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MY FIRST CODE BLUE AS A NURSE

Posted on February 25, 2020June 15, 2020 by Liz

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8 years of being married to @jobendiah. We’ve ga

8 years of being married to @jobendiah. We’ve gained an impressive number of grey hairs in that time. And a pretty awesome life too ❤️

My first real steps into motherhood were not easy

My first real steps into motherhood were not easy ones.⁣
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#ad I was sitting in an appointment room on the chair because I didn’t want to be in the “spotlight” on the exam table. The MA was asking me all the standard questions you get asked at your six-week postpartum appointment, and I knew what was coming next. She was going to ask me questions about how I was doing emotionally. I had already scored myself using the tool I knew she would use and knew that I was going to get an alarmingly high number on both the anxiety and depression scale. And I had rehearsed my lie of how I would answer instead. I did well. I added a few points to make things more realistic, and the woman smiled, nodded, and went off to get my midwife. I was immensely pleased with myself for having “passed” this test with flying colors. ⁣
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When the midwife came in a few minutes later, she sat down across from me, reached over to rest her hand reassuringly on my leg, and asked me how I was really doing. And I proceeded to cry for 30 minutes. She just sat there and rubbed by back and told me over and over that it would be okay, even if it didn’t feel like that right now. ⁣
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By the time I left that office I had a prescription for Zoloft and an appointment with the postpartum therapy group at the hospital. Those would help long-term, but her sitting with me, letting me cry, and identifying that based on our interactions before I was definitely NOT okay, that is what I think about four years later when people talk about their most memorable healthcare experience.⁣
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One of the coolest parts of working in healthcare is the impact you can have on humans at their most vulnerable moments. ⁣
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The kinda crappy part of that though?⁣
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Continued in the comments
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How has she already been here for FOUR years?⁣
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It’s flown by, but it also seems like forever.⁣
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Happy Birthday Avery girl! ⁣
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#fouryearsold #four #happybirthday #happyfourthbirthday

Question for my nurse practitioner friends: Would

Question for my nurse practitioner friends: Would ever return to the bedside?

Since I announced that I'm leaving my more "traditional" nurse practitioner role because of burnout and just pure dissolution of my faith in our country's healthcare system in general (when I rule the world, things will be much different, but alas, we aren't there yet)tons of people have messaged me or left comments leaving suggestions of different potential career choices for me. Which has been quite fun! Despite my constant shooting down of ideas. I'm basically a toddler saying no to every perfectly reasonable suggestion 🤪

One that I've gotten quite a few times is returning to bedside nursing, since I really did love my time in pediatrics.

I recently discussed if I'd ever go back in a Chat & Chill video on my YouTube channel (link in bio!). The short answer for me is no. I explain more about why in the video, but I want to hear from you!

So, let's chat! Let me know if the comments if you'd ever return to bedside nursing with your NP license, and why or why not. Have you already made the switch? What made decide to do so?

And if you want to hear more about my feelings on the topic, you can check out the link in my bio!

#nursepractitioner #np #fnp #familynursepractitioner #familymedicine #nurse #nursing #nursingschool #npschool #nursingjobs #lifeasannp #bedsidenursing

I heard that you are supposed to post super flatte

I heard that you are supposed to post super flattering photos of yourself in cute outfits on this app⁣
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So obviously my gardening getup needed to be shown off⁣
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Please enjoy and look in your pajama drawer for a similar look this holiday weekend!!⁣
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#fashionblogger #socute #summerfashion #nurse #nursing #familynursepractitioner #gardening

First family adventure walk with two children walk

First family adventure walk with two children walking solo. ⁣
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If you ask Avery what we did this weekend she will tell you we went on a family adventure through a jungle by a pond where she found the best sword ever and was attacked in the eye by a huge bug. ⁣
She found it to be one of the best and also most frightening experiences of her life. ⁣
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Piper would probably describe the experience as an incredibly long walk with not enough snacks. ⁣
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And I would report it to be an overall pleasant experience along a shady trail next to a river, with a nice path that I’ll definitely bring a stroller to next time because holy cow carrying a child for over a mile is exhausting. ⁣
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Now for the final activity review. ⁣
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7/10 recommend adventure trails with your children. ⁣
3 points deducted for A Lack of bathrooms and presence of poison ivy which made a newly potty trained trail adventurer quite nervous. And the number of forbidden foods that are VERY tempting to small children and the whole no guard rail next to the river thing was mildly stressful.⁣
But it was super pretty. And otherwise a grand experience. ⁣
I’d encourage you to bring a stroller. And your patience. Because you will be stopping every 5 feet. ⁣
And also a camera. Because you’ll want to look at pictures over and over again for days. ⁣
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If you take littles on adventure walks, I’d love to know all of your tips for success as we are just getting bold enough to try these!⁣
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#statecollege #centrecountypa #adventuringwithlittles #toddlerlife #nurse #fnplife #nplife #nursinglife #rn #bsn #workingmom #dayoff #weekendadventure #hiking #trailbabies ⁣

