The Work From Home RN, Philip Layog

Philip Layog is known as the "Work From Home RN" on Instagram, where he helps fellow nurses transition from hospital roles to remote positions. But first, he had to help himself.

 Philip started his nursing career in Med-Surg, moved to CVICU, then PACU, but once he started his family, he decided to explore remote nursing opportunities. With a decade of experience, he eventually landed his first remote job. 

Was it easy? No. Was it worth it? Absolutely. Philip now enjoys the freedom that many nurses are seeking. He appreciates leisurely mornings with his children before daycare, takes time to work out during his lunch hour, and is fully engaged with his family because he is no longer physically, mentally, and emotionally drained.

 I wanted all the deets: What kind of nursing experience do I need? What type of training will I get? And what about the pay? Philip answered all of these expertly and revealed a little-known fact about the application process which blew…my…mind.

After speaking with numerous nurses, I’ve come to realize that when nurses improve their own lives, they feel compelled to share that knowledge with others, and Philip is no exception. He co-founded nurseremotely.com, a specialized job board dedicated to connecting nurses with legitimate work-from-home opportunities. He provides nurses with what they truly want: options.

In the five-minute snippet:  Hmmmm, giant alligators or Disney? It’s a toss-up. For Philip's bio, visit my website (link below).

Contact The Conversing Nurse podcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theconversingnursepodcast/
Website: https://theconversingnursepodcast.com
Your review is so important to this Indie podcaster! You can leave one here!  https://theconversingnursepodcast.com/leave-me-a-review
Would you like to be a guest on my podcast? Pitch me! https://theconversingnursepodcast.com/intake-form
Check out my guests' book recommendations! https://bookshop.org/shop/theconversingnursepodcast 

I've partnered with RNegade.pro! You can earn CE's just by listening to my podcast episodes! Check out my CE library here: https://rnegade.thinkific.com/collections/conversing-nurse-podcast

Thanks for listening!

Transcript

Copy Transcript Copied

[00:00] Michelle: Philip Layog is known as the Work From Home RN on Instagram where he helps fellow nurses transition from hospital roles to remote positions.

[00:10] But first he had to help himself.

[00:13] Philip started his nursing career in med Surg,

[00:16] moved to CVICU, then PACU.

[00:19] But once he started his family, he decided to explore remote nursing opportunities.

[00:25] With a decade of experience,

[00:27] he eventually landed his first remote job.

[00:31] Was it easy?

[00:32] No.

[00:33] Was it worth it?

[00:35] Absolutely.

[00:36] Philip now enjoys the freedom that many nurses are seeking.

[00:40] He appreciates leisurely mornings with his children before daycare,

[00:45] takes time to work out during his lunch hour,

[00:47] and is fully engaged with his family because he is no longer physically,

[00:52] mentally and emotionally drained.

[00:56] I wanted all the deets:

[00:59] What kind of nursing experience do I need?

[01:01] What type of training will I get? And what about the pay?

[01:05] Philip answered all of these expertly and revealed a little known fact about the application process, which blew my mind.

[01:16] After speaking with numerous nurses, I've come to realize that when nurses improve their own lives,

[01:22] they feel compelled to share that knowledge with others.

[01:25] And Philip is no exception.

[01:28] He co-founded nurseremotely.com, a specialized job board dedicated to connecting nurses with legitimate work from home opportunities.

[01:38] He provides nurses with what they truly want: options.

[01:41] In the five-minute snippet: Hmm...

[01:46] Giant alligators or Disney?

[01:49] It's a toss up.

[02:06] Well, hello Philip. Welcome to the podcast.

[02:10] Philip: Hello, Michelle. How are you? I'm glad you invited me to this.

[02:16] Michelle: You know, me too, Phillip. We've followed each other for a while on social media and of course I see all your posts and everything. And the other day I said, how come I've never asked Philip to come on?

[02:28] And so I just reached out and you said, sure.

[02:32] So you're here and I'm so glad because you are the remote nursing expert. And so you're going to tell us all today everything about remote nursing.

[02:42] So thank you. But why don't you start with just hey, like, why did you become a nurse? Where have you worked? And then your transition to working from home.

[02:53] Philip: All right, sure. First off, I want to say, Michelle, thank you for having me here. Like you said,

[02:58] I've been a big fan of you. I think we've been following each other for about a little over a year.

[03:04] I've listened to your podcast.

