It’s January 2021 in the middle of the worst COVID crisis we have seen (so far anyways) in Southern California.

 One of my jobs is in a relatively small acute care hospital as a rapid response nurse which basically means I respond to calls for patients that need some sort of rapid assistance.

 Normally (read non-COVID era), I start my day by rounding on the various floors in my hospital, saying a quick hello and shining a smile to those both coming and going at change of shift and inquiring about any patients that might need a close eye kept that day. Sometimes, my rounds are interrupted by a “code” called overhead, but that’s not common.

 Present days are quite different, however. I rarely have the opportunity to truly round and given my constant n95, covered by surgical mask, plus face shield most people don’t even know it’s me let alone that I am smiling.

 Now, my days mostly start with an official “Rapid...

June 18, 2018 - 365 days ago - I started working again in the hospital setting as a rapid response nurse. I had no idea that I would be back at the bedside after beginning a career in higher education and administration back in 2009, and yet I cannot begin to say how much it has helped me remember why I went into nursing in the first place and how it has helped me fall back in love with nursing.

Perhaps you aren’t aware, but I was fired in April 2018 in a way that was both surprising and yet not as I look back on that time today. If I am honest with myself, I knew it was time to go long before it happened, but I had decided to give it my best and re-engage rather than leave. Regardless, God had other plans and I suddenly found myself kicked out of my somewhat comfy surroundings on a random Thursday morning. We were supposed to be moving into a new house in the next weeks after that, but without a stable income, we chose to walk away from our escrow and not close on the house....

I would like to take a moment to clear the air and energy about the launch of what I call the Burn Brighter movement.

Honestly I am a bit overwhelmed at the outpouring of love, support, and appreciation from my fellow healers over the last few weeks!

I wish the Burn Brighter CE session wasn’t so needed, BUT I definitely tapped into a collective need in offering the class last week.

When I started to think about how I would launch the course and reach out to other healers, I knew only 2 things: I wanted to be able to interact LIVE and I wanted to offer great value and not waste your time.

For me, that translated into using Zoom technology and offering the course free for Nurses Week.

I really didn’t think too much past that point as I wasn’t sure what type of reception the course might receive once I got it into YOUR hands.

Now that the content is out there and it’s been validated beyond my 1:1 coaching clients, I am both humbled and a bit saddened by the...

Heading into work that snowy, cold Chicago morning back in 2004, I was excited.“Heart Attack Snow” was falling, and I knew that meant patients. It might sound awful, but I was a new Cardiac ICU nurse with new skills begging to be practiced.

In case you aren’t sure what I mean by heart attack snow, imagine shoveling something crazy wet and heavy and the toll it might take on your heart.
When I got to work, there he was - MY dream cardiac patient. He had been found by his neighbor slumped over their fence with shovel still in hand. He was barely breathing and the neighbor had immediately called 911. I expected him to be in BAD shape, but he was talking to me and seemed in great spirits. Perhaps he would be fine. Good for him!

His monitor on the other hand would NOT stop alarming. He was having a ton of ectopy despite being on a lidocaine drip. I remember paging the doctor for orders as the increasing number of ventricular beats was making my relatively new to CCU...