
But I was in that really great category where like...
00:06:49.595 --> 00:06:52.704
got to go to a certain school to get into veterinary school.
00:06:52.704 --> 00:06:54.454
Like you do your prereqs at a certain place.
00:06:54.454 --> 00:06:59.675
Canada, it was harder to get into vet school than it was med school at the time.
00:07:00.095 --> 00:07:06.702
And my parents made too much money for me to have student loans, but not enough to pay for me to go to college.
00:07:06.702 --> 00:07:13.088
Mm -hmm, yeah, I'm well intimately acquainted with that scenario right now, with having teenagers myself.
00:07:13.254 --> 00:07:14.055
Right.
00:07:14.055 --> 00:07:24.745
So I stayed closer to home and honestly, my best friend was looking at nursing and there was somebody in my life that was a nurse, a friend's mom.
00:07:24.745 --> 00:07:28.694
She was a labor and delivery nurse and she spoke about her career.
00:07:28.894 --> 00:07:31.035
like it was the best thing ever.
00:07:31.035 --> 00:07:33.375
She was so excited about it always.
00:07:33.375 --> 00:07:40.014
Her stories were so exciting and she really got me excited about the idea.
00:07:40.014 --> 00:07:43.425
So I have never wanted to do anything except deliver babies.
00:07:43.425 --> 00:07:44.665
That was it for me.
00:07:44.665 --> 00:07:46.355
That was always it.
00:07:46.766 --> 00:07:50.235
And to know that piece very early on, that's pretty rare.
00:07:50.235 --> 00:07:51.625
That's pretty rare, right?
00:07:52.065 --> 00:07:55.603
And maybe advantageous for you in a way, yes?
00:07:55.807 --> 00:07:56.956
I mean, I think so.
00:07:56.956 --> 00:08:00.226
I was able to really tailor my interests and focus.
00:08:00.226 --> 00:08:02.997
You know, nursing school looks a little different up in Canada as well.
00:08:02.997 --> 00:08:10.487
So I was really able to tailor my clinicals and things like that to, you know, help me meet my goals.
00:08:10.863 --> 00:08:11.444
nice.
00:08:11.444 --> 00:08:16.124
Slightly envious to hear that actually, thinking back on even my own experience.
00:08:16.124 --> 00:08:18.444
So yeah, no that's great.
00:08:19.043 --> 00:08:26.144
So then you, any memories from nursing school you want to unpack or anything that's that's lingered around back there?
00:08:26.144 --> 00:08:32.104
Any what one of our previous guests called a core memory since you know Inside Out 2 is out right now.
00:08:32.104 --> 00:08:37.984
Kind of a core memory that sticks out to you during your time of being educated as to become a nurse?
00:08:38.495 --> 00:08:40.375
Gosh, there's a whole lot of them.
00:08:40.955 --> 00:08:43.304
I had a really great experience in nursing school.
00:08:43.304 --> 00:08:45.414
I had a really great group of gals.
00:08:45.414 --> 00:08:59.794
We lived about 35 minutes from school, so there was a group of us that carpooled together, studied together, typically did our projects together because we were out of town, so we sort of focused them in our area.
00:08:59.914 --> 00:09:04.019
And they really were a...
00:09:04.350 --> 00:09:05.571
They were so much support.
00:09:05.571 --> 00:09:08.931
They were so uplifting.
00:09:08.931 --> 00:09:12.211
I was definitely, I was by far the youngest of that crowd.
00:09:12.551 --> 00:09:15.990
And they really helped carry me through it.
00:09:15.990 --> 00:09:20.821
I was working while I was going to school, trying to pay for school as I went.
00:09:20.821 --> 00:09:34.636
And I'd close a restaurant at midnight and have to be at class at 8 a And they would put me in the back seat and take me to school while I was trying to study or catch up on what I didn't do while I was working.
00:09:34.636 --> 00:09:43.116
I just, I mean, I had such great support from this group of women that really uplifted me and made me want to do better.
00:09:43.116 --> 00:09:46.897
You know, they really pushed and it was pretty exciting.
00:09:47.120 --> 00:09:48.080
That's awesome.
00:09:48.080 --> 00:09:50.250
I get a picture of driving Miss Meghan.
00:09:50.250 --> 00:09:51.399
I love it.
00:09:51.539 --> 00:09:54.159
Come, Edder, where should we go today, ma 'am?
00:09:54.159 --> 00:09:57.190
You take care of your business and we'll get you to the school on time.
00:09:57.190 --> 00:09:58.320
Don't worry.
00:09:59.620 --> 00:10:06.279
So you graduate, you become a nurse, and you've said OB from day one.
00:10:06.740 --> 00:10:13.375
So briefly or longly, tell us about your history as a nurse in that field.
00:10:13.375 --> 00:10:19.554
So yeah, so my mom and I went to a job fair.
00:10:20.195 --> 00:10:24.254
We went down to, so I was a couple of hours away.
00:10:24.254 --> 00:10:29.565
We drove down to Vancouver where they had a job fair and met a whole bunch of recruiters.
00:10:29.565 --> 00:10:38.235
And I started interviewing probably November to my May graduation, prior to my May graduation.
00:10:38.595 --> 00:10:41.774
And L &D was what I was looking for.
00:10:42.335 --> 00:10:51.754
and I interviewed in a bunch of different places and eventually accepted a job in central California in a smaller town called Porterville.
00:10:52.475 --> 00:10:55.054
And I was so excited.
00:10:55.235 --> 00:10:57.054
This is my dream job.
00:10:57.951 --> 00:11:02.331
For me, one of the biggest things there was they did a decent number of deliveries.
00:11:02.770 --> 00:11:15.051
A lot of places that were willing to hire a new grad at the time, it was sort of still in the time where you needed to have some years of experience to get into L &D and people were there and stayed there.
00:11:15.051 --> 00:11:21.350
But it was also in 2004 when California was putting in nurse to patient ratios.
00:11:21.691 --> 00:11:27.490
So they were recruiting heavily for nurses to come down from Canada at the time as well.
00:11:27.856 --> 00:11:37.216
I had this great opportunity, accepted this job sight unseen in January, waited six months to graduate.
00:11:37.216 --> 00:11:41.687
And I remember, so naive, so naive.
00:11:41.687 --> 00:11:43.677
I had no clue.
00:11:44.543 --> 00:11:50.623
So they had told me about the beautiful mountains and lakes and how close to the ocean I was.