[03:06] You have great guests that come on the show with great insight.

[03:11] Like I'm a big fan. And I was like so happy when you finally reached out to me.

[03:17] Like, it was funny because I was like, huh? How come she hasn't reached out to me yet?

[03:21] And then I was just super excited when you reached out to me last week.

[03:25] But again, my name's Philip on Instagram. I'm WFH nurselife and I help people land their first remote work from home jobs. I first started out back in 2013.

[03:40] I started in med-surg, good hospital over in Gainesville called Shands. I'm pretty sure if you live in Florida, you know where University of Florida is and that Shands is a well-known hospital.

[03:53] So yeah, I worked there for about three years,

[03:56] ended up moving back to Orlando and I worked at another big hospital there at Orlando Regional Medical center where I worked CVICU for another three years.

[04:07] And then from that point I decided,

[04:09] you know, I can't really do ICU long term. So I went over to PACU.

[04:15] PACU is a nice place. And I worked there for four years. And during that four years I started a family. I have two little kids.

[04:23] And then after PACU, I decided to look into work from home nursing.

[04:28] So after 10 years of bedside, I was, you know, able to land a remote job in utilization review. My first company was at a startup software company,

[04:39] which was pretty cool. And then, you know, I got my feet wet there.

[04:42] And then after about a year and a half there, I moved on to a bigger company and I'm doing utilization management and I am currently working from home still.

[04:52] Michelle: Wow, that's fantastic. What a ride. Very cool.

[04:56] Okay, well, we're just going to jump right in. So I have a lot of questions. We may get to them today, we may not. We'll just jump right in.

[05:05] Philip, do I need any special certifications or titles to work remotely?

[05:11] Philip: No. I got my first remote job with just experience.

[05:15] I was just talking about it was all bedside experience.

[05:19] And my latest experience was outpatient PACU. And I was still able to land a remote job without any special certifications or any special training in utilization review.

[05:29] And I teach other nurses that you don't need any special certifications or special training as well. You just need your bedside experience and really just an understanding of how to apply to these jobs.

[05:43] Michelle: Okay, so bedside experience, how much does that matter?

[05:50] Philip: Most companies look for about three, over three years. So like if you're a new grad with one year experience, it'll be a little harder for you.

[06:01] But usually most companies look for around three plus five plus years is good,

[06:06] but it is a very competitive market.

[06:10] If you look on LinkedIn, like within a couple hours to a day, there's already hundreds of applicants you're competing against.

[06:19] LinkedIn's a good place to search for these jobs, but you really just need an understanding of how to apply to these jobs.

[06:25] The number one reason some people don't, you know, are having difficulty getting these jobs is because they don't know how to write a resume.

[06:32] You need an Applicant Tracking System resume,

[06:36] also known as ATS resume.

[06:39] That's probably the first step you want to do and you want to tailor it to the job description. And usually you want to take out all like your clinical skills.

[06:48] So don't heavy load your resume with clinical skills, but more like you want to tailor it to the job description.

[06:57] So that's the first way to start in landing these jobs.

[07:00] Michelle: Okay, well that is something that I have never heard of, that kind of applicant tracking.

[07:06] Philip: A lot of people don't.

[07:07] Michelle: Yeah.

[07:08] Philip: So companies use like a system or AI or something to quickly filter out resumes because, you know, there's hundreds of resumes.

[07:17] The recruiter is not looking through these resumes.

[07:20] It's like a computer system and then it kind of tries to find like matching words on the job description that's in your resume. And then like, if it's a match,

[07:28] then your resume will go over to the eyes of a recruiter. And then from there, you know, your recruiter will decide on, you know, these applicants and then they'll start reaching out to you.

[07:39] But that's like the number one reason why people are not getting interviews is this Applicant Tracking System resume.

[07:46] Michelle: Wow. Are there any programs that you recommend that help you write a resume?

[07:52] Philip: Yeah, ChatGPT is a very good resource to use in writing these resumes.

[08:00] You can literally ask it copy and paste the job description and then and tell ChatGPT, hey, can you form an ATS resume based off, you know, my clinical skills as med surg nurse based off this job description.

[08:14] And you're going to do have to do some manual editing yourself to make it more personal. But Chat GPT is a good resource. Have you used ChatGPT before?

[08:26] Michelle: So my brother Chris,

[08:28] who I've had on this program,

[08:30] he's the Director of Research at his institution and he just recently started using ChatGPT for so many things and he is a huge fan and he tells me all the time, just run it through ChatGPT.

