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Lisa - Nurse
57 Plays1 year ago
On this episode of the jobs podcast, we speak with Lisa. Lisa has been a nurse for 26 years and has some excellent insight into what makes a good nurse, whats changed in nursing, education advice and options and so much more.
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Music by: SnoozyBeats - Song Title - "Keep It Calm". Please check out SnoozyBeats on PixaBay for a ton of awesome content! - LINK
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Transcript
Intro
Introduction to Lisa and Her Nursing Journey
00:00:20
The Jobs Podcast
Hey, Lisa, thanks for joining me on the jobs podcast today. How are you doing?
00:00:25
Lisa
I'm good. How are you?
00:00:27
The Jobs Podcast
I'm doing all right. I'm looking forward to talking with you. Lisa is a nurse and we're going to dive into her education, her background, the type of nurse that she is, what a day is like.
00:00:38
The Jobs Podcast
And so anybody that's interested in a nursing career, this is the podcast that you want to listen to because Lisa is an expert on everything. Isn't that right, Lisa?
00:00:47
Lisa
Of course I am.
00:00:48
The Jobs Podcast
Right. So let's start with the origins of Lisa. Where were you born? Quick snapshot about your family, siblings, where you live, not me, not your address, but you know, the general state that kind of.
00:00:59
Lisa
Sure, sure. Yeah, so I was born in Lincoln, Nebraska. And I am still in Lincoln, Nebraska. up here most of my life. We, with my dad's work, we moved for a couple years to suburb of Chicago, and then transferred back to Lincoln. So really, I i just grew up my whole life in Lincoln, I say, but I've got an older brother and a younger sister so I'm a middle child and Yeah That's
00:01:33
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah. What what line of work was your dad in that took him to Chicago?
00:01:42
Lisa
He he worked for a ratings company AC Nielsen's Kind of advanced and worked his way way up when he
00:01:47
The Jobs Podcast
Oh.
00:01:54
Lisa
left that line of work. He was the branch manager of the office here in Lincoln, Nebraska. And they were closing that office. Their main office was in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.
00:02:09
The Jobs Podcast
Uh-huh.
00:02:09
Lisa
Is that right, dad? Yeah. And, and I was like, wait, Wisconsin, that didn't sound right. and so we just, we were,
00:02:20
Lisa
high school kids and we didn't want to move to Wisconsin. And so he yeah he let that that offer go to move there and work and kind of had a second career then.
00:02:24
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
00:02:33
Lisa
And at the Lincoln Public Schools here, drove a bus for a little while and then worked in the transportation office for the public school system here.
00:02:43
Lisa
So kind of had two careers.
00:02:45
The Jobs Podcast
Cool. Yeah. Well, your career, I'm assuming since you were born and raised for the most part in Lincoln, you
Choosing Nursing: A Personal Decision
00:02:54
The Jobs Podcast
went through all the way through high school.
00:02:54
Lisa
Mm hmm.
00:02:56
The Jobs Podcast
When you left high school, did you know that you wanted to be a nurse and then do you go right to nursing school or did you take time off and just work or did you go to a four year or two year college for another degree?
00:03:08
The Jobs Podcast
What, how did that play out?
00:03:10
Lisa
Right. Yeah, so I graduated high school, think I had it in my mind that I i wanted to maybe do physical therapy, something related like in the medical field area, kind of, yeah, I think kind of had that helper caregiver mentality.
00:03:28
The Jobs Podcast
and Okay
00:03:37
Lisa
And so I went, I did attend a four year university, University of Nebraska here in Lincoln. I started there,
00:03:47
Lisa
kind of with gen gen ed type classes. And I so I also had a desire or fondness from from experiences during high school to possibly do missionary work. And so as I was considering doing gen ed in my first year of college and considering the possibility that I might like to someday travel overseas and do missionary work, I thought, you know, nursing would be a really good skill to have have um in that
00:04:30
Lisa
in the use of of mission work. And so I kind of changed directions, I'd say early on at college and maybe maybe at the end of my first year of college or beginning of my second year.
00:04:33
The Jobs Podcast
Oh yeah.
00:04:47
Lisa
And so i I did have a bit of a wasted year of college, I would say. Generally, the nursing program at the university here at that time at least was about about five years. And it took me six. I had taken classes I didn't need. I was kind of taking things I was interested in the first year, year and a half of college. So then I got more focused, knew knew what I needed to to do nursing to get into the nursing program there. And yeah, so focused in more on
00:05:28
Lisa
on the classes I needed and and applied to the College of Nursing and finished my degree there, technically through UNMC, University of Nebraska Medical Center, but they have a nursing school campus on the campus of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. so
00:05:55
The Jobs Podcast
When you go to nursing school, ah ah i I just know a little bit about, I'll relate it to what a doctor does. They'll typically go through a classroom portion of their education and then they will have residency where they're spending the majority of their time in the clinics and doing stuff. does Do nurses do the same type of thing as far as there's a big chunk of classroom up front and then afterwards it's hands-on type work?
Nursing Education and Certification
00:06:22
Lisa
It sort of, but no, it's similar but very different.
00:06:24
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:06:26
Lisa
We do do a lot of what we call clinicals.
00:06:30
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:06:32
Lisa
a lot of hands-on education, but they they do kind of incorporate that throughout the throughout the program. you do have
00:06:40
The Jobs Podcast
and Okay.
00:06:42
Lisa
like i it And it does depend on what type of nursing school you go to, which I can speak to in a minute. But at a at a university, at a bachelor program, at a university,
00:06:55
Lisa
you you do take some prerequisites and a bunch of classroom stuff ahead of time or to get qualified to get into the nursing program. But then once you're in the nursing program, you take courses that that deal with several specialties within nursing, like psych nursing, geriatric nursing,
00:07:23
Lisa
labor and delivery, orthopedic, ICU. And during those classes, you would do clinical each semester alongside your classroom work. And so we would have time in the hospitals around town. Also like public health nursing, so we would work with the health department and do clinical there. So a wide variety of what we, like I said, we call clinical experience in the community, at the facilities in the community, but that is incorporated in each class throughout your education.
00:08:07
The Jobs Podcast
So that's not something that you haven't gotten to the, I'm going to go down this type of nursing route, whether it's respiratory or post surgical or whatever. This is early on when everybody is essentially doing the same thing.
00:08:19
Lisa
This is what everybody, yeah, everybody in nursing school does this.
00:08:20
The Jobs Podcast
Okay. All right.
00:08:24
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:08:24
Lisa
Yeah.
00:08:24
The Jobs Podcast
Well, that probably helps you decide what might interest you.
00:08:25
Lisa
And yes, very much so.
00:08:26
The Jobs Podcast
Correct.
00:08:30
The Jobs Podcast
and Okay.
00:08:30
Lisa
And i yeah, I think it's important and good.
00:08:33
Lisa
And and and to a degree, we we might see or experience and use any number of those things in in any you know nursing
00:08:47
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:08:48
Lisa
career and direction that we might choose or a path we might go down. So yeah, so every nurse in school, in every student nurse will get a a wide variety of education, kind of the gamut of education during nursing school so that they are
00:09:16
Lisa
I use the term loosely, but equipped for whatever nursing jobs they are hired for going forward.
00:09:24
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:09:27
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:09:27
Lisa
So, yeah.
00:09:29
The Jobs Podcast
Well, that makes sense. So you've gone through all of your basic classes, you've gotten a to kind of dabble in everything related to nursing, it's, so it's, you you know, creating a solid foundation, I would assume.
00:09:31
Lisa
Yeah.
00:09:42
Lisa
Yes, yeah.
00:09:44
The Jobs Podcast
where in the Where in the process of your education do you typically start to take classes that this area of nursing interests me more than those other ones?
00:09:44
Lisa
It's a good way to put it.
00:09:57
The Jobs Podcast
And I want to i want to focus on this type of nursing.
00:10:02
Lisa
So that's a good question and and it makes a lot of sense, but the answer is you don't.
00:10:08
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:10:09
Lisa
So you graduate from nursing school, like I said, equipped for whatever whatever type of Well, with a certificate that says you're equipped for whatever type of nursing job you might choose.
00:10:28
The Jobs Podcast
You're a jack of all trades kind of a nurse.