00:11:50.623 --> 00:11:56.322
And so a couple of weeks before I moved down there, I flew in to go get my nursing license.
00:11:56.322 --> 00:11:57.592
I had passed my NCLEX.
00:11:57.592 --> 00:12:05.962
I needed to go to Sacramento to pick up my license in person because I had to have it in hand to cross the border and get my work visa.
00:12:05.962 --> 00:12:14.448
So in the meantime, I went down to find an apartment and I get down and I'm driving into town and I'm like, there's no mountains here.
00:12:14.448 --> 00:12:16.249
Where are the mountains?
00:12:16.249 --> 00:12:20.177
But what I realized is you just actually couldn't see them through the smog.
00:12:20.177 --> 00:12:28.027
Ha ha ha ha! I mean they weren't the mountains that I'm used to in British Columbia and this part of the world, but they were they were some there.
00:12:28.027 --> 00:12:31.606
They just you know weren't real seen at the time.
00:12:31.606 --> 00:12:43.986
And then the next day after meeting at the hospital they told me I should go check out the lake and I thought okay I'm gonna drive up to the lake and I you know again Canadian I grew up on Okanagan Lake in the Okanagan.
00:12:44.106 --> 00:12:50.047
Okanagan Lake's like 75 miles long like beautiful travels through three different cities.
00:12:50.606 --> 00:12:55.171
So I got up to the next town and I stopped and I said, so how much further to the lake?
00:12:55.171 --> 00:12:56.760
And they're like, you passed it.
00:12:56.760 --> 00:13:00.721
And I was like, surely that's not what they were talking about.
00:13:00.721 --> 00:13:02.480
Did you blink?
00:13:02.480 --> 00:13:05.924
I'm sorry, we told you to keep your eyes open.
00:13:06.226 --> 00:13:12.767
was a dam there that had some water on the inside of it, but a lake?
00:13:12.767 --> 00:13:15.687
Yeah, I was so naive.
00:13:15.687 --> 00:13:19.886
But I went to this small town.
00:13:20.671 --> 00:13:22.600
I had never lived out of my parents' house.
00:13:22.600 --> 00:13:25.191
I lived at home through nursing school, literally.
00:13:25.191 --> 00:13:27.020
My parents drive me down to California.
00:13:27.020 --> 00:13:39.370
My mom's showing me how to do laundry in the laundromat in my apartment complex because I worked basically full -time through nursing school, so she just did all those things for me.
00:13:39.370 --> 00:13:42.030
I'm not gonna pretend I wasn't spoiled.
00:13:43.211 --> 00:13:47.071
So here I am, on my own for the first time.
00:13:47.359 --> 00:13:52.139
And I get to work for the first day and PS most of your patients don't speak English.
00:13:52.139 --> 00:13:53.899
Little white Canadian girl.
00:13:53.899 --> 00:13:55.119
Good luck.
00:13:55.716 --> 00:13:59.937
You would say a heavy Hispanic population maybe, yes?
00:14:00.278 --> 00:14:00.802
Yes.
00:14:00.802 --> 00:14:01.232
Hispanic.
00:14:01.232 --> 00:14:11.722
It was a very migrant area, lots of dairies and lots of citrus in the area, so lots of migrant workers.
00:14:11.863 --> 00:14:13.342
But it was a great experience.
00:14:13.342 --> 00:14:21.243
I learned that I understood more than I could say because I had been taking French my whole life, which is very similar to Spanish.
00:14:21.923 --> 00:14:26.503
And I honestly feel very blessed to have started in that hospital.
00:14:26.942 --> 00:14:31.048
Although it was small, wasn't tiny.
00:14:31.048 --> 00:14:43.808
It was busy at the time we did probably about 1600 to there was a time where we did almost 2 ,000 deliveries In a year so smaller, but we were quite a ways from our referral facility.
00:14:43.808 --> 00:14:56.589
We were about an hour and a quarter by ground and We didn't have an airplane that traveled so we or well We we did have an airplane that traveled but it was to the airport outside of town.
00:14:56.589 --> 00:15:25.620
So there was time and the fog really thick in the winters there so there was a lot of you know barriers to transport at times so we kept a lot of things that typically a smaller hospital would transport because there just wasn't the resources to get them where they needed to go so it really was a great hospital to start with because you learn to work with what you've got versus having all of the resources at your fingertips at all times.
00:15:25.620 --> 00:15:26.860
Yeah, and that's huge.
00:15:26.860 --> 00:15:32.720
That's huge because, you know, I mean, everybody's perspective is different depending on where you start and what's going on.
00:15:32.720 --> 00:15:38.840
You know, I've only my career has always existed in a larger hospital, you know, six hundred seventy plus beds, I think, if I recall correctly.
00:15:38.840 --> 00:15:42.879
But it's so, you know, resources are generally available when you need them.
00:15:42.879 --> 00:15:44.909
And that includes human resources as well.
00:15:44.909 --> 00:15:45.940
Right.
00:15:47.139 --> 00:15:51.000
I mean, leading up to the pandemic anyway, that's a whole different story.
00:15:51.000 --> 00:15:52.629
And we're not going to unpack that box.
00:15:52.629 --> 00:15:53.844
So, yes.
00:15:53.844 --> 00:15:57.433
But, so that being said, so you're a bedside nurse today, right?
00:15:57.433 --> 00:16:02.562
Like you just, that was your dream, that was it, or did something happen along the way?
00:16:04.464 --> 00:16:07.048
How did you get into leadership and management?
00:16:07.410 --> 00:16:13.890
So this is a not, I say a funny story, but not a funny story.
00:16:13.971 --> 00:16:29.315
So as I was doing my MSN, When I graduated actually, when we were going to my graduation and my mom and dad decided to come and meet us in Salt Lake for my convocation and we were excited.
00:16:29.315 --> 00:16:31.865
This was, you know, we hadn't been on a trip with just my parents in a while.
00:16:31.865 --> 00:16:33.994
Like we were gonna, we were gonna have a great time.
00:16:33.994 --> 00:16:39.495
So on the way down, my mom did tell me, she's like, you know, your dad's gonna have a scope coming up pretty quick.
00:16:39.495 --> 00:16:41.754
They think you might have a hiatal hernia or something.
00:16:41.754 --> 00:16:42.825
He's lost some weight.