[08:43] And I have done. Yeah, I've done a few things, but I, I need to get into it more because it is amazing and we're finding more uses for it all the time,

[08:53] right?

[08:54] Philip: Oh, yeah. I mean, yeah, people could start their own business using ChatGPT.

[09:00] Michelle: That's crazy. Wow.

[09:01] Philip: Yeah, it is. But, yeah, I sell a guide in my store and on my Instagram explaining, like, how to tailor your jobs using, you know, chat GPT to,

[09:12] you know, get your resume in front of a recruiter and get through the ATS system.

[09:17] So, I mean,

[09:18] yeah, if you want to. If anyone wants to take a look at that, it's available in my store.

[09:23] Michelle: Yes. And I'll put that link in the show notes. I checked out your store and it's amazing. And I checked out your merch store.

[09:32] I love merch stores. And so that's really fun too. Yeah.

[09:36] Philip: I'll send you a shirt. Okay.

[09:38] Michelle: Oh, you're so sweet.

[09:39] Philip: For having me on here.

[09:40] Michelle: Oh, you're so kind. Thank you. Okay, so once you get past it seems like that part is very difficult. Just really, that is the hardest, the interview. Yeah.

[09:49] Philip: I believe interviews are okay. I feel like it's the same questions every time. For most interviews, I'm betting. Yeah.

[09:57] Michelle: Because that was one of my questions was, you know, how do I interview for a remote job?

[10:02] Like, are there any special things that I need to be aware of that they're going to ask me?

[10:09] How's that work?

[10:10] Philip: From my experience,

[10:12]  I've done a couple interviews. I turned down jobs, you know, after their offer.

[10:16] So. But like, from my experience from multiple different companies doing interviews,

[10:22] it's been basically the same general,

[10:25] you know, interview questions like, tell me about yourself,

[10:28] explain a time when you had to deal with a difficult patient. Where do you see yourself in five years?

[10:35] Explain a conflict with a coworker and how you handled it. But, yeah, so it's basically the general questions, but what they want to hear,

[10:45] You want to answer these questions using the STAR method. Not sure if you're familiar with the STAR method, but it's situation is S. And then you want to explain the task and the action you did.

[10:57] And then R is the result of the situation.

[11:02] You know, there's an example of how did you deal with a difficult co worker? You can explain how.

[11:10] Let's say the situation was the patient assignment wasn't fair.

[11:15] So then the task at hand was,

[11:18] you know,

[11:19] make sure everyone had a safe assignment.

[11:21] And then action would be,

[11:24] we did a team meeting and then divided up the, you know, patients fairly. And then the result would be,

[11:31] you know, we had all safe assignments and the nurses were happy with their assignments. And then all the patients,

[11:38] you know, turned out okay by then the shift. But that's like a rough way to answer a STAR question.

[11:44] Michelle: I love it. And if only it could be that easy. Right? Yeah,

[11:49] that's great. Okay, well, thank you for that example. Okay, so once we get past the whole application process, interview process,

[11:58] now what type of training would will I expect to get?

[12:02] Philip: Yeah, most companies will do like a general one to two month training.

[12:06] Usually the first couple weeks would be learning like the system, the company,

[12:11] the charting system and like how to do, like for, for my job, for reviews, like how to do the reviews and just be familiar with navigating through the charting system.

[12:22] And then so sometimes there's a class on that too. So you'll have, you know, a teacher teach you how to do these reviews and how to navigate through the charting system.

[12:34] And then after that is usually you're with a preceptor for a couple weeks and then they give you like an assignment and a load and then that load just, you know, increases until like you're comfortable with, you know, the assignment.

[12:48] Michelle: Okay.

[12:48] Philip: Yeah. And it's usually all done through like Zoom or, you know, Microsoft Teams.

[12:55] Michelle: Yeah. So, remotely. 

[12:57] Philip: Yes.

[12:57] Michelle: Okay.

[12:58] So this is a big question.

[13:01] You may get asked this a lot. I don't know,

[13:04] how does the company I work for really know that I'm "quote unquote" working?

[13:11] Philip: Okay, so different companies micromanage their employees in different ways. That is a really good question.

[13:21] Some companies,

[13:22] you know, have their employees Zoom camera all day like with a small group of people.

[13:27] Some will check your metrics.