I’m sure you've seen the jokes about the month o

I’m sure you've seen the jokes about the month of July and the interns. The whole “don't get sick in July,” the memes in general, the many, many jokes about intern physicians who all start their jobs as doctors on July first.

Have you heard and laughed at those jokes? Have you made them?

Because I have absolutely made and laughed at those jokes more times than I can count. But after starting my training to become an NP I got a huge reality check of what it's like to be in the shoes of being a provider in training. And I couldn't laugh along with them or make them anymore.

In today's video, I just want to talk about why this "interns ruin July" attitude, like so many attitudes in Healthcare, needs to change. I’ll also talk about what caused me to re-evaluate how I discuss the whole topic and why it is so important to make this one, surprisingly impactful change in the way we think about interns.

The nurses vs physicians rivalry is rampant and I really really believe a lot of it starts during a residents first real experience working with nurses, as an intern.

If you want to make this same change and bring new positivity to the healthcare space, click the link in my bio to watch the video.

See you there!

#newresidents #july2021 #herecometheinterns #julyinterns #nurse #nurses #familynursepractitioner #pgy1 #pgy2 #welcometohealthcare #nursingschool #npschool #bullyinginhealthcare #bethechange

Happy 10th Birthday sweet girl. We sure do love ya

Happy 10th Birthday sweet girl.
We sure do love ya! Hope you enjoyed your many many treats today because we failed to communicate as a family and all spoiled you individually 😂😂 #cavalierkingcharles #cavalierkingcharlesspaniel #furbaby

Dad and Grandpa are the two clear favorites around

Dad and Grandpa are the two clear favorites around here, and I honestly get it because they’re pretty awesome girl dads.⁣
Thanks for being our dudes. ⁣
We love you⁣
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#happyfathersday #fathersday2021f #grandpa #girldad #girldads #nursepractitioner #fnp #nursing #workingmom #nursemom #lifewithtoddlers #toddlerlife #casualnosepicking #happyfathersday2021⁣
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Yesterday we had the most delicious scavenger hunt

Yesterday we had the most delicious scavenger hunt! ⁣
Strawberry picking on the second to last day of the season. ⁣
The berries were quite picked over at this point which just increased the difficulty of the game and Avery was here for it. She insisted on doing this “all by myself” which really translated into EATING the berries by herself and accepting help picking them. ⁣
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We were joined on this adventure by another family with young children who we quickly teamed up with on our delicious berry mission.⁣
They were regulars to this activity and were able to show us the ropes. ⁣
At first I was worried that the kids would be awkward around one another, as toddlers can be with strangers. But Avery broke the ice by asking about one of the kids bowel movement frequency and after answering, he told us a harrowing tale about the “worst boo boo” his leg had ever had and all the details of the recovery. ⁣
It was an excellent ice breaker and the mom and I were able to bond over our children’s excellent social skills. ⁣
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Piper was not quite ready for the berry picking, but did very much enjoy spreading the stickiness of her honey pop to every single person and surface within reach. She also did excellent work taste testing the berries to make sure we were getting a good selection.⁣
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Overall a lovely day. ⁣
And I would 8/10 recommend. ⁣
2 points lost for our timing. If you do this, go earlier in the season so you can play at a lower level and have an abundance of fruit to find. ⁣
Also wear pants. There were many other plant friends and some of them had pokers. ⁣
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How many berries on average do you consume when you go berry picking? Because the girls easily ate 20 each. ⁣
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#strawberrypicking #toddlers #familynursepractitioner #nurse #fnp #summerfun #toddlertivities #summer #workingmomlife #fnplife #toddlerlife #alittledirtneverhurt #strawberryfarm #wayfruitfarm #pamoms #statecollegepa #momsofcentrecounty

I've killed almost all of my seedlings. 😱 So l

I've killed almost all of my seedlings. 😱

So let's start at the very beginning.