00:16:42.825 --> 00:16:44.375
Don't be surprised when you see him.
00:16:44.375 --> 00:16:45.634
So we saw him.
00:16:45.634 --> 00:16:47.534
He was definitely skinny.
00:16:47.921 --> 00:16:51.321
know, but we did a three -day pub crawl of Salt Lake City.
00:16:51.321 --> 00:16:52.380
Like everything was fine.
00:16:52.380 --> 00:16:55.260
He maybe didn't need as much, but he was fine.
00:16:55.821 --> 00:17:34.267
I went home and went straight up to my parents on vacation with my kids and I took them to a scope and what we learned a couple weeks later is that they they told them that day that he found cancer, they found cancer, esophageal cancer from a life of reflux and he told them it was actually my sister -in -law's aunt that was taking care of him and he told her that his family was all together and they were having a good vacation and if she told anybody she was dead meat basically because he didn't have a good time and he wasn't telling any of us that.
00:17:34.467 --> 00:18:04.548
So we waited a couple weeks and then he started treatment and Hahaha So he was moved through the system really quickly.
00:18:04.548 --> 00:18:09.318
He was only 62 and he was really healthy.
00:18:09.318 --> 00:18:16.191
The day before he started treatment, he was golfing, you know, up.
00:18:16.191 --> 00:18:18.871
When we were up there, he was mowing the lawns.
00:18:18.871 --> 00:18:22.340
He did have to sit down between the front and the back, which was different for him.
00:18:22.340 --> 00:18:27.681
But we just figured that with all the weight loss and not being able to eat much, nobody really thought.
00:18:27.681 --> 00:18:33.671
Well, he started treatment and they sent him home with a chemo pump on.
00:18:33.671 --> 00:18:40.351
So 24 -7 chemo because the tumor was too long to treat well.
00:18:40.371 --> 00:18:42.113
It wasn't...
00:18:42.174 --> 00:18:44.115
It was never going to go well.
00:18:44.154 --> 00:18:53.964
But he had a heart attack two days into chemo, which the doctor eventually said he would have had anyways.
00:18:53.964 --> 00:19:03.194
He had quite a bit of underlying heart disease, but he was so healthy he masked all of his own symptoms of it, essentially.
00:19:03.394 --> 00:19:06.174
So he...
00:19:06.174 --> 00:19:07.654
went down at home.
00:19:07.654 --> 00:19:08.994
My mom was nearby.
00:19:08.994 --> 00:19:13.355
My mom, who is absolutely not medical, saved his life.
00:19:13.355 --> 00:19:20.914
She started CPR and did a really great job until the first responders arrived.
00:19:21.214 --> 00:19:24.934
The first responders, there were some amazing people.
00:19:25.335 --> 00:19:30.894
My dad was a policeman in our hometown and coached youth sports.
00:19:31.954 --> 00:19:40.654
Most of the responders were either kids whose dads he'd worked with or kids he'd coached at some point.
00:19:41.335 --> 00:19:45.795
My neighbors, after the fact, actually said to their like, Meghan, we didn't know.
00:19:45.795 --> 00:19:50.734
We figured somebody died because the firemen were outside crying.
00:19:52.440 --> 00:20:06.260
I learned later from one of the firemen who I'd gone to school with my whole life that the ambulance crew had suggested calling the code and they refused.
00:20:06.361 --> 00:20:08.300
They told them they were going to get him there.
00:20:08.941 --> 00:20:14.361
Amazing enough, they got him to the hospital, they got his stents placed, they got him cleaned up.
00:20:14.500 --> 00:20:18.681
I got there, he came around.
00:20:20.734 --> 00:20:21.744
was crazy.
00:20:21.744 --> 00:20:27.194
They couldn't believe that he had survived the size of the heart attack he'd had.
00:20:28.351 --> 00:20:34.641
Anyways, long story short, essentially, it took months, right, to recover from that.
00:20:34.641 --> 00:20:40.851
And in that period of time, it was the first time in my career I felt like maybe I wasn't doing the right thing.
00:20:40.851 --> 00:20:46.711
You know, I was taking care of these people, building families, watching these really great experiences.
00:20:46.711 --> 00:20:51.961
And one of the people that I loved the most was really suffering and struggling.
00:20:51.961 --> 00:20:58.257
And not just him, but my mom at home trying to take care of him, my younger brother and his wife.
00:20:58.257 --> 00:21:08.436
bearing the burden of a lot of the housework and the taking care of things for my mom and dad because my mom was so busy with my dad.
00:21:08.436 --> 00:21:11.067
And really, it was a hard time.
00:21:11.067 --> 00:21:17.436
It was hard to be in California and knowing that that's what was happening there.
00:21:17.436 --> 00:21:18.136
So.
00:21:19.550 --> 00:21:38.321
as I would this this is where it gets funny a little bit okay here that's the heavy part of my crazy story The funny part of the story is really when, again not funny, my mom calls me at work one day and says, you know, I just went and met with the doctor and he says that he is palliative.
00:21:38.321 --> 00:21:42.311
They're not going to do any more treatment and he doesn't know how long it's going to be.
00:21:42.311 --> 00:21:46.200
It could be a couple days, could be a couple weeks, but.
00:21:46.200 --> 00:21:49.619
I don't know what to do, your dad doesn't want to go to hospice.
00:21:50.079 --> 00:21:53.500
And I said, well, I'll be there tomorrow.
00:21:53.779 --> 00:21:57.240
My kids and I were supposed to be going up for the weekend anyways.
00:21:57.279 --> 00:21:59.099
The kids hadn't seen him sick.
00:21:59.099 --> 00:22:06.640
They didn't know, they knew what was going on because they'd seen me having to come and go, but they didn't know the extent of it.
00:22:06.743 --> 00:22:13.703
So my kids and I packed up and I was well, I was at work that day and I said to my boss, I gotta go.
00:22:13.703 --> 00:22:16.144
I don't know when I'll be back.
00:22:16.624 --> 00:22:25.144
And honestly that day or maybe the day prior, one of the managers on our unit had handed in her resignation.
00:22:25.144 --> 00:22:29.284
And I told my boss when I come back, I wanna do that job.
00:22:30.624 --> 00:22:35.064
Somebody should have thought, does she really?
00:23:03.669 --> 00:23:07.592
Hahaha just feel very divided in that moment.
00:23:07.612 --> 00:23:12.182
So in the long run, I ended up going back.