00:10:29
Lisa
And a Jack of all trades graduate nurse.
00:10:35
Lisa
And then there is like ah like ah like a a lot, like a most, I think, medical fields. You take an exam.
00:10:48
Lisa
the NCLEX exam to be actually certified or get your license for nursing. And so you sit for an exam and you have to pass it in order to be a real nurse.
00:11:06
The Jobs Podcast
what What did you say the name of that exam was again?
00:11:09
Lisa
NCLEX, it's a, nope, not even a little bit.
00:11:11
The Jobs Podcast
What does that stand for, do you know?
00:11:14
Lisa
Probably should, huh?
00:11:17
The Jobs Podcast
You know what, you got it, so you're good, you've already got it, it doesn't matter what it stands for.
00:11:17
Lisa
Listen,
00:11:21
Lisa
yeah I don't need to worry about that anymore. um um you know it's I've been a nurse for 26 years.
00:11:25
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:11:28
Lisa
That was a long time ago, Tim.
00:11:28
The Jobs Podcast
Right. Yeah, yeah.
00:11:31
Lisa
I don't i don't remember what that stands for.
00:11:34
The Jobs Podcast
It doesn't even matter.
00:11:34
Lisa
I could Google it for you.
00:11:35
The Jobs Podcast
I was just curious. Yeah, that's fine.
00:11:36
Lisa
Yeah, yeah.
00:11:38
The Jobs Podcast
No problem.
00:11:38
Lisa
But it's the it's the the nurse's exam that you sit for after school. And so so anyways,
00:11:44
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
Learning on the Job and Career Advancement
00:11:50
Lisa
you as far as specializing in a certain area, and And that's why I use the term equipped loosely. you really I was surprised when I started my first nursing job, which was in on a med surge floor, as we would call it, a medical surgical floor in a hospital. I was surprised how much truly on the job training there is.
00:12:17
Lisa
like Like you use the term like a good base of knowledge and I feel like that is what I left school with a good foundation of knowledge and and yet I Had a big learning curve when I started actual my actual first nursing job so there there really is a lot of on the job training because I each area of a hospital, each a medical clinic,
00:12:52
Lisa
each area of nursing that you might enter into is so varied and specialized that you really have to, and and each hospital does things differently than other hospitals and ah ah uses a different computer program or
00:13:11
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:13:12
Lisa
has has different policies or procedures. Are the basics the same? Yes. But there is a large degree of on-the-job training. One thing to just briefly speak back to to your education, one thing I noticed when I started my first job, I had gone to, the like I said, the University for Education and gotten a bachelor's degree, which I'm glad I did. i
00:13:41
Lisa
I like that I feel like I got a nice well-rounded education. I like that I got to be at a university on campus with lots of students studying lots of different things. But I will say like we have a few nursing programs. In particular, i I'm thinking of one that the the hospital I now work at has its own nursing school and nursing program.
00:14:09
Lisa
And originally, those students were getting associate degrees back when I was in school. They were getting associate degrees of nursing. And I felt like when I started, this the nurses, the new nurses that had come out of that, probably a little more focused program, associates program,
00:14:35
Lisa
seemed like they'd had more clinicals, were maybe a little more prepared for the actual job than I felt like I was.
00:14:45
The Jobs Podcast
and Okay.
00:14:46
Lisa
And so I think even though I enjoyed my my college experience, and I'm glad I did it that way, I do feel like from my experience, even even continuing on, that that a lot of those nurses that are in the more focused just nursing school and nursing programs are very well equipped to start working as a nurse. They still have on the job training that they need to learn, but I feel like they were more prepared than I was because of their better clinical experience.
00:15:29
The Jobs Podcast
It sounds like the two year plan is just pretty much, we're just going to focus on nursing and nothing else. You don't have a bunch of other classes, which there's benefits to taking other classes, but if you're just wanting to focus on nursing, why not just go to a two year program that that's all that you do.
00:15:41
Lisa
okay
00:15:48
Lisa
Yes, and i and I will speak to that again because the the hospital I work at, they have changed their nursing program to a bachelor's program. And and I think that in general,
00:16:09
Lisa
A lot of hospitals are looking at, well, hospitals. any Lots of employers are looking more for nurses that have that well-rounded education, a bachelor's education versus the associates.
00:16:25
Lisa
and so So they are expanding a little bit what they're their school and and nursing program looks like to include some more of the other types of classes, but they still include lots of clinical. it takes it The school takes a little bit longer. I believe they have a four-year program now instead of just two or three, but but you're studying alongside nurses. You're all
00:16:55
Lisa
nurses studying together. yeah So I don't know if fit that that singular focus still helps and then that additional clinical time. Just a thought.
00:17:10
The Jobs Podcast
Does the, as I'm listening to you talk, I'm thinking is one aspect of moving to a four year program for nursing. When you try and move up in the ranks, so to speak, what's after RN, is it LPN or?
00:17:29
The Jobs Podcast
I don't, and then like nurse practitioner, do do most of those higher ranking nurses or, you know, higher tiers, do they typically require a bachelor's or even a master's or something along those lines?
00:17:32
Lisa
Sure.
00:17:42
Lisa
Yeah, so um LPN is is an associate's degree with a few less They're educated for a few less skills than an RN.
00:18:01
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:18:02
Lisa
And for a while, yeah. And so and then, but so so nursing does have, beyond a bachelor's, does have a master's ah master's degree system.
00:18:18
Lisa
that has a few different specialties that you can do to get a master's in nursing. and You can be a nurse practitioner, you can be a certified nurse midwife, you can get a master's in nursing informatics and kind of focus more on the computer aspects of things.
00:18:38
Lisa
those there's you know Those few handful of options for master's in nursing.
00:18:45
The Jobs Podcast
and
00:18:46
Lisa
But there is also within nursing, you know, some hierarchy. If you want to be, it oh, and then nursing administration also is another master's you can get in nursing. But like if you want to do your do your time and get your experience as a in a hospital as a floor nurse, like where I started, whether it be,
00:19:14
Lisa
in a medical unit, a cardiac unit, a surgical unit, in the ICU, any of those things, but then your hope is to maybe move into more management type for permit permit per positions, excuse me, or or nursing administration, then for sure if you were moving into management, they would want that bachelor's degree
00:19:39
The Jobs Podcast
okay
00:19:39
Lisa
And I have seen through my career, and I don't know if they'd be more strict about it now, but through my career, I've seen maybe a nurse get hired as a manager that has an associate's degree with the caveat that they would be working towards their bachelor's as they move into that position.
00:19:59
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:20:02
Lisa
but then so But then the master's degree programs is where you would specialize a quite a bit more for for some more specialized positions within nursing.
00:20:19
Lisa
so
00:20:20
The Jobs Podcast
You had talked a minute ago about being a nurse on a floor or in a cardiac unit, is that where so you've graduated from either a, you you know, whatever program you've graduated from, and now you are licensed in some capacity to be a nurse, then do you go and apply for just an entry level position on the floor or I mean, what kind of options do you have when you're new?
00:20:37
Lisa
Mm hmm.
00:20:46
Lisa
Sure.
00:20:47
The Jobs Podcast
And you're wanting to, let's say, you know, a years ago, I had to get allergy shots and they had nurses that were at the allergy clinic. They were all older nurses that have been doing that for a number of years.
00:20:56
Lisa
Yep.
00:20:59
The Jobs Podcast
But let's just say that that's where I wanted to end up as a nurse, but I just finished school.
00:21:00
Lisa
Sure.
00:21:05
The Jobs Podcast
What would be a typical path to go to, to end up in whatever specialty you wanted to end up in?
00:21:05
Lisa
Mm hmm.
00:21:13
Lisa
Sure, that's a great question.
Starting a Nursing Career: Advice and Insights
00:21:15
Lisa
And I think any more that can look really different for for each person, but it probably depends on the management and the people in charge of those areas. It used to be that some of those positions, because like in a clinic where You know, you don't have to work the night shift.
00:21:43
Lisa
You don't work holidays. They're closed, you know, closed on
00:21:48
Lisa
Those types of things, for those reasons, plus the a little bit lighter workload would be more coveted positions.