[13:30] Usually you're supposed to complete a certain number of cases a day. So I mean, they'll see how many cases you'd finish in a day.

[13:38] Some other companies,

[13:40] some stricter companies, I've heard they will check your mouse movements, they'll check your keystrokes.

[13:47] Michelle: Wow.

[13:48] Philip: Yeah, it's pretty intense, but

[13:51] Michelle: Wow, yeah.

[13:52] Philip: My company doesn't do that. Or it's like this micromanaging thing is like very department, very company-specific.

[14:01] But my company doesn't micromanage that much.

[14:05] Our managers, I really like our manager. She's pretty good.

[14:08] But just as long as you get your work done and management isn't going to bother you with anything, which how it should be like, we're not kids, you know, we're adults.

[14:17] Michelle: Exactly.

[14:18] Philip: Just as long as we get our work done, like.

[14:21] Michelle: Yeah, exactly. Okay. I love that.

[14:23] Philip: Good question.

[14:24] Michelle: Yeah. Well, thank you. Okay, let's talk about pay.

[14:28] So what sort of pay can I expect?

[14:32] And am I an hourly worker? Am I salaried, or am I a 1099 worker?

[14:41] Philip: So there's different workers.

[14:44] Most of them are hourly.

[14:46] The two companies I worked for, they were both hourly.

[14:50] Some are salary. I feel like the management side, you're going to be salaried. But like,

[14:57] like, for me, I'm hourly right now.

[15:00] And pay is very dependent on your location.

[15:06] So,

[15:07] like, Glassdoor helps. Are you familiar with Glassdoor?

[15:12] Michelle: I've heard of it. Yeah.

[15:14] Philip: Yeah. It kind of shows like a pay range of your location for the specific job,

[15:19] which is also very important when you're applying. The jobs also is you want to know that and understand the salary range for what you're applying for.

[15:30] But so for Florida,

[15:33] like,

[15:34] Florida and California are like, different. You know, the pay is different. California, they get paid a lot more, but their cost of living is a little higher than Florida. Yeah,

[15:43] You should know, you're in California.

[15:45] But yeah, the pay is really dependent on your location.

[15:52] Usually, hospital systems are good at match or pay more.

[15:59] And if you, like, transfer from your bedside job to like a remote job within your hospital system, they tend to like, match your pay.

[16:06] So that's like one suggestion on that.

[16:10] Michelle: Okay. And you can. Do you negotiate that, like during the interview process?

[16:16] Philip: Usually you want to negotiate after you receive the offer.

[16:20] Michelle: Okay.

[16:20] Philip: But usually the recruiter will reach out to you and 

[16:24] They'll give you a number or a range and they'll be like, hey, are you okay with this,

[16:29] this salary, this desired salary?

[16:31] And from there they kind of bring you on to the next step because, I mean, that's how they screen their applicants also is based on what you put under desired and expected salary.

[16:42] Michelle: Which is interesting.

[16:44] Philip: Yes. Which is the number two reason why people aren't getting remote jobs is because if you put a salary range higher than what the business needs,

[16:55] then your

[16:56] application gets auto rejected.

[16:59] Michelle: Wow. Wow. There's so many variables. I never knew that. I

[17:04] you know, I'm just naively thinking,

[17:07] oh, you just have these set of skills and you apply and you interview and then you either get it or you don't. But I'm thinking more,

[17:17] you know, applying maybe in a hospital or clinic or something like that. And the remote world seems so different.

[17:25] Philip: It is very different than the bedside world.

[17:30] Michelle: Yeah.

[17:31] Philip: And I've noticed like most of these nurses really don't know how to apply to jobs that aren't bedside jobs.

[17:39] So nurses have to have an understanding on, you know, how to, you know, apply to these remote jobs because it's very different.

[17:48] Michelle: Sure. Yeah. Okay. That's what I'm finding out. Okay. Can I work for multiple companies simultaneously?

[17:57] Philip: Good question. Also, I get that question sometimes too.

[18:02] Answer, short answer. No,

[18:05] you can't have,

[18:06] It's really difficult to have two full time remote jobs and you know, kind of work. I think there's also like.

[18:14] Yeah, you can't do that.

[18:17] No, because I think if one company finds out, then you're kind of in trouble.

[18:22] Michelle: Yeah, it wouldn't look too good.

[18:24] Philip: Yeah. And then sometimes the work is like, sometimes you're busy all day doing work. So there's no way you can do two, two jobs like that.