00:23:12.182 --> 00:23:15.872
We were there for about four weeks before he passed.
00:23:15.872 --> 00:23:18.932
We did all of his care at home.
00:23:19.511 --> 00:23:22.352
Again, that's where the Canadian healthcare system came in.
00:23:22.352 --> 00:23:28.751
As soon as he was deemed palliative, they brought everything we could ever possibly need so that we could take care of him well.
00:23:28.751 --> 00:23:32.412
All the medications, all of the supplies, everything.
00:23:33.231 --> 00:23:39.571
And then until he passed and then I went back, I worked a couple weeks and then moved into leadership.
00:23:39.692 --> 00:23:42.412
And there I have stayed basically.
00:23:42.448 --> 00:23:43.468
Wow.
00:23:43.468 --> 00:23:51.647
And that's what a, you're entering this area of nursing brand spanking new for the most part.
00:23:51.647 --> 00:23:58.198
And after such a powerful life moment, what is that?
00:23:58.198 --> 00:23:59.647
How do you even concentrate?
00:23:59.647 --> 00:24:01.314
What does that look like?
00:24:02.200 --> 00:24:05.220
sure that I knew.
00:24:05.220 --> 00:24:07.900
I just sort of did it, you know.
00:24:07.900 --> 00:24:17.846
So on that unit we'd had a lot of leadership turnover, director level particularly, and people...
00:24:19.000 --> 00:24:22.480
It just, it felt like we needed some consistency.
00:24:23.039 --> 00:24:32.079
I don't really know that the position itself, it was, the position also changed from when I said, I think I want to do this to when I actually did it.
00:24:32.079 --> 00:24:37.640
So when I initially had talked about it, it was a postpartum NICU manager, but we were all one unit.
00:24:37.640 --> 00:24:52.352
So it was, you know, we still worked labor and managed, but by the time I took it, I had, the NICU, I had peds I had a clinical decision unit at like a short stay cardiac and the float pool.
00:24:52.471 --> 00:24:53.852
and lactation.
00:24:54.161 --> 00:24:55.361
That's all?
00:24:56.215 --> 00:24:58.955
PS, we're going to be baby friendly in a year.
00:24:59.016 --> 00:25:01.355
So it was a crazy experience.
00:25:01.355 --> 00:25:10.596
But when I took the position, knowing all that I went through with my dad and knowing my mom, I did tell them, I've got one year to give you.
00:25:10.596 --> 00:25:14.615
I can't promise longer than a year because I may be needed.
00:25:14.615 --> 00:25:16.655
I might need to get closer.
00:25:16.655 --> 00:25:17.935
And so I did.
00:25:17.935 --> 00:25:24.296
I was there for exactly one year in leadership before I moved up this direction.
00:25:25.144 --> 00:25:33.523
Yeah, I was in one year, you know, we started working on We did a lot of quality improvement kind of work.
00:25:33.523 --> 00:25:49.903
We did a lot of Risk mitigation work with our insurance companies and providers lots of work with CMQCC, which is the California quality initiative group that works with maternal and newborn outcomes, which was really exciting.
00:25:49.903 --> 00:25:51.223
I love that sort of stuff.
00:25:51.223 --> 00:25:57.564
So it gave me a really great foundation for moving to another hospital and starting.
00:25:57.564 --> 00:26:00.253
But in that hospital, I had been a new grad.
00:26:00.253 --> 00:26:07.003
So all of a sudden here I am 10 years later, sure, but still one of the young ones on the unit.
00:26:07.003 --> 00:26:10.544
And I'm leading nurses that taught me how to be a nurse.
00:26:10.544 --> 00:26:12.364
It was wild.
00:26:12.737 --> 00:26:16.998
Yeah, that's got to present its own set of challenges, I imagine.
00:26:17.337 --> 00:26:17.903
Yeah.
00:26:17.903 --> 00:26:22.284
you showed me how to do my very first vag exam, but now can you do this for me?
00:26:22.284 --> 00:26:23.963
You know, it's so strange.
00:26:23.963 --> 00:26:30.364
Fortunately, the women on that unit were so incredible and there were such great mentors and nurses.
00:26:30.644 --> 00:26:41.363
It was just another learning experience for me and they were so they were so kind and so gentle and let me let me learn what leadership looked like.
00:26:41.363 --> 00:26:47.843
and let you breathe enough to make the mistakes that inevitably are gonna come with learning something like that.
00:26:48.343 --> 00:26:50.123
Yeah, that's amazing.
00:26:50.182 --> 00:26:58.762
So talking about being in management, how long, let's not give away the ending here, but how long have you been in management?
00:26:58.762 --> 00:27:05.782
And what does that, if any nursing students are out there going, man, you know, this is something that I think I might wanna do from the get -go.
00:27:05.823 --> 00:27:07.633
What advice do you have for them?
00:27:07.633 --> 00:27:08.063
What is that?
00:27:08.063 --> 00:27:09.809
Can you paint a picture of what?
00:27:09.809 --> 00:27:15.650
the realities of that position look like, obviously with the limited perspective of one person.
00:27:15.650 --> 00:27:20.910
You know, this may vary from location to location, but what is Meghan's experience with this?
00:27:21.463 --> 00:27:32.503
So I, about nine years of management and I think...
00:27:34.327 --> 00:27:38.008
I think that there are some people that just naturally gravitate towards leadership, right?
00:27:38.008 --> 00:27:41.667
Like that's just something that sort of happens in your life.
00:27:41.667 --> 00:27:45.127
I say it happened to me multiple times, you know?
00:27:45.127 --> 00:27:48.887
My first job was in fast food and I was promoted there.
00:27:48.887 --> 00:27:54.907
You know, those are just, you end up on teams and you take leadership roles on teams or whatever it is.
00:27:54.907 --> 00:28:03.307
So, you know, there are probably a lot of nursing students that see themselves in the future moving in and trying to make a difference differently.
00:28:03.352 --> 00:28:21.132
And that was one of the things I'd say when I first started in leadership that I didn't, I was really worried that I was going to regret it because again, like I made this crazy change at a crazy time, but it wasn't about the when or how it happened.
00:28:21.132 --> 00:28:27.006
It was over time what I learned was I was still taking care of people.
00:28:27.006 --> 00:28:30.536
I was just taking care of the people that took care of the people.
00:28:30.955 --> 00:28:36.215
And you know, you're working really hard on trying to create an environment where people can succeed.