00:21:58
Lisa
And so they could, ah ah they could afford to hold out for some more experienced nurses for those positions because Experienced nurses are going to want some are going to want those positions to get out of the heaviness of of working in a hospital Working day and night shifts rotating shifts, you know that type of thing But
00:22:11
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:22:30
Lisa
Anymore, I think some places are willing to hire new nurses more than I feel like maybe they used to be.
00:22:38
Lisa
It just depends on the management.
00:22:40
The Jobs Podcast
and Okay.
00:22:40
Lisa
So I would say, but personally, my personal opinion, i I think I learned gained so much valuable knowledge, understanding of human anatomy and physiology of basic nursing care and some not so basic nursing care by by starting out on a medical surgical floor at a hospital, which was my reason for going there. I originally while in nursing school thought, oh, wouldn't it be so fun to be a ah labor and delivery nurse and work with babies and which would be so fun.
00:23:25
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:23:25
Lisa
But I thought I really want to get a good base of knowledge of like working as a nurse before I specialize so much into like pediatrics or or labor and delivery that I chose to go to a medsurg floor and apply there. ah ah And then I fell in love with medical surgical nursing.
00:23:55
Lisa
and wouldn't want to maybe, well, I'm not sure I'd want to do anything else. And so that was just my path. I thought I was going to go one route and ended up loving the first step and not wanting to go on to the other things I had in mind. But I do think that there's value in working in a hospital, seeing patients when they're sick, sick, and learning some of those skills and critical, things like actual, like procedural skills, but also critical thinking skills, time
00:24:27
The Jobs Podcast
yeah
00:24:40
Lisa
Yeah, just all, all those things before you move on to something a little more specialized, I guess, but that's that's my opinion.
00:24:49
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah. Right. Well, i think it's a I think it's a good one, Lisa, because if you think about how much you have learned, and then a lot of folks like to move up the chain, but I think sometimes people are in such a hurry to get to the top that they don't learn the foundation.
00:24:54
Lisa
I know...
00:25:06
Lisa
Uh
00:25:09
The Jobs Podcast
And you're gonna end up being a better supervisor, manager, and leader if you know the roles, or at least have a somewhat of a familiarity of what people underneath you are doing.
00:25:10
Lisa
-huh.
00:25:22
The Jobs Podcast
If you just bolt to the top and you don't learn anything below, it's hard to manage when you can't relate to what they actually have to do day to day.
00:25:23
Lisa
Yeah.
00:25:31
Lisa
Yeah. Yeah. I think so. And and even like yeah currently now, I am working in an outpatient surgery setting.
Nursing Roles and Industry Changes
00:25:43
Lisa
at the hospital that I started at. So I've been with the same hospital for my 26 year career, but have moved from working with post-op patients on the floor that stay for several days to the outpatient setting where we get patients ready for surgery that are scheduled for the day. And then some of them go upstairs and stay overnight and we don't see them back to our area. And some of them go home the same day and we would get them back, recover them, educate them and and send them home that same day.
00:26:23
Lisa
So we work we work closely with the surgery department. And I will say that historically what I noticed early on being over there is that the surgery department and like like the ICU where the patients are a little more critically ill would not usually hire new grads.
00:26:49
Lisa
because they appreciated having those nurses that had worked other places first, had gotten kind of gotten their feet wet in nursing and developed some of those critical thinking skills and hands-on nursing work before they came to work in those, yes, more specialized, but maybe a little more critical care departments. But I have seen over the last several years that that has changed some. We have seen, and maybe that's due to nursing shortages and just no other choice. And, and but it, I think too, I think they just have, we have good,
00:27:45
Lisa
nursing oversight and training on on the different units, but they are now, I'm seeing more new grads hired to the surgery department. Now, I wouldn't say a lot, but I would say more than I've ever seen before, or hired to the straight to work in ICU for their first job.
00:28:08
Lisa
That's maybe a little less common, but they spend the time sometimes. I know in the surgery department, there's a six month training period to to come work in the in surgery as a nurse. And so they they take the time to to train and educate even on the job. And so they are more willing to hire new grads to some of those positions.
00:28:41
The Jobs Podcast
Do you think that the folks that may be new, but they get hired into some of these more specialized or coveted type positions i I don't know how to, is it like the draft where they're going through their schooling and the administrators are like, this one over here has got what it takes.
00:28:58
The Jobs Podcast
And this one over here, you know, here, or see, she's, but they see blood and they, you know, their knees get weak.
00:29:00
Lisa
and
00:29:03
The Jobs Podcast
And, you know, is there, some people just kind of rise up and they just gravitate towards it and it's a natural thing for them. And other people, it feels like it's more forced. And do do you just kind of see those people?
00:29:16
The Jobs Podcast
What's the word I'm looking for? I can't think of one, but you know what I'm trying to say.
00:29:21
Lisa
I do. I don't know that there's that much communication or from like Nursing school professors to To managers on the units of the hospitals or And I'm sorry, there are there are so many routes to take in nursing I I just had been in the hospital setting my whole career.
00:29:56
Lisa
So I tend towards talking about hospitals, but No
00:30:00
The Jobs Podcast
They're not sending Scouts over to the nursing schools to see.
00:30:04
Lisa
No, no, but we do, we do see a lot of the students coming to our areas for, for clinicals. And so we will like, we, we start a lot of IVs in outpatient surgery because people are coming in from home and all of them need an IV for their surgery or procedure.
00:30:28
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:30:28
Lisa
And so we get a lot of nursing students come to spend one or two days with us just to start as many IVs as they possibly can. Yes, also see our setting, but like, let's get you some IV starts because this is where to practice and learn. And so, but we also see,
00:30:51
Lisa
And we'll say to our managers, like, hey, this student was awesome. If she ever, if we ever get a chance to hire her or him, it. They're great. You know, great at starting IVs, yes. But like, go getters, jump right in, want to help out, go above and beyond even what, you know,
00:31:13
Lisa
typically, you know, others would just sit around, they might sit around and wait for a chance to start an IV, where this one over here is like, what can I do to help? You know, and so we talk about that, I think some, but I don't know that there's like a lot of back and forth between managers at the hospital and the professors at the colleges.
00:31:23
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:31:42
Lisa
just from what we see of them as as a students that come for clinical.
00:31:48
The Jobs Podcast
Well, and there could be someone that shows up that maybe, you know, thinks they want to do it and they grow into the profession and they kind of get their stride. Maybe they're a little shaky at first, but then they get their stride and other folks are just dead set on it and they get six months into it and realize this just isn't for me. I don't think I want to do this.
00:32:07
The Jobs Podcast
what you just said a minute ago, when you see people that come in and they're go getters, and I know you listed a few things there, but are there any other things you can think of?
00:32:08
Lisa
Yeah.
00:32:17
The Jobs Podcast
If someone was listening, they're thinking about, I want to get into nursing, but I don't know. What can I do to set myself apart from my peers and what, what little things, you know, like the soft skills that you hear, you know, CEOs and stuff like that talk about.
00:32:35
The Jobs Podcast
showing up on time, asking for work, being curious, but not obnoxious.
00:32:39
Lisa
Mm hmm.
00:32:39
The Jobs Podcast
You know, what, what kind of things when you see a new student come in and they're just rising above everybody else, what can you, what advice can you give someone who's coming in that wants to be the best?
00:32:41
Lisa
Mm hmm.
00:32:54
Lisa
Sure. Yeah. So, I mean, I think I speak for myself and my peers that I work with currently, but, know, we want to see, we want to see go getters that, that want to get in, get, get new experiences, try something new, not afraid to, ask questions and be curious and,
00:33:21
Lisa
Teachable we really really appreciate people that are teachable even when I have a new a new co-worker come in That's been hired to work with us and we're training them to the specifics of our area Even if they're an experienced nurse, I feel like nurses need to Be teachable like as a lifelong
00:33:25
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:33:47
Lisa
trait. It's so beneficial because nursing is always changing and morphing and new technologies and new research and and we learn so much from each other and and you know so much as as things change and we get new equipment or new procedures.
00:34:12
Lisa
So really, I think the most important thing in nursing is to be teachable, which a portion of that requires a little humility too you know to be a little humble and like, okay, I don't know everything.
00:34:25
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:34:28
Lisa
it's It is a little frustrating when people come in and act like they know everything.