I've never gardened before, and, because I'm me, I decided that I would do it the hardest way possible by starting my own vegetable garden from seeds. And instead of researching the process of how to do this, I asked my three-year-old, who got her information from a Daniel Tiger episode where he planted plants.

And so, I went forth with much confidence and absolutely zero knowledge, and, therefore, we had the great seedling tragedy of 2021 at our home.

Despite this tragedy, I learned an absolute crap ton in the process, and I thought you might be able to benefit from these mistakes, should you to decide to embark on this homesteading life.

If you are a new gardener, you want a new hobby, or if you're just really interested in how it's even possible to killed so many plants so quickly (like hundreds, we're talking HUNDREDS of plants), I thought I would just share so that you can know what to do. Link in my bio has the full video if you want to take a peek!

Or what not to do. Whatever floats your boat. 😂

Do you garden? Would you like to garden? Do you also take advice from your children when starting a new hobby? Let me know!

#plantmom #newgardener #growingseedlings #centralpagardener #hownottogrowplants #brownthumb #plantkiller

Just a reminder for anyone who might be sharing my

Just a reminder for anyone who might be sharing my struggles: you are enough, exactly as you are.

I’ve been working on internalizing this motto a lot lately. Life can sometimes be hard and scary, and it can be so hard to not compare yourself to other people who seem to be where and who you want to be. But friends, cliché though it may be, your path is not theirs, and the internet often paints everything is the best light possible. But you, exactly as you are right now, are worthy of love and acceptance.

And if you’re struggling, my advice is to find something you like doing, and do it! For me, lettering is so calming and relaxing, and something I just very much enjoy doing, so I do it in my “me time”. I’m not the best at it, but I like it, and that’s enough.

What’s your favorite hobby?

#procreate #procreatelettering #youareenough

Confession Time: when my patients used to tell me

Confession Time: when my patients used to tell me that they "gardened" after I asked them what moving their body looked like for them, I did not mentally categorize that as very strenuous. Was it movement? For sure. Was it a strenuous physical activity? Obviously not, (or so my peloton riding self thought)

But if you've followed my stories, you'll see I've been spending more and more time outside doing this gardening business myself. And you know what?

My legs hurt. My arms hurt. As if I've been, shocker, exercising. I sweat, and I breath hard, almost like when I do some yoga classes or ride my bike. What a world!

And yesterday, I learned about a new exercise called mulching. It is not quite as brutal as the exercise called snow shoveling, but it was close.

And I vow to never internally roll my eyes when people tell me gardening is exercise again.

What's your favorite "non traditional" way to get your heart pumping and moving? Mine is definitely doing squats while staring at my plant babies.

#plantmom #garden #mulchday #primarycare #fnp #familynursepractitioner

Big news! This week Joe and I signed papers so sta

Big news! This week Joe and I signed papers so start the process of building a house on this hill! We are SUPER excited. Almost as excited as my parents I think 🤣

Also, please admire my lovely hat hair. If you want to copy this style, here’s your tutorial: wear a hat when it’s 95 degrees outside and humid, put yourself in a stressful situation to really get all the sweat going, and chase two toddlers around in said heat! Do this, and you too can be this stunning 🤩🤩

Anyway, this weekend, Joe and I got to play real-life Sims and finished signing off on all the design aspects of our new house. As a self-proclaimed Sims-addict, part of me found it quite delightful. The other part of me found it quite stressful once I realized there is no rosebud!!!! cheat code in real life. And this will all cost real money. Which is terrifying 😱

But all in all, it’s been a pretty good experience, and thank you to everyone who gave us advice on what items and features we simply HAD to have in our new home. It was super helpful and it kind of makes it feel like it’s a group project! But a fun one.

Now that we’ve signed all the paperwork, they’re looking to get construction started in August, with the plan being to have it ready to move into by the end of the year. Fingers crossed, because that would be lovely🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻

Avery and Piper are also fully invested in this new adventure. Piper decided to inspect the land for us, and very sassily pointed out where improvements could me made. Of course, her vocabulary is quite limited at the moment, so I’m not sure all of her instructions were clearly understood, but she seemed confident in them.

Avery continues to perfect her photography skills (she took the picture of me and Joe!) and she should be all set to photograph the progress of the site. And I might actually get to be in pictures now!