00:28:36.395 --> 00:28:39.319
And sometimes...
00:28:39.319 --> 00:28:41.619
that's a great day at work.
00:28:41.619 --> 00:28:43.490
Sometimes people really appreciate that.
00:28:43.490 --> 00:28:59.200
And then there are times where people don't really appreciate that, you know, when that comes to the accountability pieces and trying to create some consistency and, you know, really working towards creating the best and safest environment possible.
00:28:59.680 --> 00:29:07.400
So if I were talking to a nursing student that we're thinking about, you know, that may be somewhere I wanted to go, I'd say go for it.
00:29:07.400 --> 00:29:17.753
You know, I don't think that needs to be a nurse for 20 years or have a ton of bedside nursing experience to be a leader.
00:29:17.753 --> 00:29:21.493
I think that being a leader comes from within.
00:29:21.854 --> 00:29:31.614
And some of that experience will definitely make your experience richer and make your decision making a little simpler as you move through that process.
00:29:31.614 --> 00:29:34.173
But I think that...
00:29:34.455 --> 00:29:36.435
We need great nursing leaders too.
00:29:36.435 --> 00:29:42.276
We need people that care about people and want to make sure that people can succeed in our career.
00:29:43.636 --> 00:29:44.116
I love that.
00:29:44.116 --> 00:29:53.507
I love that perspective because I don't, you know, I'm sure nursing students probably catch it too, but you know, nurses, you got the rank and file, right?
00:29:53.507 --> 00:30:04.576
Us rank and file nurses and you've got leadership, you've got someone who's steering the ship or needs to at least provide some sort of modicum of direction for the unit or for the facility or for the whatever.
00:30:04.576 --> 00:30:10.019
And so there's oftentimes that, you know, I mean, a whole sitcom was built out of it, right?
00:30:10.019 --> 00:30:13.539
You got The Office you've got the management, and you've got the rank and file.
00:30:13.539 --> 00:30:16.039
And that's a story as old as time, right?
00:30:16.039 --> 00:30:19.569
Upstairs, downstairs, Downton Abbey, you know what I mean?
00:30:19.569 --> 00:30:20.960
Like all these things.
00:30:21.039 --> 00:30:36.460
And I don't mean to paint that drastic of a picture, but the point being that as I've often heard and experienced in various other facets of my life, leadership, management, a lot of times you're on an island.
00:30:36.468 --> 00:30:38.948
It's a very lonely position.
00:30:39.448 --> 00:30:41.137
How do you navigate that?
00:30:41.137 --> 00:30:44.087
How did you navigate that personally if you want to unpack that?
00:30:44.087 --> 00:30:50.188
But what does that look like to be on the other side of, my gosh, that's our manager.
00:30:50.188 --> 00:30:52.278
All she wants to do is this, that, and the other.
00:30:52.278 --> 00:30:54.198
Or all he wants to do is this, that, and the other.
00:30:54.198 --> 00:30:58.622
How do you navigate those waters as a person, as a human being with a heart?
00:30:58.968 --> 00:31:05.698
Yeah, you know, in the beginning I found it a lot harder because you take it so personally, right?
00:31:05.698 --> 00:31:08.968
When you're young and...
00:31:09.336 --> 00:31:16.415
drawing those lines are so much different, especially again, when I started out on that unit where I had grown up, these people were my friends.
00:31:16.415 --> 00:31:25.885
They were nurses that I had worked with from the beginning and to have them giving me a hard time about having to hold them accountable, I was like, what in the world?
00:31:25.885 --> 00:31:27.635
Like, what's wrong with you?
00:31:27.635 --> 00:31:46.622
And I did it very personally and it could be really anxiety inducing at times because I'd be going into conversations and just dreading it because I didn't want to create rifts or create, you know, those challenges within my working relationships.
00:31:46.622 --> 00:32:00.336
But what I learned is that by not doing that and by not facing the challenges that were present, I was creating bigger problems.
00:32:00.756 --> 00:32:19.375
So what it really comes down to is being able to recognize that when you're leading, you have to lead from a place of, of course, there's policy and procedure and blah, blah, all the things that go on in a hospital.
00:32:20.250 --> 00:32:27.109
also has to be that, you know, you want to, that's what the manager takes care of in you.
00:32:27.109 --> 00:32:32.180
The leader takes care of the people, the heart, and really manages what they can do.
00:32:32.180 --> 00:32:44.130
And a lot of that is that accountability and holding people, you know, to a certain standard in the sense of ensuring that people know what they can count on at work.
00:32:44.130 --> 00:33:15.064
So I think that a lot of it comes down to, Once you draw your lines in the sand and really start to communicate with people about what your expectations are, you start to build a team of people around you that are either going to help you move that dial or maybe people, maybe you start to lose people here and there because they're not interested in the same outcomes and then maybe they're not on the right bus.
00:33:15.743 --> 00:33:18.778
Really great book I read recently called The Energy Bus.
00:33:18.778 --> 00:33:25.877
I would recommend it for anybody, frankly, anybody working in any kind of team environment.
00:33:25.877 --> 00:33:31.337
But it really talks about, you know, as a leader.
00:33:31.703 --> 00:33:40.433
talking to people and even, you know, laying out the expectations, laying out that foundation and then offering tickets on the bus.
00:33:40.433 --> 00:33:43.983
Like you can join me on this bus or you can get off.
00:33:43.983 --> 00:33:46.584
If this isn't the right bus for you, find a different.
00:33:46.584 --> 00:33:58.384
But I think that's part of how navigating those that, yeah, being on an island at times is creating a team that wants to be on the island with you.
00:33:58.384 --> 00:34:39.893
You know, whether you're still going to be a jerk sometimes, like day somebody is going to be upset with you because I you know somebody always gets the worst assignment somebody always ends up with that extra duty that they just didn't hope for or maybe they didn't get their vacation approved because Frankly, you just can't because we need to provide safe staffing or whatever it may be There's always going to be somebody but if in the end they know that you're doing your best to be consistent and fair and You're holding every the same standard, then again that bus starts to fill up with the right kind of people and you really start to move the mission forward.
00:34:40.237 --> 00:35:00.398
So that's a fantastic perspective, Meghan, because I think, especially with a lot of nurses that don't have the opportunity to experience what leadership slash management slash whatever looks like in that role, getting a peek behind that curtain really, really hopefully helps those that maybe have zero to no tolerance of the man.