00:34:33
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:34:35
Lisa
and, and I've worked with some really smart, smart, smart nurses and who I feel like know just about everything. And they, and they've been so teachable and humble and like, okay, I haven't, I haven't done this before, or I haven't done this procedure since I was in nursing school.
00:34:56
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:34:57
Lisa
We were just talking about that at work today, you know, and this, i would like this procedure, I would be less comfortable with. And, or like if a patient came in that had a implanted port for an IV, and I didn't have a lot of experience with those throughout my career, but two of my coworkers worked on a,
00:35:23
Lisa
cancer floor where they used them every day before they came to this job, like to be able to say, hey, will you just come in with me while I do this? I haven't done one in a while. Or do you just do you have time to just go start that or access that port for me?
00:35:43
Lisa
since you're the expert in our area for that, you know, like, yeah, I'll go do that. And you do this for me. I, I'm finishing this up with another patient. you just go take care of that and I'll go access your port? Like that willingness to help out and, and be an expert in some things and know that you're not an expert in everything.
00:36:07
Lisa
and And in that and saying that as what I was just describing just an ability for good teamwork like it or a Willingness to have good teamwork and be a part of a team Not just among nurses, but we interact with so many other Specialties, you know not just the doctors and the surgeons but respiratory therapists and and
00:36:16
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:36:35
Lisa
phlebotomists that come from lab that come to draw blood and, you know, vascular texts. I mean, just like we have such a wide variety chaplains, I mean, of people that we have to partner with and be in cooperation with. So, so yeah, just that, that teachableness, but also a sense of teamwork and willingness to do your part, I guess.
00:37:04
The Jobs Podcast
When you've got a team like what you were just describing with all those different specialties, and then each member of that team is putting their best foot forward or stepping back to let someone who's better at something else, that's how you provide the best care for your patient.
00:37:20
The Jobs Podcast
That just seems like a no-brainer to do that, but unfortunately sometimes people's egos get in the way, so it's commendable that you approach it that way.
00:37:27
Lisa
Sure. Thank you.
00:37:30
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah, you're welcome.
00:37:30
Lisa
Yeah. And I, and I work with some really good people.
00:37:31
The Jobs Podcast
Good job, Lisa.
00:37:33
Lisa
Well, thanks too.
00:37:33
The Jobs Podcast
yeah sure
00:37:56
Lisa
where.
00:37:57
Lisa
Yeah, we want each other to succeed.
00:37:59
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah. Yeah.
00:38:00
Lisa
And when we want our patients to have good care and so and have good outcomes. And so we help where we can and and also ask for help when we need it.
00:38:15
The Jobs Podcast
Right. Earlier
Challenges and Rewards in Nursing
00:38:16
The Jobs Podcast
in our conversation, you mentioned something about a shortage of nurses. I have been, I've heard that comment a number of times for, well, a long time.
00:38:29
The Jobs Podcast
Is that just a chronic problem in the healthcare care industry?
00:38:36
Lisa
I don't... I don't know it. Yeah, chronic maybe is the right word. it's an It ebbs and flows.
00:38:41
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:38:43
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:38:43
Lisa
And I remember in nursing school and i and I've seen it, I don't know where we're at lately, but I've seen it over the years where at least when I was in school, they said, it's usually about a five year ebb and flow.
00:39:00
Lisa
like
00:39:01
The Jobs Podcast
and Okay.
00:39:02
Lisa
about every five years, you know, we're short of nurses and then at the end of the five years, okay. Now, you know, we've got a bunch of people coming out of nursing school.
00:39:14
Lisa
We've gotten nurses galore, you know?
00:39:17
Lisa
and so I, it it's a chronic cyclical, issue, in nursing, I would say, and I don't know.
00:39:29
Lisa
I don't know how or if COVID affected that. I think it landed towards an admiration for the field, on but I don't know if it made anybody want to be a part be a part of it.
00:39:43
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
00:39:49
Lisa
awesome I honestly don't know.
00:39:50
The Jobs Podcast
right Yeah.
00:39:52
Lisa
And I will say, in saying that, I will say nursing is not for everyone. you know you have to have a little bit of tough skin. And just just for the work itself,
00:40:01
The Jobs Podcast
yeah
00:40:09
Lisa
people people are in people that are in the hospital or coming into a doctor's clinic or or even just coming in for an allergy shot like you shared, it's generally not their favorite day or their favorite thing to do.
00:40:25
Lisa
I would say rarely do I have people coming in going, yes, I'm at the hospital again.
00:40:33
The Jobs Podcast
but Right.
00:40:34
Lisa
so You know, that, and that's one of, that's one of my favorite things about nursing. I like to be, it's kind of my personality, but I like to be able to, you know, sit with someone on maybe their worst day and just try and make it a little less painful, a little less excruciating, a little less terrifying.
00:40:56
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:40:59
Lisa
whether that be just through listening or through education. or through just gentleness or kindness. But but don't remember what we were talking about.
00:41:13
The Jobs Podcast
Nurses shortage of nurses and ebb and flow and all that kind of stuff in the market.
00:41:15
Lisa
Oh, shortage.
00:41:18
Lisa
Yeah. Oh, COVID.
00:41:18
The Jobs Podcast
I mean, yeah, yeah, right, right.
00:41:19
Lisa
I was talking about COVID. And nursing's not for everyone.
00:41:22
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:41:22
Lisa
But but yeah. you You, you encounter people when they're a lot of times at their worst or certainly not at their best.
00:41:32
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah. Hmm.
00:41:34
Lisa
And so you have to be able to, you know, take a few punches when they're, you know, upset or yelling at you or their family is, you have the family also to deal with.
00:41:52
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:41:52
Lisa
you know They're upset, and why why is surgery delayed? and I don't understand this. or and and Nurses are the ones that are in their face when they experience these delays, or or bad news, or pain,
00:42:10
Lisa
or we're the front line.
00:42:12
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:42:13
Lisa
And so we're the ones that get to explain and hedge and, you know, ask them to be patient and sympathize. And and so you do have to be able to handle a little bit of that, I guess we could call customer service to in a sense.
00:42:36
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:42:37
Lisa
but then with just patients and their family members, but then also with doctors. you know We have some wonderful doctors at our hospital, but every every community,
00:42:53
Lisa
just by the nature of of the medical field and and doctors, is gonna have some doctors that are difficult to deal with.
00:43:03
Lisa
that have chips on their shoulders or nurses or you know in any field, but chips on their shoulders who will always find something wrong.
00:43:06
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:43:12
Lisa
you know and that And honestly, saying that out loud, I think that can be in any field where you're going to have those different personalities.
00:43:19
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
00:43:22
Lisa
But I think there is a higher degree. i I may be completely wrong, but ah ah higher a potential for a higher degree of arrogance in the field of of and doctors the in that field.
00:43:42
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah, yeah
00:43:44
Lisa
which i mean you You want a confident doctor taking care of you, trust me.
00:43:51
The Jobs Podcast
yeah yeah there's also an arrogant doctor.
00:43:52
Lisa
So there is a goodness, there is a rightness in a confident doctor,
00:44:06
Lisa
but it can sometimes yeah overflow into arrogance. or and they and not And because they're usually usually very intelligent,
00:44:17
Lisa
Not all of them have a great bedside manner, but that doesn't mean they're not a great doctor.
00:44:21
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:44:23
Lisa
I mean, you know, and so yes, in that field, you're going to encounter wonderful, pleasant people to work with and difficult people to work with.
00:44:23
The Jobs Podcast
right
00:44:33
Lisa
So, you know, in that sense, you got to have a little bit of a tough skin.
00:44:34
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:44:37
Lisa
And then but beyond all of that, the people part of it, you know, there's blood, there's guts, literally. they You know, there's poop.
00:44:45
The Jobs Podcast
There's poop. Yeah, so much poop.
00:44:46
Lisa
there' you know There's vomit. there' So you know so you have to be okay with those things or get okay with it if this is a field that you're interested in.
00:44:55
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah. Right.
00:45:00
Lisa
so
00:45:01
The Jobs Podcast
The traveling nurse that I've heard that pop up in in I worked with a lot of firefighters who just by proximity to nurses end up marrying nurses and the traveling nurse thing always has kind of a this allure.