[18:32] Yeah, but I mean like if you could do like PRN.

[18:36] Michelle: Yeah.

[18:36] Philip: Part time, like alternating days at work.

[18:39] A lot of people do like they'll work full time remote and then they'll have like their PRN and shifts at the hospital.

[18:47] So if they want to make an extra money. Yeah, I don't really recommend the other way around because it's very difficult to land a part time job without the experience of remote work.

[19:00] Michelle: Yeah, that would be really difficult.

[19:02] Philip: Yes. Most people start full time and then switch to part time remote.

[19:07] Michelle: Okay. And then what is available? So full time, part time, Is there PRN available? Is there like some companies do?

[19:13] Philip: Yeah, there are PRN available.

[19:17] Very few.

[19:19] But there is like mostly, it's mostly full time for like,

[19:24] like my job. Utilization review, utilization management, 

[19:28] clinical documentation specialists are usually full time.

[19:32] But there's very,

[19:34] there's some part time in these jobs and like very few PRN.

[19:40] Michelle: Okay, that's good to know.

[19:42] So what about the differences between bedside nursing and remote nursing? And I've always wondered about this.

[19:51] Is there a boredom factor working from home?

[19:55] You know, in your experience? I mean at the bedside, you know, you work in critical care. I don't imagine you would get bored very frequently.

[20:04] But does boredom enter the picture when you're working from home? Philip?

[20:09] Philip: I've never gotten bored.

[20:12] I mean like,

[20:13] usually if there is downtime, you know, we can do a couple like chores around the house which you know, saves us time, you know,

[20:22] when the kids get home.

[20:23] Michelle: Yeah.

[20:24] Philip: Like I can like, you know,

[20:26] empty the dishwasher, run the dishwasher. Run the laundry,

[20:30] you know, clean up a little bit here and there when there's downtime, or, like,

[20:33] during my short breaks or during my lunchtime, you know, I can always find something to do around the house to keep me preoccupied.

[20:43] Michelle: Sure.

[20:44] Another question for you, and this comes from my sister Jennifer. She's a program director of a flight company,

[20:51] and she has the wonderful benefit of working from home.

[20:58] And she complains kind of a lot because she feels like people out in the lay community or even family and friends,

[21:08] they don't have a lot of respect.

[21:12] I guess that's the word, for those who work remotely.

[21:15] And so they think, you know, that they're available to do all kinds of things.

[21:21] And, you know, Jennifer always says, no, I can't do that. I'm working.

[21:26] I'm working. I'm on calls. I'm, you know, I'm doing payroll.

[21:31] So. Have you found that to be something that you've encountered?

[21:39] Philip: I mean,

[21:40] I agree with her. I'm busy throughout the day.

[21:44] Yeah. So, like, I don't really have, you know, I can't really take on more work. Like I said, we can't really have two jobs at the same time.

[21:51] And, like, even with kids, like, some people, I always get asked the question, can I have, like, kids at home and take care of a kid while I work? And I usually say no.

[22:02] Like, my kids are in daycare right now. I still have to bring my kids to daycare. They can't really be here with me. Unless you have, like.

[22:09] Unless you have, like, you know,

[22:11] someone else at home with you with the kids. But,

[22:15] yeah, it's a job, and we're still working, but it's just the fact that we're at home, but instead of an office.

[22:24] Michelle: And I think that we understand that people that work from home or know people that work from home,

[22:31] they know that they work very hard and they're very busy throughout their day, and they can't just take off and,

[22:37] oh, can you run and pick up my dry cleaning? Or can you run to Target and do this and that? It's like, no, I can't do that.

[22:44] I'm working so.

[22:46] Philip: Well, during, like, your lunch breaks, you can kind of squeeze that in.

[22:49] Michelle: Sure.

[22:50] Philip: During the working hours. No, you're working.

[22:54] Michelle: Yeah, exactly.

[22:55] Okay, well, take us through a day in the life, Philip. So take us through a day, typical day of yours.

[23:03] When do you clock in?

[23:06] What are you doing?

[23:07] You know, what are your breaks? Like, when do you clock out, stuff like that.

[23:12] Philip: Yeah, so I usually,

[23:14] I'll wake up around seven every morning to get my kids ready for daycare and then my wife will go ahead and bring them to daycare around like 7:45 and then she's off to work and then I'm home.