00:35:00.398 --> 00:35:00.728
I don't know.
00:35:00.728 --> 00:35:01.657
You know what I mean?
00:35:01.657 --> 00:35:03.458
For lack of better.
00:35:03.697 --> 00:35:04.597
Yeah.
00:35:05.094 --> 00:35:17.534
People don't think about how much goes into a leadership role sometimes.
00:35:17.534 --> 00:35:25.414
I think about, most recently, my team, 105 to 10 people.
00:35:25.494 --> 00:35:33.427
And when I leave work, Not only are you still thinking about work because it's important work that's happening whether you're there or not.
00:35:33.427 --> 00:35:36.068
You want to make sure, you know, did I leave them well set up?
00:35:36.068 --> 00:35:37.617
What is the, you know, what's the scenario?
00:35:37.617 --> 00:35:38.137
What's going on?
00:35:38.137 --> 00:35:39.898
But you're also thinking about the people.
00:35:39.898 --> 00:35:45.737
Like you really truly care or you should if you're in leadership, you know.
00:35:46.318 --> 00:35:47.438
Please.
00:35:48.054 --> 00:36:28.108
I think about, you know, like so -and -so who's going through a divorce and how can I support them best and how do I, you know, make sure that when they're at work they feel like they still have the tools to do their best or they have a safe space if they need to break down for a minute or, you know, so -and -so's kid is sick and they've used up all of their safe sick time and how do we support them best by making, but also, you know, do it legally and, you know, make sure that we're doing the right things and you spend, you know, don't think about this amount of time that you put into just caring about the people and that is a big part of that job.
00:36:28.655 --> 00:36:37.514
And I've been very fortunate personally just to have amazing management everywhere I've gone, which isn't a lot of places, but even with management changeover.
00:36:37.514 --> 00:36:41.425
So there's that key, I think one of the key lessons there is anyone thinking about going that direction.
00:36:41.425 --> 00:36:47.405
Don't lose the heart amidst the politics and the policies and the procedures and the things that need to happen.
00:36:47.405 --> 00:36:50.295
You keep that heart just alive and fresh.
00:36:50.295 --> 00:36:52.375
So thank you for that, Meghan.
00:36:52.414 --> 00:36:57.326
For the nursing students that are listening who are like, yeah, no, I definitely don't want to become management.
00:36:57.326 --> 00:37:03.286
They do all interact with some form of management, obviously in their careers, but more importantly at the point of hire.
00:37:03.286 --> 00:37:07.525
They want to get a job and a lot of them got to sit through some interviews.
00:37:07.525 --> 00:37:14.925
So any advice for nursing students says, okay, Meghan, I got to know, how do I successfully interview for a job?
00:37:15.597 --> 00:37:19.177
Okay, I'll tell you, there's a few things.
00:37:19.318 --> 00:37:21.518
Be authentic and be you.
00:37:21.518 --> 00:37:23.597
Be real in your interview.
00:37:23.597 --> 00:37:29.018
You don't need to try and show up and be who you think we want to talk to.
00:37:29.018 --> 00:37:30.797
I want to talk to you.
00:37:31.157 --> 00:37:35.338
My interviews, I think, are often different than a lot of other managers.
00:37:35.338 --> 00:37:37.070
I'm not going to...
00:37:37.070 --> 00:37:47.710
I don't ask nursing students about behavioral, critical thinking, necessary clinical scenario kind of questions because you don't have any experience.
00:37:47.710 --> 00:37:56.739
I don't really care what happened that one time in nursing school when there was a clinical instructor standing behind you when you placed your first Foley.
00:37:56.739 --> 00:37:57.559
I do care.
00:37:57.559 --> 00:37:58.969
You had to learn those things.
00:37:58.969 --> 00:38:04.389
But that isn't what tells me about you and your work ethic and who you are.
00:38:04.389 --> 00:38:18.463
I would rather hear, honestly, examples your job at Dairy Queen while you were going through and how you worked as a teammate there or gosh, please tell me about any team sport experience you had.
00:38:18.463 --> 00:38:23.923
I love to hear about people who have worked with teams or functioned as part of a team.
00:38:23.923 --> 00:38:30.963
Those are huge things to me when I'm interviewing because teamwork is the core of nursing practice.
00:38:30.983 --> 00:38:35.804
Like yes, we all have our own patients, but without each other, we cannot be successful.
00:38:35.804 --> 00:38:40.815
So, Be honest, be yourself in those interviews.
00:38:40.896 --> 00:38:44.815
Talk about some of those struggles you've had.
00:38:44.856 --> 00:38:52.016
Talk about the things that got you there or why you think that you'd be the right person.
00:38:52.016 --> 00:38:54.135
That's one of my favorite questions to ask.
00:38:54.135 --> 00:39:00.596
So I get, with a new grad, I have tons of applications every time I post a new grad position.
00:39:00.596 --> 00:39:02.576
So why should I pick you?
00:39:02.733 --> 00:39:06.494
You know, what have you done to make yourself stand out?
00:39:06.534 --> 00:39:07.744
What are the struggles?
00:39:07.744 --> 00:39:10.673
What are the life lessons that you'd have?
00:39:11.469 --> 00:39:14.469
you know, how have you really gone above and beyond?
00:39:14.469 --> 00:39:20.469
You know, people are always saying, you know, lots of like the Facebook groups and stuff, how do I get hired?
00:39:20.469 --> 00:39:23.489
And it's like, do I need to take NRP before I go?
00:39:23.489 --> 00:39:24.460
No, you don't have to.
00:39:24.460 --> 00:39:26.389
The hospital will totally put you through it.
00:39:26.389 --> 00:39:39.150
But if I see that I have a nursing student that's taken beginner's fetal monitoring and she's also done NRP because she is so gung -ho, she just really wants to make herself stand out, I'm in.
00:39:39.329 --> 00:40:12.869
If I see a student that has up for something like a one our Association for women's health obstetric and neonatal nursing your professional organizations your commitment to a professional organization will go a long way it really it really sets you apart from a lot of other people because It shows that you're you're committed to doing the right thing and and finding you know best practice resources So to me, I think that really knowing what you're interviewing for and knowing your why that's the biggest is why are you doing it?
00:40:12.869 --> 00:40:21.820
So if you sign up for A1 because I told you to in a podcast but you don't even know what the initials stand for, great thanks.
