My earliest thoughts of what I would be ‘when I grew up’ was always “a nurse of course”! Why, I do not know, I did not come from a family of health care professionals, I was not sickly as a child with multiple hospitalizations, I just always KNEW, I would be a nurse. First Attempt at Nursing School After high school I was accepted to the nursing program at Long Beach State. That was in 1971 and the dorms were co-ed and sadly, I spent that year growing up, away from my overbearing father and well, did not attend many classes, resulting in an academic dismissal. That sent me on…
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What Nobody Tells You About Nursing Until You’re Already In It
I didn’t go to nursing school to become an insurance appeals specialist. Here’s What Nobody Tells You About Nursing Until You’re Already In It… Nobody does that. You go to nursing school because you want to help people. Because something in you responds to the idea of being present with someone in their most vulnerable moment and actually making a difference. That’s the story we tell ourselves on the way in. And it’s true, for some part of every shift. But there’s another part nobody warns you about. I spent a decade working in the ER as a case management nurse. And while the patient bedside work was everything I…
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Have you ever felt absolute dread the day before a shift…or walking into one?
Have you ever felt absolute dread the day before a shift…or walking into one? If so, this is for you. This is my story from those moments…or for me, several moments…of my body rebelling against something I thought I had to do to the point where I finally said, no more, and found a new way. I’m a nurse practitioner, currently working as a nurse life coach. I’ve been in healthcare for 21 years. During that time, I chose my job over my family, over myself, and over what my body was trying to tell me. My Body’s Protests Grew Louder In the last few years, my body got louder…
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Fellow Nurse Killed by ICE
A fellow nurse was killed by ICE on Saturday, January 24,2026. Everyday something new reminds us we are NO LONGER SAFE in our own beloved country! Alex Pretti RN was trying to defend and help a woman at a protest against ICE tactics in Minneapolis, MN regarding the recent shooting of citizen Renee Goode. The woman had been knocked down by ICE agents and Pretti was defending her. It hits home hard when it’s one of our own. Pretti, an ICU nurse at the Veterans hospital in Minneapolis. Alex was just 37 years old. He was holding his phone in one hand and his left hand was above his head…
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Nurses Month Continues – 2025
As Nurses Month continues for 2025, I hope you have taken or plan to take the opportunity to do something just for YOU to honor you and all that You do for your patients, co-workers and colleagues. If not, please make plans to do so in the coming weeks. Self-care and self-love are essential to avoiding burnout and caregiver fatigue. The health care industry is under duress and and attack. Cuts are threatened in many different ways, from funding cuts to insurances and programs for children and adults who lack other options. Funding has been cut for research, and support groups. Wellness programs including vaccines and preventative treatments are being…