[23:27] I'll clock in around 8 o' clock in the morning. So I'm able to like eat breakfast and you know, get ready.

[23:34] I'm probably still in my pajamas by the time I clock in, but,

[23:39] but yeah, I'll clock in at 8 and then I look at my assignment.

[23:44] We're like assigned hospitals. So then I kind of see what my assignment is and what patients I have to review for.

[23:51] Typically I do about 10 reviews a day and then once I see my assignment,

[23:57] I'll start doing some reviews and then around,

[24:01] 11 I can, you know,

[24:04] start, I take a break, I'll take a 15 minute break. I'll eat a quick lunch and then come back, do more reviews.

[24:12] And then around like say like 12:30 I'll have my lunch and usually I'll work out like during my lunchtime, my one hour lunch. I'll work out.

[24:23] Michelle: That's what I was wondering. Yeah, if you get a workout in.

[24:26] Philip: You gotta stay healthy and you gotta move since you're sitting around all day.

[24:32] Michelle: Yes.

[24:34] Philip: Yeah. So I'm able to work out. I'll go out by the pool.

[24:38] I kind of want to do golf, so maybe I'll drive to the golf range during my lunch break next time. But yeah, but then I have a one hour break and then I come back home, do a couple more reviews and then I'll work on some discharges as well.

[24:53] So I'll kind of go through my census to see if these patients are discharged or not.

[24:58] But yeah, but what I do, I review for medical necessity, for inpatient stays.

[25:04] So like if a patient comes in for like yeah, if they come in for an easy one would be pneumonia.

[25:11] I just have to make sure that in the documentation they have an X ray confirming pneumonia and they're on some antibiotics and then that case is reviewed. I type up a template and then like I'll do about 10 of those a day.

[25:22] Some cases are a lot more difficult than that. But that's like one of the easier ones. But yeah, and then my second break will be around like 2:30 and I'll just eat a snack and then you know, finish up the day by you know, going through my census,

[25:35] making sure my patients don't need anything for discharge if they're about to be discharged soon.

[25:42] And then I'll clock out around five and I'll pick my kids up from daycare and that's my day.

[25:49] Michelle: Wow. Okay. Very cool.

[25:51] Philip: Not too bad.

[25:52] Michelle: Yeah.

[25:52] Philip: Yeah, it's pretty straightforward.

[25:54] Michelle: No, it sounds amazing.

[25:58] Computer programs. So electronic medical records. 

[26:02] What does the nurse have to be familiar with? Or is that something that they're taught when they're brought on with the company?

[26:10] Philip: A good thing to be familiar with is like, EPIC,

[26:13] because I have to access EPIC through here and I kind of have to learn how to navigate through EPIC and like,

[26:21] find the history of present illness and, like, the ER notes to find the information I need and, like, the labs and the vital signs and the medications they're on. So navigating through, like, these EMR systems is, like,

[26:34] very important.

[26:36] You do have to be somewhat tech savvy and be a quick learner, like using these computer systems and EMR. So like EPIC.

[26:45] I've seen Cerner.

[26:48] What other EMRs are out there? Sometimes we have, like, fax facilities. So sometimes they'll send us just the fax report of like, their HPI and their ER notes. And then you kind of have to understand how to navigate through the fax as well.

[27:03] Michelle: Okay, so there's some definite skills that are needed there. Tech skills and maybe familiarity with certain EMRs.

[27:13] Philip: Correct.

[27:13] Michelle: That would make your job a little bit easier.

[27:16] Philip: And Excel.

[27:17] Excel is really big. Also Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word and Outlook. Microsoft Teams.

[27:25] Most companies use those. And it's, you know, kind of important to be familiar with learning how to use those Microsoft applications.

[27:34] Michelle: Yes, I remember Excel. I used Excel a lot at work.

[27:39] Philip: Good, you can work from home then.

[27:40] Michelle: Oh, there you go.

[27:43] I don't want to work anymore. I am retired,

[27:47] but I keep it in my back pocket. And twice a year I say, do I need to go back to work? And then I say, nope, and I'll check again in six months.

[27:59] Philip: You did NICU for a long time, right? NICU?

[28:03] Michelle: Very long. Yes, 36 years. Yeah.

[28:05] Philip: That's awesome.

[28:07] Michelle: Yeah. Thank you so much. I absolutely loved it.

[28:10] Well, let's talk about some feedback. Some feedback that you get from nurses who have taken remote positions. What is some of the feedback that they're saying?