00:40:21.820 --> 00:40:24.690
But probably still not my first pick, right?
00:40:24.690 --> 00:40:26.090
Why are you doing this?
00:40:26.090 --> 00:40:30.219
What is it that you feel like you're going to get from these experiences?
00:40:31.019 --> 00:40:36.840
So yeah, I'd say my interviewing tips are come prepared to be yourself.
00:40:36.840 --> 00:40:39.280
Like truly, truly be yourself.
00:40:40.621 --> 00:40:46.561
you know, when we talk about things like, you know, how you handle conflict.
00:40:47.382 --> 00:40:49.362
Give a genuine example.
00:40:49.362 --> 00:40:51.322
Again, I don't care if it's from nursing.
00:40:51.322 --> 00:40:56.981
I don't care if it was that happened at the grocery store where you were bagging groceries through nursing school.
00:40:56.981 --> 00:41:05.322
Give us something that you've really worked through and show that you know how to manage those issues as they arise.
00:41:05.322 --> 00:41:19.076
Because that's what we really want to see is that you can function with our team and that your and your values really align with those of the team that we have created for our units.
00:41:20.148 --> 00:41:21.168
Outstanding.
00:41:21.168 --> 00:41:22.699
Take those words to heart, everybody.
00:41:22.699 --> 00:41:25.208
There you go, that's straight from a manager's mouth.
00:41:25.208 --> 00:41:29.009
Well, I said I didn't want to give away the ending, but I mean, let's go to the ending now.
00:41:29.009 --> 00:41:30.398
So, Meghan, are you still in management?
00:41:30.398 --> 00:41:31.289
And if so, why?
00:41:31.289 --> 00:41:32.860
If not, why not?
00:41:33.070 --> 00:41:40.389
So no, I recently took a different position which was wild for me honestly.
00:41:40.389 --> 00:41:42.590
The position came to me.
00:41:44.530 --> 00:41:50.170
For about a year I had been doing a little bit of per diem with a company, a vendor company.
00:41:51.021 --> 00:42:00.461
I was approached about a full -time position in this world, so I work for a company called Perigen, which is a obstetric software company.
00:42:00.461 --> 00:42:12.802
We sell a fetal surveillance and fetal analytics program, AI program, that essentially has an early warning software for moms and babies.
00:42:15.309 --> 00:42:20.429
When I was approached about it, I have a couple of kids at home.
00:42:20.429 --> 00:42:33.429
I have a 16 year old daughter who is a competitive softball player and I have a 14 year old son who is a hockey player and a lacrosse player and he also struggles with ADHD.
00:42:33.429 --> 00:42:55.115
And we were at the end of the first semester when this came to be and he was, we were just like dragging his feet through every day just trying to get him through school and was offered the opportunity to work from home primarily and at this point in my life it was just a little bit too much to say no to.
00:42:55.115 --> 00:43:02.255
I was, you know, I have been in leadership since my daughter was in first grade.
00:43:03.342 --> 00:43:06.882
Yes, halfway through her first year grade year.
00:43:06.882 --> 00:43:12.181
So there have been times, of course, where I can do things like field trips and things like that.
00:43:12.181 --> 00:43:24.021
But there's been a lot of times where I couldn't or even if I could, you know, the optics to your staff while she's leaving again, you know, those sort of things that are just really challenging.
00:43:24.021 --> 00:43:27.952
And this allows me to be where I need to be.
00:43:27.952 --> 00:43:31.442
I've got three more years with kids at home and.
00:43:31.789 --> 00:43:35.570
I feel like I'd be crazy not to take advantage of them right now.
00:43:35.570 --> 00:43:36.831
Yeah, and there it is.
00:43:36.831 --> 00:43:38.840
And that's, I mean, right there, what did you just hear?
00:43:38.840 --> 00:43:47.231
You heard priorities, you know, this is, you know, we can be as passionate as we want to be about our career and whatever area of our careers were in as nurses.
00:43:47.231 --> 00:43:54.891
But when it comes down to it, you know, it's it's dad, it's mom, it's, you know, my kids, it's my family comes first.
00:43:54.891 --> 00:44:01.130
And, you know, we've faced that ourselves many times and you've likely listener face that yourselves as well.
00:44:01.130 --> 00:44:08.465
So that's just, you know, it's one of those things that nursing provides for as well as the ability to have that movement.
00:44:08.465 --> 00:44:15.505
That's the other takeaway from that is that here, you know, management, I'm locked in, I'm dialed in, wait, here's this opportunity.
00:44:15.505 --> 00:44:19.686
and this opportunity is coming at about the same time that I'm needing this flexibility.
00:44:19.766 --> 00:44:25.806
And so nursing is just, we talk about that horizontal movement, we talk about that vertical movement, diagonal.
00:44:25.806 --> 00:44:26.675
You can go anywhere.
00:44:26.675 --> 00:44:27.777
You can do anything.
00:44:27.777 --> 00:44:34.038
reality is, is in three years, let's just say, the hospital's not going anywhere.
00:44:34.577 --> 00:44:38.338
So, so I could happily go back and work the bedside.
00:44:38.438 --> 00:44:41.887
You know, I, I loved every minute of working bedside.
00:44:41.887 --> 00:44:44.117
I did not leave that.
00:44:44.590 --> 00:44:46.550
to management because I was unhappy with it.
00:44:46.550 --> 00:44:48.699
I'd be thrilled to go back and take care of patients.
00:44:48.699 --> 00:44:49.989
That'd be great.
00:44:50.030 --> 00:44:55.769
So, you know, in a couple of years, if that's what it comes to, I don't see that right now.
00:44:55.769 --> 00:44:57.460
I'm really enjoying what I'm doing.
00:44:57.460 --> 00:44:58.630
I'm really loving it.
00:44:58.630 --> 00:45:06.429
A little bit of travel, a lot of time at home and still being able to make an impact with moms and babies and outcomes.
00:45:06.429 --> 00:45:12.570
So for me, you know, it's sort of ticking the boxes what I'm doing, but.
00:45:13.454 --> 00:45:15.114
You know, it's there.
00:45:15.114 --> 00:45:17.653
The option is not lost.
00:45:17.907 --> 00:45:19.146
Yeah, yeah.
00:45:19.146 --> 00:45:25.907
Well then rapid fire, this leads right into the first words you chose are the three words you wanted to use to describe nursing.