Are any of you Sims people? If so, what was your favorite part of playing the Sims? And, are you guys interested in seeing the rest of the construction progress from Avery’s point of view? Let me know in the comments!

#newbuild #foreverhome #wesaidthatlasttime #movingtothecountry #pennsylvania

Hey there new nurses. First of all CONGRATULATIONS

Hey there new nurses.
First of all CONGRATULATIONS on graduating!! That's a wildly huge accomplishment and I hope you are so so proud!!

Now, if you are anything like my past nursing school self, you are probably feeling a little bit lost in this post school phase.

A little bit happy, but a little bit like it doesn't even count that you graduated, because you still need to actually take the NCLEX, and that’s terrifying, because you might feel like you didn’t actually learn anything in nursing school other than how to take a test.

And that might make you think, oh my gosh, I don't think I can actually do this.

You also probably feel like you're the only one feeling like this, and all your peers are out there like, “Watch out world. I'm going to save everyone's lives!” Like, go get ‘em team!

But let me tell you something: everyone portrays that on Instagram, but in reality, you are not alone in what you’re feeling.
It's normal. And you can do this!

And if you need a little bit more reassurance or some tips for this whole transition period as a new grad nurse that's okay, I totally get it. Let me know what you need! And if you have advice from when you went through this as a baby nurse, message me, and I’ll share it! Now, let's just sit down and have a little chat. Full video is linked in my bio!

#nursingschool #newgradnurse #nurse #nursing #bsn #adn #lpn #rn

You all know I love a good podcast, and I finally

You all know I love a good podcast, and I finally got to be on one of my favorite ones! Even better, the topic I got to talk about is the whole reason I started this wild YouTube and IG journey: having a kid in NP school 👶🏻

@theresumerx invited me to come on her podcast “Nurse Becoming!” to talk about all things having kids while being an NP, what it looked like for both of us, and how our journeys differed. Amanda had an established career as an NP prior to having littles, and I had my first daughter, Avery, with one year left in NP school.

In this episode, we chat about the pros and cos of both of those choices, as well as some of the unique joys and struggles of the life of a working parent.

Of course, since I’m me, I also ramble about random things, and Amanda, being the amazing human she is, kindly goes along with it. She’s the best 🥰
“Nurse Becoming!” is one of the few healthcare podcasts I listen to, and I so SO recommend it if you are in the healthcare space! I’ll leave a link in my bio to check out it and subscribe!

Thank you, Amanda, for letting me be on your podcast!!

Did you have kids in school and/or are you a working parent? Have any advice you’d like to impart on fellow and future parents? Let’s chat in the comments!!

#nursebecoming #podcast #nurse #workingmom #nursepractitioner #fnp #familynursepractitioner #npschool #fnpschool #nursemom

If there is one thing this last year has taught me

If there is one thing this last year has taught me, it’s that healthcare can be hard and it can be lonely. 😥

We as NPs know that taking time to care for yourself is so incredibly important, but somehow we often seem to miss the memo ourselves. Between partners, kids (fur and human), social obligations, family, and everything else in life, it can be hard to remember we need support too, and not just from our loved ones, but from peers who actually know what we’re going through.

Friends. Taking time for YOU is important. Support is important. COMMUNITY is important. And thankfully, in our beautiful internet age that allows us to interact with people only when we choose, we can have all this and more.

The NP Society, created by Amanda of @theresumerx , is changing the scope of the online NP community with a focus on Connection, Care, and Clinical Competence. The NP Society is a safe community of other NPs that have your back, can answer your questions, and can be your sounding board when you need to talk.

I joined the NP Society because the thing I miss the most about my bedside nursing job is the other nurses. And The closest I could find online was FB groups, filled with angry keyboard warriors. But this seemed like it could be a whole lot more supportive and it 100% has been!

This Sunday at 8pm EST, I will be hosting a social hour, so come hang out, chat, and relax with your people! Check out the NPS page linked in my bio if you want to learn more and maybe sign up if you think this is the community for you.