[28:21] That they love about it?

[28:23] Philip: Oh, most of people just like that they're not working bedside anymore, really?

[28:28] And they're out of, like, the stress and they have more flexibility and freedom for the most part, but because, you know, bedside is very mentally draining, physically draining.

[28:39] And then that's probably the main reason why people want to work from home. It's just escape, you know, the bedside.

[28:46] So that's the feedback I get the most from like the new nurses that started working from home.

[28:54] Michelle: What do you think? What feedback have you gotten that's been negative? If anything?

[28:59] Philip: I've gotten some people saying, remember we were talking about the micromanaging?

[29:05] Like. Yeah, I've heard some things people 

[29:10] like I said, with the mouse moving the mouse and the keystrokes and everything and like strict managers.

[29:16] That was probably like one of the biggest ones. And like, I had one guy and he said like, he couldn't like really take all the metrics and he had a hard time keeping up and like, the manager wasn't very,

[29:30] you know, very nice. So then he ended up quitting his job within like a couple months.

[29:37] Michelle: Wow.

[29:38] Philip: Yeah. So, I mean that some people don't like the micromanaging and yeah, that's the big thing. Some people get a little bit of a pay cut, but then I always tell them,

[29:48] like, in the long run, you will end up getting more,

[29:52] money than if you just stayed at the bedside your entire career.

[29:55] Michelle: Yeah. And, you know, I don't know if it's just my age or whatever, but I'm just like, there's some things that are more important than money and I know absolutely, we need money to live and all of that, but it's like you're trading,

[30:13] The trade off is that you have more freedom and less stress and things like that. And those are definitely,

[30:22] I think, more important than money.

[30:25] So it's a trade off.

[30:28] What happens, Philip, when all the nurses leave the bedside?

[30:34] You think we going to see that?

[30:37] Philip: I mean, I don't think it's not all the nurses are going to leave the bedside.

[30:42] I mean, hopefully, I mean,

[30:45] maybe the hospitals will start paying them fairly and paying them more and treating them more, you know, better.

[30:51] More nurses start leaving and working remote.

[30:54] But yeah, like in the remote world, there, there's thousands of applicants. There's more applicants than jobs in the, in the remote world.

[31:02] So it's, you know, very competitive.

[31:04] But I mean, if, you know, these bedside nurses all start leaving and, you know, all start learning from me on how to land these jobs.

[31:13] Michelle: You'll be very busy.

[31:17] Philip: Yes, I mean, hopefully,

[31:18] like I said, hopefully, the hospitals will start paying them better.

[31:22] That's what really needs to happen. They need, you know, they need to get compensated fairly or else they're all just gonna start leaving.

[31:29] Michelle: Yeah. I mean, that's why there has been a lot of success with remote nursing,

[31:36] because people have found this niche.

[31:39] You know, I will say it's a niche. I don't think it's mainstream,

[31:43] nursing,  but they have found it and they have seen the value and the benefit.

[31:50] And I've spoken with so many nurses now that have left the bedside for so many different reasons, become entrepreneurs,

[32:00] done different things, and it is because the institutions are ignoring our well-being for the most part.

[32:11] So, I'm glad that you're here and that you're giving nurses an option.

[32:17] Philip: Oh, thank you. Yes, I saw, like, when I first started this Instagram, there weren't very many other,

[32:24] There's like, hundreds of nurse influencers out there,

[32:28] but there was, like,

[32:30] rarely any remote nurse influencers. And then I found like, that this was my space and my calling. Just hopped in and started educating people and inspiring people that there's remote work is, you know, an option out there compared to staying at bedside or other things.

[32:52] But yeah.

[32:53] Michelle: Yeah. And I found so many nurses like yourself, Philip, that have encountered challenges. And it's almost like, what's the first thing that a nurse wants to do who has struggled in some area of their life?

[33:09] They want to help other nurses, not struggle.

[33:14] And so they go through all these things to teach other nurses,

[33:22] to mentor other nurses, to inspire other nurses, that, hey, there's,

[33:27] there's a way out of this and you don't have to tolerate this and let me show you how to do it.

[33:34] I just think that's a superpower of nurses and I have so much respect.

[33:41] Philip: Oh, thank you.

[33:43] Michelle: Yes. Well, as we near the end here,

[33:47] so I have to say that I have gotten so many great guests being recommended by other guests,

[33:56] and so is there anyone that you would recommend for me to speak to on the Conversing Nurse podcast, Philip?