00:45:25.907 --> 00:45:28.467
Not necessarily nursing school, but nursing in general.
00:45:28.467 --> 00:45:30.420
Fulfilling, why fulfilling?
00:45:32.077 --> 00:45:33.318
That's what it is.
00:45:33.318 --> 00:45:35.538
For me, it fills my cup.
00:45:36.858 --> 00:45:39.737
I love learning.
00:45:39.737 --> 00:45:42.577
I love taking care of people.
00:45:42.918 --> 00:45:51.318
I love improving outcomes and the quality work and really just knowing that we're moving the dial.
00:45:51.378 --> 00:45:55.737
And that in any area of nursing, you have those opportunities.
00:45:56.050 --> 00:45:58.210
What about evolving?
00:45:58.702 --> 00:45:59.822
Well, that's it.
00:45:59.822 --> 00:46:14.521
Like career wise, it's been evolving, you know, from a new grad at the bedside to a charge nurse to leadership to a different facility and leadership.
00:46:14.521 --> 00:46:23.742
And now into the vendor world, like there's, you know, there's been a lot of opportunity, but also nursing practice, the evolution of nursing practice.
00:46:23.742 --> 00:46:28.867
Like I said, I, I feel too young to have been practicing for 20 years, which is actually this month.
00:46:28.867 --> 00:46:30.927
my 20 years in nursing.
00:46:32.047 --> 00:46:47.789
Why thank you! But I think, you know, like 20 years ago when we were charting on paper and, you know, scanning or you know, the machine that had the little face plate so we could put our patient's names on paper.
00:46:47.789 --> 00:46:58.349
And like there was crazy things and you know, what we were doing in our healthcare world, like the things that we were doing that now we look back on and laugh.
00:46:58.349 --> 00:47:03.519
Like healthcare is evolving because we learn more and we do more with best practice and research.
00:47:03.519 --> 00:47:09.190
So I think that the world of nursing, not just our careers is always evolving, which is exciting.
00:47:09.523 --> 00:47:11.833
and extrapolate that forward, you know?
00:47:11.833 --> 00:47:20.664
I mean, imagine the evolution that'll take place in the next 20 years when, you know, you nursing student are sitting in the chairs that we're sitting in at 17 and 20 years of experience.
00:47:20.664 --> 00:47:21.804
And you know what I mean?
00:47:21.804 --> 00:47:24.103
And you're bringing up that next generation.
00:47:24.103 --> 00:47:25.664
Like, what does that even look like?
00:47:25.664 --> 00:47:33.123
I can't wrap my mind around it, but there are people that, I mean, we're all in it together to try and shape that future, right?
00:47:33.123 --> 00:47:34.664
I could talk about that forever.
00:47:34.664 --> 00:47:36.052
And your last word.
00:47:36.052 --> 00:47:37.442
I'm really surprised by it.
00:47:37.442 --> 00:47:37.992
Educational?
00:47:37.992 --> 00:47:40.351
I thought that was done after nursing school.
00:47:40.735 --> 00:47:41.726
right.
00:47:42.222 --> 00:47:46.012
The commitment to being a lifelong learner is so essential in this career, right?
00:47:46.012 --> 00:47:49.422
So seeking out those opportunities to know more and do better.
00:47:49.422 --> 00:47:53.782
As I said, that's our commitment and it should be our commitment as nurses.
00:47:53.782 --> 00:47:58.442
You know, if I show up to work to do what I've always done, I'm not doing the right thing.
00:47:58.802 --> 00:48:05.161
My job should always be to ask the whys, to know the whys and to seek opportunities.
00:48:05.161 --> 00:48:30.481
So whether it's certifications or classes or degrees, which again while I joke that I have collected an alphabet, it's not really about that, it's about learning and I unfortunately am not a very think outside the boxer in the sense of like how I learn so for me it's just like they're gonna tuck this all into a little box for me, I'll take that so that I can grab it all within this little box.
00:48:30.601 --> 00:49:22.411
But even like, you know people forget about the continuing education opportunities, conferences, getting out there, you know taking classes and seeking out and that's honestly with this new role part of the excitement for me as well as getting to travel to some of these conferences and get into I was just at our national A1 conference and some of the information was amazing you know there the speakers there was I mean who doesn't know about Jen Hamilton in our world of L &D these days but she was one of the keynotes and was so funny and so engaging but there were also just some really great speakers really great topics and I just think that, as I said, I think that all of us should be very committed to that ongoing educational process as we continue through our career.
00:49:22.677 --> 00:49:23.317
Very true.
00:49:23.317 --> 00:49:26.936
It's okay to take a breather after you're, you know, once you've graduated.
00:49:27.556 --> 00:49:35.996
Yeah, no, but it's there and it's waiting and you'll be surprised because you may be one of those that says, no, when I'm done with this man, that's it.
00:49:35.996 --> 00:49:42.327
And you're gonna get to a point where you're gonna hunger for a little more knowledge, a little more, well, how can I do this better?
00:49:42.327 --> 00:49:44.027
Well, is this the right way to do this?
00:49:44.027 --> 00:49:45.661
Like, and you're gonna find yourself.
00:49:45.661 --> 00:49:48.742
why would we do it like this when we could do it like this?
00:49:48.742 --> 00:49:50.577
You could be very right.
00:49:50.577 --> 00:49:50.976
Yeah.
00:49:50.976 --> 00:49:55.817
There are a lot of things that we did in medicine, say 50 years ago, that we're not doing today for that very reason.
00:49:55.817 --> 00:49:58.516
Thank God, because...
00:49:58.516 --> 00:50:07.309
Alright, so wrapping it up, one piece of advice for nursing students if they take nothing else away from this podcast episode, what is that piece?
00:50:07.309 --> 00:50:08.449
to know your why.
00:50:08.449 --> 00:50:14.010
Know why you do it, know why you plan to do it, and know what you want from it.
00:50:14.469 --> 00:50:16.550
And you'll never go wrong.
00:50:18.585 --> 00:50:20.065
There's nothing else I need to say.
00:50:20.065 --> 00:50:23.625
Meghan, thank you so much for taking time out of this afternoon.
00:50:23.625 --> 00:50:24.454
Thank you, thank you.
00:50:24.454 --> 00:50:26.349
You have a lovely, lovely rest of your day.
00:50:26.349 --> 00:50:26.960
You too.
00:50:26.960 --> 00:50:28.083
Thank you.