Travel Nursing and Career Flexibility
00:45:19
The Jobs Podcast
Because you know, everybody thinks, well, I'm gonna go to Hawaii and be a nurse and make a ton of money. And, you know, is that is the traveling nurse thing? All it's cracked up to be? Do you know much about it? Or is it? Do you know anybody that's done it?
00:45:32
Lisa
Sure, sure we've we've used traveling nurses at our hospital I have Friends or co-workers that have gone to do traveling nurse nursing So Allure so there the nice So here's the allure of travel nursing because I will tell you that the majority of travel nurses that that I know are nurses in Lincoln that find out they can make more money doing travel nursing by traveling, traveling, quote unquote, to work at a hospital in Omaha.
00:46:15
Lisa
And so so oh most people do travel nursing for for more income.
00:46:16
The Jobs Podcast
Oh, okay.
00:46:28
Lisa
And I would say the not a lot of people do the glamorous, I'm going to visit all the pretty places and the pretty people.
00:46:42
Lisa
and and nurse be a nurse while I'm at it.
00:46:45
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:46:46
Lisa
People do that for sure, but a lot of a lot of people that are nurses have families.
00:46:54
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:46:55
Lisa
you know so it's not like so it's I'd say that that type of mentality for travel nursing is more the younger single single people in the nursing field.
00:47:09
Lisa
and And it would be, I thought about it. I thought that would be fun at one time. But you know, life and family things happen and and home home's really kind of nice.
00:47:21
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:47:24
Lisa
but But I will say, so usually for travel nursing, what I know about it is that you you sign up with a travel nursing agency
00:47:24
The Jobs Podcast
yeah
00:47:40
Lisa
you get your, benefits, your, your health benefit, like healthcare care and everything through that agency. And then, you sign, they tell you here, you know, which places have openings and usually travel nursing is used. I know how our hospital has used it is to fill, nursing shortage areas,
00:48:06
Lisa
in a, in a pinch.
00:48:09
The Jobs Podcast
and Okay.
00:48:10
Lisa
And so the the nice thing for hospitals about travel nurses is they come in, they get two or three days of training, and then they're in the job.
00:48:23
Lisa
They're working. There's a shorter training period. They come experienced in the area that that you've hired them to work in. So for example, in the surgery department, we've used some travel nurses and they would need to have experience working in surgery before because they literally come in and get two or three days of training and then they're on their own.
00:48:51
The Jobs Podcast
So this isn't something that a brand new person right out of of nursing school is going to do.
00:48:51
Lisa
I mean, no.
00:48:56
The Jobs Podcast
This is someone who's got some time under their belt.
00:49:00
Lisa
Yeah, at least a little, you know, to where you can, you can walk into a job with just a few days training and, and hit the ground running.
00:49:01
The Jobs Podcast
and Okay.
00:49:07
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:49:11
Lisa
and then usually it's, uh, I think it's usually like a, maybe a 16 week contract. and then. You work full-time usually for those 16 weeks. you do They do pay quite a bit better.
00:49:35
Lisa
like a a degree, like I don't know the numbers honestly, but a degree or a percentage more than getting a job in the hospital the traditional way would to have you come in and be able to hit the ground running.
00:49:48
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:49:53
Lisa
And then also you would have like a stipend for housing and your hours would be guaranteed.
00:50:05
Lisa
So, and then at the end of the sixth,
00:50:07
The Jobs Podcast
Do you typically get, do you get benefits with that? With the traveling thing? Is it for the hospital you work for? Do you know that?
00:50:15
Lisa
not from the hospital.
00:50:17
The Jobs Podcast
probably for the agency that you work for.
00:50:17
Lisa
So the hospital also, yeah, the agency.
00:50:19
The Jobs Podcast
OK, all right.
00:50:20
Lisa
So the hospital also then for those traveling nurses, yes, they pay them a bit more, but they don't have to provide benefits.
00:50:28
The Jobs Podcast
OK.
00:50:30
Lisa
yeah. and so if they get their benefits through, travel agency, traveling agency, but, yeah, so, so you could then, if the hospital is still in need at that time, you could re I've seen people renew a contract, another 16 weeks in the same place.
00:50:35
The Jobs Podcast
OK.
00:50:49
Lisa
or you could, you know, towards the end of your contract, start working with your, agency to find the next place you're going to go.
00:51:01
The Jobs Podcast
Okay. It's an option.
00:51:01
Lisa
So yeah, you, yeah, yeah.
00:51:07
Lisa
And it, and it, and it works for some people.
00:51:09
The Jobs Podcast
Sure. I mean, it's probably a good way to maybe see the country or see the world.
00:51:11
Lisa
Yeah.
00:51:14
The Jobs Podcast
I don't know if you can travel overseas to be a nurse if you're certified in the United States, reciprocity may be a whole different discussion that we don't have to dive into now. But
00:51:25
Lisa
Sure.
00:51:26
The Jobs Podcast
One of the things that you mentioned back, you talked about your training that you got initially, and then the things that are changing in the healthcare care industry, as
Continuous Training and Technological Adaptation
00:51:38
The Jobs Podcast
far as new skills, new devices and whatnot.
00:51:39
Lisa
here Yes.
00:51:41
The Jobs Podcast
I'm assuming you have CEU's continuing education classes or online training you have to do periodically to keep your license or renew your license. If there is a new device or something that comes in, do they have a rep from a company come and say, Hey, we're using a different type of airway or a different type of IV ports or whatever. And this is how you use it. Is that how that's typically handled in your line of work?
00:52:08
Lisa
Yes, yeah. So if we're changing, like you said, changing IV kits, the company that they've chosen the new product from would have people come in, reps come in and educate us on the new device.
00:52:28
Lisa
and how it's used, the benefits. And then they usually hang around, like that what the first week we're implementing it, hang around for that week or two just to troubleshoot if there's any issues.
00:52:42
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:52:44
Lisa
And it's good you brought that up just because a lot of times, and not always, but a lot of times That is another avenue that nurses can take.
00:52:55
Lisa
A lot of times those reps for drug companies or or medical device companies, a lot of times the reps that go out and do the training and education for their products are nurses or were nurses.
00:53:09
The Jobs Podcast
Okay. but Okay.
00:53:12
Lisa
and so and so That is another route.
00:53:16
The Jobs Podcast
Sure Yeah.
00:53:16
Lisa
there's just the the one One of the nice things I would be remiss in if I didn't share before our time is done, that one of the best things in nursing, in my opinion, is the variety of options with a nursing degree. Because, you know, if you, if you do even me, like if I were to do this job that I have with the hospital in, which has the whole time been in and around the surgery area, but in a couple different positions,
00:53:50
Lisa
and I love it, but let's say I hit 30 years and I'm burnt out. I've had two back surgeries. I hurt all the time. I just need something different. I have so many options. i mean i could I could go work at a doctor's office where there's not quite such heavy lifting with patients. I could go be a drug rep. I could go
00:54:20
Lisa
work we like We have an area where for suries surgeries where nurses make call patients a patient few weeks before their surgery to get all their health health information. And and they they work at a desk and a computer and doing phone calls.
00:54:38
Lisa
all the time and don't do any one-on-one patient care and they're nurses. I mean, so, and and there's probably so many things that I'm not even thinking of, but there are so many options for people with a nursing degree that if you get burnt out in one area, you don't have to leave the field to to find something different enough
00:54:53
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:55:06
Lisa
to enjoy, continue to enjoy your nursing career.
00:55:10
The Jobs Podcast
If you're an adrenaline junkie, you can go work in the emergency room. And if you're real low key, then you go working with, you know, the narcolepsy wing.
00:55:14
Lisa
Mm-hmm.
00:55:17
The Jobs Podcast
I don't have any idea, but there are a million different options.
00:55:20
Lisa
Exactly right, Tim. but Yeah.
00:55:24
The Jobs Podcast
I mean, just think of the size of your average hospital and all the different divisions and all the different diseases and specialties.
00:55:27
Lisa
Mm-hmm.
00:55:31
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah, it's endless.
00:55:32
Lisa
Yep. Yeah.
00:55:32
The Jobs Podcast
I can, uh, that's a really valid point.
00:55:35
Lisa
Yep.
00:55:35
The Jobs Podcast
you can, you can find what will make you happy for sure.
00:55:39
Lisa
Yep, for sure.
