Career

Nurse As Coach

/ Marjorie / Leave a comment

Last month, I graduated from The Nurse Coach Collective’s Transformative Nurse Coach Program that trains nurses to become Board Certified Holistic Health and Wellness Coaches. It is accredited by the American Holistic Nurses Credentialing Corporation. When I first heard about this program, I thought, “I love it, but how legit is it?” After doing extensive online research and networking, I had enough information to satisfy my inner critic and so I moved forward. Once I finished the program, the practicum, graduated, the question became, “Now what?”

Hold onto your panties, friends… This is the part where a Former Operating Room Nurse with a Business Past turns into (finally) an Entrepreneur, Founder and CEO, Bad Ass Bitch, Nurse Coach!!!

Entrepreneurship

When I started the program, I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do upon completion. Should I return to a hospital and try to find a job as a nurse coach? This is still a new specialty so not every hospital has this position. Some nurses who have finished this program were able to create a position for themselves in their institutions.

And then it occurred to me… I have always wanted to be an entrepreneur, a business owner, my own boss.

I took an Entrepreneurship class in college and loved it. I never pulled the trigger, because I was intimidated, so young, so very green. I thought that I should do what everyone else was doing which was trying to find the right job, the right boss, the right company who would propel to me to a successful career which would then lead to a happy life.

But doing what everyone else was doing was not working for me.

My path was long and winding, starting in business and leading to healthcare. And here I am, a holistic nurse coach building my own practice. Every step in my career has prepared me for this. My weird combination of experience in Advertising, Recruitment, Management, Nursing, Public Relations, and Coaching, has brought me to this moment. As I have shared my new mission with friends and former co-workers, they told me that I have been coaching all along. “You coached me,” they testified. I never realized that. I never gave myself credit for that. Never.

Right now, more than ever, I feel like I have found my Purpose, my Calling, my Path.

This is where I am. I’m digging deep into the archives of my Entrepreneur brain and refreshing my skills. I have already given my practice a name, and, like building a boat, the frame or the bones are under construction.

New Path

/ Marjorie / Leave a comment

After my last post, I wasn’t sure what to do with my Blood, Guts, and Coffee blog and Instagram account. I really felt like I was done with nursing, but especially OR nursing. My last year in the OR was not a good experience. I remember loving my job once upon a hospital. I moved to from one city to another which meant starting over in a new hospital and a new OR. Honestly, I hated my fucking job. It’s a strong sentiment, but I can’t deny my feelings. Something didn’t feel right from the beginning. I ignored my intuition. I ignored the bad Feng Shui. I ignored the red flags. I ignored the fact that no matter how hard I worked and how positive I tried to be, the bad juju would not leave. So I had to leave.

Over the span of an 18 year career as a Level I Trauma Operating Room Nurse I went from high energy, thriving under stress (or so I thought) to a broken body and soul. The last job was the Universe screaming at me, “GET OUT NOW!” The signs were all there. It was not just one but many experiences throughout my career that brought me to that point. So many lessons learned… I will write about them at another time (so, yes, I’m keeping the blog & the IG account). But anyway…

I couldn’t deny the fact that, if I continued in OR nursing, it would literally kill me. The joy was gone. I had gained weight. My skin was dull. I looked and felt tired all the time and then, out of nowhere, I had a GOUT attack! Me?!? Fucking dehydration…

What the hell was happening to me???

When that chapter was officially over and I walked out of those hospital doors, I felt immense relief, and of course, a little fear. I had the unwavering support of my partner, but still… So many WHAT IFs floated around in my head. My partner was the voice of reason and of calm.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “We’re fine. Take the time to rest.”

It was difficult to relax and deprogram myself from the ridiculous schedule that nurses are forced to comply. For a long time, I kept waking up at 4:30 AM. For what? I had nowhere I had to be. I didn’t have to drive in traffic, change into scrubs, down a cup of coffee, and wait in line with my co-workers to clock in on time. There was a peaceful silence. No more surgeons yelling at me. I had more time with family and friends – people who really loved me. No more toxic people judging me, talking behind my back, pretending to be my friend. That was gone. I felt so FREE.

Leaving that job was the best gift I could have given myself. I wouldn’t realize it until much later how much I needed the change.

I could finally breathe.

What a difference a few months made! By December, I was ready to start thinking about what was next for me. On my bathroom mirror, with a black dry erase marker, I wrote:

“What do you really want out of your life?”

I stared at that question every time I brushed my teeth. Every time I washed my face, I opened my eyes to those words. They beckoned to me from outside the bathroom door, “Have you decided yet?” Uninspired, I had to go digging for an answer.

I scanned the internet for information. I read books, blog posts, social media posts, listened to podcasts, and watch YouTube videos for inspiration. I put in hours of introspection. I was determined to choose well for myself.

After all that digging, I finally found my answer.

Thanks to my yoga teachers, favorite podcasters (Mel Robbins, Dan Harris, Stephen Bartlett, Julia Louis-Dreyfus), and author Bruce Feiler! It sounds strange, but these voices, these ideas, all conspired to inspire me.

What did I unearth? There was something which I strongly felt called to do, where I could utilize ALL my skills and experiences, truly help patients be healthier, while I – YES, ME! – could stay healthy. Better yet, I could actually BLOOM. The discovery was Transformative Nurse Coaching.

And this is where my next adventure begins…

Pivot

/ Marjorie / Leave a comment

Hello???

Is anyone out there?

If you are reading this, then thank you for checking out my blog. I haven’t been a faithful writer, so thanks for checking on me.

My life is changing. The light has gone dark for that chapter of my nursing life. It is time to leave the stories of intensity, joy, friendship, and then sadness, in my life in the operating room. Honestly, I don’t know if I will ever go back to it. BUT. I will always be a nurse.

The good news is that I am training to be a Nurse Coach. I am choosing to step out of my comfort zone and head into a field where there is an opportunity to help people BE WELL. I will emerge online in new iteration of myself as a healer. I am excited about the possibilities.

Blood, Guts, and Coffee was created in an effort to speak up for my nursing specialty. Now I want to do more. Instead of complaining or mourning what healthcare has turned into, I want to spend my energy moving FORWARD into a better future for patients and healthcare workers.

Take care of yourselves, Dear Readers…

Systems Stabilized

/ Marjorie / Leave a comment

The Overwhelm has subsided. Or perhaps Time is healing some wounds that makes this job almost palatable. It helps that I have found Allies, a necessity if you are going to survive in the OR. I don’t know what it is about this environment that makes it difficult to feel like part of the team. I need to ponder that question over a glass of wine, because I definitely can’t make sense of it without a buzz!

The business I wanted to start is now on hold. Now is not the right time for it. The business partner I was counting on was someone who I personally adore, but lacks business experience and knowledge of the kind of work it takes to get a big dream up and running. It has been difficult for us to connect outside of work. I’m a big believer that if things are meant to be, they happen with some ease.

Another thought that crossed my mind when thinking about having a business partner is that I have always been that person who leads a team project and ends up doing all the work. That was fine in grade school, high school, and college, but I think I finally need to say NO to this one. Or maybe just a different partner, one who could share the work of building the business plan. Maybe no partner at all? The fever for running my own business is still burning only now I have to decide which idea to pursue.

For now I’m not leaving OR nursing. I’m sticking it out until I can figure out my next move. Until then, I have a lot to think about.