If there is anything you want to talk about in particular, let me know in the comments below! If you don’t, I’ll probably just rant about plants 😂🌻🌼

See you Sunday! 😘

#nursepractitioner #np #fnp #npschool #npstudent #pediatricnp #acutecarenp #familynursepractitioner #nnp #agacnp #nurselife #npsociety #theresumerx #thenpsociety #socialhour #letschat #letstalk #npcommunity #npsofinstagram #nursepractioners #nurselife #icandohardthings

So, our weekend didn't turn out AT ALL the way we

So, our weekend didn't turn out AT ALL the way we planned. But I couldn't have asked for anything better! ⁣
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We got to spend all of Monday hanging out and adventuring with my family for Memorial Day, and it just reinforced how confident are that we made the right choice to move to Pennsylvania. ⁣
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In North Carolina, while we would get together with family for the "big" holidays, like Thanksgiving and Christmas, other holidays would slip by as we followed our normal routine with the added bonus of not needing to clock in for work. This weekend, we got to enjoy time together with my family, and it was amazing to see how much the girls enjoyed it! ⁣
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Our adventures started with plant shopping for my sister 🌺🌼 (since I've dragged her into my obsession with plants 😎), and Avery found what she deemed to be the perfect owl decoration for our future garden. Seriously, I think only Jeff the🦒 has been the recipient of this much love before. ⁣
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We played yard games like croquet and corn hole , learned that Avery is somehow a perfectly competent corn husker 🌽🌽, watched Holly hop in and out of the kiddie pool retrieving each object inside one-by-one, and just enjoyed being able to spend a day off with family. ⁣
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I've had a lot of people asking me why we decided to move to Pennsylvania, and this is why. Being closer to family and being able to enjoy time with them in priceless and not something we wanted to lose out on anymore 🥰⁣
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While family was the deciding factor is WHERE we would move to, we had already decided a while ago that North Carolina wasn't for us anymore. It's a great state to live in, just not for us. If you want to see my full North Carolina review, pop over to my YouTube channel tomorrow (Nurse Liz)!⁣
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If you could live anywhere right now, regardless of money or restrictions, where would you pick? Let me know in the comments!!⁣
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I used to work on a pediatric cardiology unit and

I used to work on a pediatric cardiology unit and took care of many tiny, new humans in my day #sponsored. Due to the nature of the floor, almost all the babies were on cardiac monitors, and it was amazing to see their heart rates stabilize, their comfort visibly improve, and their breathing regulate when they were snuggled up on a caregiver's chest. I imagine this would be seen time and time again in settings like the NICU. ⁣
And research backs that up! Studies have shown improved physiologic and behaviors outcomes for NICU babies AND caregivers when kangaroo care (skin to skin) is performed! ⁣
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All NICU journeys are unique and challenging for everyone involved . Throw a pandemic in the mix, and things get that much more difficult with visitor limitations and more and more responsibility falling on the NICU staff than ever before.⁣
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To help raise awareness surrounding the importance of Kangaroo Care on improved outcomes AND to give a huge shout-out to those of you working in NICUs and meeting the new demands associated with the pandemic, @WaterWipesUSA has launched a campaign to put the spotlight on you!⁣
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If you would like to participate in the challenge, raise awareness for both Kangaroo Care, and give an example of how your unit has adapted to still provide this therapy during the pandemic, you can post a video or picture to your feed with some info about your experience and use #ThisisKangarooCare so all the stories are in the same place. ⁣
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As a Thank You for sharing your experience and knowledge, WaterWipes is giving away wipes and some snuggly items for the babies for the unit the winner works on!⁣
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So, if you have some unit pride and would love to show off the hard work you've put in to continuing practicing patient-centered care during this wild year, or you just want to see some inspiring stories, head over to #ThisisKangarooCare and get scrolling!⁣
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#NICU #nurse #NICUnurse #nicunurse #motherbabynurse #familynursepractitioner #waterwipes

This picture pretty much sums up this week . ⁣ I

This picture pretty much sums up this week . ⁣
I’ve gotten progressively grumpier and my sister has slowly lost her mind 😂⁣
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After three and a half years of doing social media things, I finally admitted I needed help and hired my sister to be the human who will run my life. ⁣
Which is very exciting. But also means I'm now in charge of making sure she can pay her rent. ⁣
Which is terrifying. ⁣
Have I mentioned neither of us have any idea what we are doing? ⁣
Good. Good. Everything is fine lol. ⁣
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That being said, Once we figure our lives out (and by that I mean my life) I should be able to ramp up production of content again, after its been super hit or miss lately. I'd love to know what you'd like to see! So if you have any videos, posts, etc that would make your life easier, or bring a little joy, let me know! ⁣
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And if you have any complaints you can send them right to Rachel. That's what employees are for right? :)⁣
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#newbusiness #wedontknowwhatwearedoing #sendhelp #familybusiness #nursing #familynursepractitioner

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