00:55:39
The Jobs Podcast
what What would you say if you had to just choose one thing that you like about your job the most?
The Human Element in Nursing
00:55:47
The Jobs Podcast
What what would that one thing be?
00:55:53
Lisa
you know When I fill out my yearly evaluations, And I get that question.
00:56:02
Lisa
i You know, I always say that I love my coworkers the most. And it's true.
00:56:07
The Jobs Podcast
yeah
00:56:08
Lisa
i think I think if you get a good work group and you have that that teamwork and that let's help everyone succeed mentality, it's such a, yeah, it's just such a
00:56:20
The Jobs Podcast
Camaraderie, yeah.
00:56:25
Lisa
it it doesn't It makes you not hate going into work. you know It makes you enjoy going in and seeing people that that you like, if they're not people you hang out with outside of the work setting, people you like that that you can enjoy the work together.
00:56:28
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:56:42
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
00:56:42
Lisa
but i do i think my Beyond that, I think my favorite thing about nursing is
00:56:53
Lisa
Kind of, I mentioned it already, but just that ability to sit with someone, to work with someone on maybe their worst day and just make it a little better for them.
00:57:06
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:57:08
Lisa
is Ease their pain a little bit. Ease their anxiety a little bit. Just listen. Even if I can't do anything about what their struggle is in that moment, you know just be able to listen and empathize and say I'm sorry that this is happening and and just maybe help make their day a little less Awful than it could have been otherwise So
00:57:37
The Jobs Podcast
Right. On the flip side of that question, what's the one thing that you dislike about your job the most?
00:57:46
Lisa
it's a little bit going to be the same as my my first answer to my favorite thing because in general, not exclusively, but in general, nursing is a predominantly female profession.
00:58:02
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:58:02
Lisa
I work with a lot of women and i and I think they're awesome and I love them, but there can be a lot of drama. And so I,
00:58:15
Lisa
I don't like the drama. I like to come to work and do my job and take care of my patients and have fun with my coworkers and enjoy the work.
00:58:25
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:58:26
Lisa
And when there's some new drama, it just can ruin my day. you know and And so yeah, I think, but also, you know,
00:58:36
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:58:45
Lisa
you know, depending on your management, who who you work for, there can be all just the politics in the hospital, I guess I should say, the the politics of that you might find in any any workplace.
00:58:56
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:59:04
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
00:59:05
Lisa
The politics of things can be kind of irritating. And women can be kind of irritating. you I'm sure you don't experience that ever, Tim, but never.
00:59:15
The Jobs Podcast
Never know. I would, I would have to disagree with you, Lisa.
00:59:19
Lisa
So i'm telling I'm telling you something new.
00:59:21
The Jobs Podcast
This is new, shocking news to me.
00:59:23
The Jobs Podcast
I really, I'm going to have to dig into that for a future podcast.
00:59:24
Lisa
New information.
00:59:27
Lisa
breaking Breaking news on the job podcast.
00:59:32
The Jobs Podcast
Oh boy.
00:59:34
Lisa
Women can be catty.
00:59:38
The Jobs Podcast
You heard it here first.
00:59:39
Lisa
But, you know, I mean,
00:59:39
The Jobs Podcast
phil
00:59:42
Lisa
You know, and i think I think women are the hardest on other women.
00:59:47
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:59:47
Lisa
And so, you know, when you have a bunch of women in the workplace, it can get ugly sometimes, which is why I'm so thankful I really i really work with some great people. But, you know, we all have our good days and bad days.
01:00:00
The Jobs Podcast
Sure. What has there been one particular I guess industry change or a new device or technique that is now just considered standard commonplace everyday part of your job that when it first was brought onto the scene was just like, this is like magic.
Medical Advancements and Patient Care
01:00:22
The Jobs Podcast
And now it's just kind of what you do because healthcare care has changed so much. You know, you're a family friend of ours and you know about our son and his organ transplant when he was younger.
01:00:36
The Jobs Podcast
And if you look at that was, you know, 14 years, almost 14 years ago now.
01:00:36
Lisa
Sure.
01:00:43
The Jobs Podcast
And if you look at what an organ transplant was like 30 years ago, it was like meatball surgery compared to what they did to our son. And then now what they do now, it's, you know, they just give you a pill and all of a sudden your organs fixed.
01:00:58
The Jobs Podcast
I mean, I'm joking, obviously, but the advance, the advancements in medicine are just pretty crazy.
01:01:00
Lisa
Right. But yeah.
01:01:04
The Jobs Podcast
And what we take for granted now was cutting edge 20 years ago.
01:01:05
Lisa
Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Yeah. I feel like so much has changed. I don't even know. I don't even know. But as you were talking, I think what I would say is the biggest change in my field of work for nursing.
01:01:30
Lisa
that I would not have even believed when I first started was just like hospital length of stays like for surgeries. Like surgical patients that would have stayed when I first started nursing would have stayed two like one, two, three, four nights in the hospital are going home the same day of surgery.
01:01:53
Lisa
you know, when I worked on a general and vascular surgery floor, we would, we would keep, we would have lap coals stay overnight all the time.
01:02:05
Lisa
And now it's like, which is, I'm sorry, a gallbladder removal.
01:02:10
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
01:02:11
Lisa
and now it's weird and crazy if they have, to you know, something's gone wrong.
01:02:16
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
01:02:17
Lisa
Well, that sounds bad too, but like something's not going smoothly to where they have to stay overnight. we i We do a lot of neurosurgeries, back and spine surgeries at my hospital where I work. And those patients always used to stay overnight, even at least one night, even five, six years ago. And now we're sending spine surgery patients home the same day. like that is That has been kind of baffling to me as as I've worked within the surgery realm over the years.
01:02:58
The Jobs Podcast
Do you think that that's a result of the procedures being refined and the tools being downsized as well as pain medication control? Or is it just the whole package? Everything around an operation like that, it's just gotten better.
01:03:14
Lisa
I think everything, I think all of it. I do wonder sometimes how much insurance companies have input on some of those things too.
01:03:25
The Jobs Podcast
yeah
01:03:26
Lisa
you know We'll hear, we've got a patient that's supposed to go home the same day, they're back from surgery. They're doing okay, but having quite a bit of pain.
01:03:36
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
01:03:37
Lisa
They're not sure they're comfortable going home. We call the doctor, hey, can we keep this guy overnight? No, his insurance won't pay for it. Give him this. Now, if there was something really wrong, would they could stay overnight.
01:03:51
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
01:03:51
Lisa
But like just having a little pain, need some more pain medicine, no, that's not gonna fly with insurance.
01:03:59
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
01:03:59
Lisa
Try this and then send him home.
01:04:01
The Jobs Podcast
Here's a little mud, walk it off.
01:04:02
Lisa
you know And so, yeah, yeah, rub ah rub a little dirt on it. and put them in the car and ship them home.
01:04:11
The Jobs Podcast
Hey.
01:04:12
Lisa
but But I do think, you know, with the, yeah, I mean, I don't know how much smaller the instruments are, but incisions are smaller.
01:04:23
Lisa
they're They're able to do more in smaller spaces. There's a lot more robotic surgeries. And so they're using robots to and just have puncture sites for incisions instead of a one long incision and opening up they have like four or five small little puncture site incisions that either they've done a laparoscopic surgery by hand or they're using a robot to to do the actual
01:04:58
Lisa
holding of the devices that do the surgery laparoscopically.
01:05:02
The Jobs Podcast
Hmm. Yeah.
01:05:04
Lisa
Yeah, so I think it all plays into into it.
01:05:08
The Jobs Podcast
yeah Have you ever had anybody in your career, you've been doing this for quite a while now. Was there anyone that you spent a lot of time with it became a mentor or someone early in your career that took you under their wing and kind of said, Look, you know, you want to do it this way, do it that way.
01:05:28
The Jobs Podcast
Just kind of follow me and maybe someone that guided you your journey.
01:05:32
Lisa
Hmm.
Learning from Mistakes and Mentorship
01:05:34
Lisa
Yeah. I mean, I don't know. I mean, yes, I would say that, when I first started in nursing, because we learned so much on the job, when we first start, my preceptor, we had, we call our trainer a preceptor.
01:05:58
Lisa
my preceptor during my first job, Christine, she, I would say she took me under her wing. I mean, it was her job, but I was, she was assigned to train me, but, she's someone that even once I was done training, really, I, I would look to when I had questions, she kind of helped me, be more comfortable with things I wasn't comfortable with and and help me see that that it doesn't have to it doesn't have to be hard.
01:06:26
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
01:06:36
Lisa
It doesn't have to be scary. But also, there were so many nurses that I worked with initially in my first job that that really were admirable in their work that you could see cared for the patients that would sit down and visit with a patient even even though our work is busy and hard and there's not a lot of time would sit at the bedside they were but back when we were doing paper charting and not everything was on the computer sit and and fill out the the assessment on the paper charting
01:07:10
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
01:07:15
Lisa
while you just visited and listened and and Christine did that all the time. one of One of the nurses that worked the night shift, Michelle, she would she would give every single one of her patients a back massage with like rub lotion on their back and give them a back massage at bedtime. And you know, just that those little glimpses of genuine care and and yeah, giving people humanity.
01:07:45
The Jobs Podcast
humanity.
01:07:50
Lisa
And that's a great way of putting it, but like just made the job maybe not for sure, not more glamorous, but more compassionate and with more humanity for me.
01:08:06
The Jobs Podcast
yeah
01:08:06
Lisa
And I, and I try to emulate them as much as I can. Yeah.
01:08:12
The Jobs Podcast
Did any of those mentors or would you have any advice for someone that's a new nurse or is just getting started? What is the best advice on how to deal with failure?
01:08:25
The Jobs Podcast
Because we all make mistakes. We're all human beings. No matter what job you're in, at no matter what level of that job you're in, you will make mistakes.
01:08:34
Lisa
Yeah.
01:08:35
The Jobs Podcast
how
01:08:35
Lisa
Yeah, for sure.
01:08:36
The Jobs Podcast
And especially in in the nursing environment like that, sometimes it can be, painful for someone on the receiving end of a stick that you just can't get, for example. That's just one example, but how, how can you best advise a new nurse on how to deal with failure?
01:08:49
Lisa
yeah.
01:08:57
Lisa
yeah, I mean, you're gonna, you're gonna have failures. I think I, that's interesting because I don't think of,
01:09:10
Lisa
of not getting an IV stick as a failure. And that's just, that's just, that's day to day life, right? And yes, it's not fun for a patient, but every patient comes with, with, you know, different bodies that, that are either hard or easy to to work with.
01:09:19
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
01:09:29
Lisa
But, you know, for us, failures can be, yes, they can cause someone a little pain, some pain, but our, our failure sometimes can be even a little more dramatic.
01:09:42
Lisa
you know, and so, you know, maybe giving the wrong med to the, to the wrong patient or giving too much, and too much of something to a patient or not, yeah, not measuring correctly or, you know, can be a little more, dire.
01:09:49
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
01:10:02
Lisa
and so it is scary. that there is some fear of failure in in the job. And so, yeah, I would say that normally, I think what's good is, what's good is our documentation. Like it's like, okay, that happened. Let's follow the process for what we do when a failure happens.
01:10:31
Lisa
and kind of make it more about, whoa, you could have really hurt that person. Good thing we didn't. you know But more like, okay, so you so you made a mistake.
01:10:40
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
01:10:44
Lisa
Let's go fill let's go and fill out the report the incident report. And what's what's our next step?
01:10:54
Lisa
So who do we call? Let's call the doctor, let them know their patient got the wrong medication. they're gonna give us some orders for what to do next. So I think like like there's a process in all of this because mistakes happen.
01:11:11
Lisa
and so i And then you know I just encourage people to learn from it and do better next time, right?
01:11:18
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
01:11:21
Lisa
So you know you give the wrong medication to the wrong patient one time and for the next five years, you double, triple, quadruple check every med, every patient.
01:11:34
The Jobs Podcast
Oh, yeah.
01:11:36
Lisa
like you're like You're so terrified that that's going to happen. Not terrified, but it re-instills the preciseness of your work, your diligence to make sure you're checking all those things before you so you don't so that doesn't happen again.
01:11:56
Lisa
and And honestly, it's a good thing.
01:11:59
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
01:11:59
Lisa
It's a good thing to have your diligence be rip in check, you know to have an instance where something has causeds you caused you to be more diligent.
01:12:12
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah, I get your attention for sure.
01:12:13
Lisa
And so, yeah, for sure. I had ah ah an example for me. i We usually, use some numbing medication with ah ah an injection, a small injection, before we start an IV. And I had not properly capped the little needle I'd numbed someone with. and And we would sometimes, if we didn't get the IV at first, we would numb again. And so I had accidentally, out of out of my own habit,
01:12:52
Lisa
left ah ah a small needle, a syringe with a needle on it, on the bed to start the IV. And then I went to pick everything up and I stuck my finger with the needle, which had not been in the patient. And so because of that, then we have to, you know, if the needle hadn't poked the patient, then I put a bandaid on and I'm good to go. But because the needle had already poked the patient,
01:13:21
Lisa
then i then I have to go through, call my manager, go up to employee health, they have to draw some blood, they're gonna and then we have to talk to my patient and say, hey, they're gonna come test you for like HIV and a few other things just to know if I'm at risk by being stuck in the same needle as you for having an infection.
01:13:42
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
01:13:45
Lisa
And I tell you what, Every time I started an IV since then, and that was a lot of years ago, I properly dispose of my needles before I continue on with the IV start, my numbing needles. And so like, i I feel like that was a good thing. I mean, luckily I had a good outcome. Like my patient didn't have any infectious diseases. I didn't get any from that needle stick.
01:14:17
Lisa
So that, I mean, it helps that I didn't have any bad outcome from that incident, but now I always properly dispose of my needles, to avoid the, that those needle sticks, you know, so mistakes happen, but they're, they're good for learning.
01:14:33
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
01:14:39
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
01:14:40
Lisa
I guess I should say.
01:14:41
The Jobs Podcast
No, that makes perfect sense. And, you know, it's not always the patient that could be the one that's in danger, the the PPE and the policies and procedures and steps and everything are in place, not only for the patient safety, but for the employee safety as well.
01:14:56
The Jobs Podcast
So
01:14:57
Lisa
Yeah,
01:14:58
The Jobs Podcast
one question One question that we didn't I didn't dive into, and I know that it's a big part of this podcast, is pay. Now, I never ask the person I'm interviewing what they make, but do you have any any idea what...
01:15:11
Lisa
Yeah.
01:15:14
The Jobs Podcast
And I know that it can be regional.
01:15:14
Lisa
Hmm.
01:15:15
The Jobs Podcast
A nurse in California or in New York is probably going to have a much higher salary than someone in Nebraska.
01:15:17
Lisa
Very much so yeah.
01:15:22
The Jobs Podcast
but
01:15:23
Lisa
Yep.
01:15:23
The Jobs Podcast
what What would at the hospital you're at or in your region do you know a ballpark of what a nurse would start out at?
01:15:34
Lisa
Yeah, and we did just have an adjustment. And so I'm not 100% sure of what the starting out part is.
01:15:44
Lisa
But it is very, very regional. So you're right. In California, a nurse can expect to make a lot more than a nurse in Nebraska, just like a teacher in California can expect to make a lot more than a teacher in Nebraska.
01:15:53
The Jobs Podcast
Mm hmm. Sure. Yeah.
01:15:58
Lisa
But but i I believe our range, which which was just just um they did a market adjustment re reach recently,
01:16:10
Lisa
to to be more in line with other hospitals in our region of the same size and what and whatnot. and i And so I feel like a new nurse can expect in a hospital, because that is a caveat, can expect to make
01:16:32
Lisa
I'm guessing on the bottom end, but maybe 38 to $60 an hour.
01:16:41
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
01:16:43
Lisa
and And then, but like if you, I feel like you do get paid, the ranges are, do vary based on the setting. So like if you were working in a doctor's office,
01:17:01
Lisa
it would, you wouldn't make quite that much, you know, maybe even as, even even as a having a bachelor, RN bachelor's degree, you might only make, you know, $25 to $30 an hour in a doctor's office or clinic. so it does, it does vary by setting.
01:17:25
The Jobs Podcast
Do you typically work a, I know if you're in an office, a doctor's office that's open Monday through Friday, nine to five kind of a deal. that would be a, you know, a, a standard schedule, but if you work in a hospital or if you're on a floor like yourself, do you work different shifts, like a 10 or a 12 hour shift or, I'm assuming over time, over time's an option as well, I would assume.
01:17:44
Lisa
That's a great question.
01:17:48
Lisa
Yep, yep. So I would say in almost every department in the hospital, for sure, like on the nursing units, on the floors where patients where the parts of the hospital that are open 24-7, the nurses do 12-hour shifts.
01:18:08
Lisa
So at at my hospital, they we they do 7-7, either AM or PM.
01:18:13
The Jobs Podcast
okay
01:18:15
Lisa
and the and the The benefit to that is you know the less turnover of nurses than the you know the the better for the patient.
01:18:26
Lisa
you know hand off here If you're handing off report on a patient every six or eight hours, um then you know that this the continuity of care is diminished.
01:18:31
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
01:18:39
The Jobs Podcast
Right, right.
01:18:41
Lisa
So all of the nursing floors or do 12-hour shifts for the nurses. The department I work in is one of the exceptions. So the procedural departments like the cardiac cath lab or outpatient surgery, where we have areas that close at night.
01:19:02
Lisa
and so we're not open 24 seven.
01:19:05
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
01:19:05
Lisa
So we do have different shifts. in my department, just as an example, and, and I'm not sure the cardiac cath lab, they may, they may do like 12 hour shifts, but just daytime.
01:19:17
Lisa
I'm not sure.
01:19:18
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
01:19:19
Lisa
but for, for example, in my department, because we're prepping people for surgery and surfer surgeries in the morning are at seven or seven 30.
01:19:29
Lisa
patients come in, start coming in at 5.30. And so we work from 5.30. We're open from 5.30 in the morning until 7.30 at night is our posted hours.
01:19:41
The Jobs Podcast
Good grief.
01:19:43
Lisa
No, we don't work, but that's the hours that we're open.
01:19:44
The Jobs Podcast
Oh, okay, I was gonna say that's a long day.
01:19:47
Lisa
And so, yeah, that would be a long day. But that' that's the hours we're open. And so we have the majority of our people come in at 5.30 in the morning and work anywhere from five hours because it's just busy in the morning. So we have one five hour shift person, eight hours, 10 hours, and we have one 12 hour person. And so like five 30 to two, five 30 to four are the most common. We have one person that does five 30 to six PM. And then we have an evening shift that comes in.
01:20:27
Lisa
And they work 11 to 730. some Sometimes when we rotate into the evening shift, we do like hour hours. So maybe a 10 hour shift person might do 7 to 730, or that's a 12 hour, 9 to 730.
01:20:48
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
01:20:50
Lisa
9 a.m. To 7 30 but because we close at night we do have varying shift hours now, there are some hospitals I'm sure even across the nation that Do eight-hour shifts even for for nursing, you know and typically an eight-hour shift in nursing would look like seven to three three to eleven eleven to seven is what I've
01:21:15
The Jobs Podcast
Would you get a shift differential and pay if you're working overnight or on the swing shift?
01:21:18
Lisa
And you do get shift yep yep you do get shift differential for for overnight yeah for the evening and overnight.
01:21:20
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
01:21:27
Lisa
In fact, so since I go in at 5.30 in the morning from 5.30 to 7, I even get the nighttime shift differential for the first hour and a half of my shift every day.
01:21:39
Lisa
So, and then that yes, there's opportunities for overtime and that's handled differently in every hospital and every setting. I can't remember what they're at right now, but you know sometimes that's time and a half, sometimes that's a flat rate, know maybe like 10 extra dollars an hour for hours that you work over 40.
01:22:05
Lisa
But typically, like starting out in a hospital, but most hospitals call, at least our hospital, we would call three 12-hour shifts of full-time, so which is technically 36 hours, but you're expected to come in 15 minutes before your shift.
01:22:20
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
01:22:28
Lisa
so So like 645 to 715 is really technically what you're scheduled. So that ends up being a little closer to the 30, you know, the 40 hours.
01:22:42
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
01:22:42
Lisa
And so it it would be considered full-time doing 36 hours in three 12-hour shifts. And that's how it is at the hospital I work at.
01:22:50
The Jobs Podcast
Do most nurses do? Do most nurses try and get there three days or is it typical to just do three days in a row or do people like to separate it up or is it just depend on the person in the scheduler?
01:23:04
Lisa
Yeah, I would say that it at at my hospital, it depends 100% on the scheduler.
01:23:13
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
01:23:13
Lisa
it's very like you You don't really get to pick and choose your schedule. but But by doing that,
01:23:17
The Jobs Podcast
and Okay.
01:23:24
Lisa
You know, it gives more flexibility, A, to the scheduler, but also for people to take time off. You know, like if you don't have a set schedule you're working, maybe you request off, you're requesting off for a trip and you can work three days at the beginning of one week and three days at the end of and of the next week and have a whole week off without actually missing a shift.
01:23:43
The Jobs Podcast
Oh, yeah.
01:23:48
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
01:23:52
The Jobs Podcast
Huh.
01:23:53
Lisa
So by kind of having a different, so you would have a different schedule each week.
01:24:00
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
01:24:01
Lisa
That's where I work. Now I know some hospitals and one one setting I haven't mentioned that's another and big time nursing setting is like a nursing home.
01:24:12
Lisa
a lot of, uh, some of those settings and some hospitals have like a line I've heard people call it. I've never worked in that. And that's, uh, under that form format format, but, like they might have a nursing line, a scheduled line where I'm, you know, the, the line I was hired to is, three.
01:24:39
Lisa
three these three days like for for the four for a four-week schedule or a six-week schedule I work this many weekends and this many night shifts and and these days this week and so maybe it's not the same every week but every six weeks it's the same so you can plan a little bit does that make sense
01:25:02
The Jobs Podcast
and Okay. Yeah, it does. it's I can relate to that. Just the fire service schedule is an odd one that most people can't relate to. and those When working in an industry that is a 24-7 operation, the holidays don't matter.
01:25:11
Lisa
Sure.
01:25:17
Lisa
Mhm.
01:25:18
The Jobs Podcast
you know and It's just always a machine that's moving. you have to get creative with the the work schedule.
01:25:22
Lisa
Yeah.
01:25:24
The Jobs Podcast
So it makes sense to me. But it's good information for someone who's listening that is trying to decide if nursing is something they want to get into.
01:25:29
Lisa
Mhm.
01:25:32
The Jobs Podcast
That's the kind of nuts and bolts that you want to know and how to make that unusual schedule work to your advantage like the example you gave of taking three d working three days on the front end and then three days on the back end, you've got a big chunk of time off, you could take a vacation.
01:25:35
Lisa
Yep.
01:25:47
The Jobs Podcast
So
01:25:48
Lisa
Yep, yep, yeah.
01:25:50
The Jobs Podcast
Lisa, this has been really eye opening for me. I've known a number of nurses and spent a lot of time in the hospital with my son.
01:25:57
Lisa
Yep.
01:25:58
The Jobs Podcast
And you know I have a lot of admiration for nurses, but you don't ever really know what it's like when they leave your room, you know what what they're what they're actually doing and the schedule and the pay and the education and all that kind of stuff.
01:26:04
Lisa
Hmm.
01:26:13
The Jobs Podcast
So you have provided a ton of excellent information. So thank you for doing that.
01:26:18
Lisa
Yeah, I'm happy to do that. I hope it was helpful and enlightening.
01:26:24
The Jobs Podcast
It was.
01:26:25
Lisa
there's I'm sure there's so many things that we didn't talk about, but it's a picture, a snapshot.
01:26:29
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah. Yes, you were my so far, you're the best guest I've ever had.
01:26:36
Lisa
You're just saying that.
01:26:37
The Jobs Podcast
I say that to every guest.
01:26:39
Lisa
Uh-huh, uh-huh. That doesn't surprise me, but I know you're you actually mean it when you say it to me.
01:26:41
The Jobs Podcast
Thanks.
01:26:44
The Jobs Podcast
Right, right, I do. Thanks, Lisa.
01:26:48
Lisa
Yeah, thank you, Tim. Thanks for asking.