[34:03] Philip: Yeah, probably another remote nurse.

[34:07] I'll shout out to That Nurse, Daisy. How about her? She's a remote nurse in California. So you're in California too, so maybe you can hang out with each other and do a podcast together.

[34:21] Michelle: That would be awesome. I love it. And I have to say that you were on the Direct Admission podcast with Brian Cerezo.

[34:32] Philip: Yes, I was on that and I was on with Josh Condado, too.

[34:36] Michelle: Oh, my gosh.

[34:38] Yes. I didn't see that one.

[34:40] But I watched the one of you and Brian, and I laughed through that whole thing because you guys were laughing through the whole thing.

[34:48] It was so interesting to see all the similarities in your life. And I kept saying,

[34:55] yeah, I think you're like brothers from another mother or something, because just you guys were discovering all the similarities in your life. And that was so great. I loved it.

[35:06] Philip: Yeah, that was really funny because that was, like, our first time, like, talking to each other.

[35:10] Michelle: I know, I was like, they're just discovering all this, like, on air. It's so cool. And Brian was great. And Josh was great, too.

[35:19] Philip: Yeah, I saw, he was on one of your episodes, too. I listened to that one.

[35:22] Michelle: Yeah.

[35:23] Philip: And I listened the last two that are on Spotify. Those are really good also.

[35:29] Michelle: Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate you listening, Philip.

[35:32] Philip: Yeah.

[35:32] Michelle: Well, I know there's gonna be people that want to get in touch with you, so where can we find you?

[35:37] Philip: Yeah, so you can find me at,  I'm mostly on Instagram.

[35:43] @Wfh.Nurse.Life on Instagram. Also,

[35:48] I wanted to mention, like, I've been also working on this job board for remote nurses. I don't know if you've seen it on.

[35:56] I kind of show it on my page, and in my store, it's called NurseRemotely.

[36:00] Michelle: Yes.

[36:01] Philip: So, yes. So you can look for remote jobs on nurseremotely.com.

[36:06] it was started up by me and my other business partner. His name is Troy.

[36:12] So we've been working very hard on that website.

[36:15] We're working a lot on the back end of things,

[36:18] and our mission is to, like, connect employers to, you know, qualified candidates.

[36:23] So just recently, we started to partner up with one company.

[36:27] We'll share shortly which company it is, but we'll be helping them post jobs on our website.

[36:33] So you guys should take a look at it.

[36:36] Michelle: That's exciting. Okay.

[36:38] Philip: Yeah.

[36:39] Michelle: A little bit of a sneak peek. Very cool.

[36:42] Okay. And I was on Nurse Remotely yesterday. Looking to see.

[36:46] Hmm. Do I need to go back to work? Let me see if there's anything that I can qualify for on here.

[36:53] Philip: Stay retired. You got to enjoy yourself.

[36:58] Michelle: I said, nope.

[37:00] Very good. But I know it's out there, so.

[37:03] Philip, this has been so much fun and so informational. Thank you so much for being my guest and sharing everything remote nursing.

[37:12] And I just really appreciate you.

[37:14] Philip: Oh, thank you. Yeah. I always say, like,

[37:17] for nurses, like, at some point of your career, you know, you're gonna have that really tough day and really bad day at bedside and then you're gonna, you think to yourself, like, what can you do from here?

[37:29] And I just want to tell people that remote nursing is an awesome, is an option and working from home is an option, you know, to better yourself,

[37:37] you know, physically and mentally and for yourself and for your family.

[37:41] So that's why I'm here, so you guys can reach out to me anytime.

[37:46] Michelle: I love it. Thank you so much, Philip. I love that it's an option.

[37:50] Okay, well, we're at the last five minutes and you know, I do the five- minute snippet at the end and are you nervous?

[37:58] Philip: I was a little bit. I probably am.

[38:02] Michelle: It's so fun. It's so much fun.

[38:04] Okay, so it's just five minutes of fun.

[38:07] So we will just start.

[38:49] Convince me to live in your hometown.

[38:52] Philip: Oh, I'm in Orlando.

[38:55] Orlando, Florida. We have hurricanes and giant alligators and you're supposed to be convincing and the Florida man.

[39:10] So Orlando. Yeah, there's for you, what do you like doing?

[39:15] Michelle: Oh, I don't like the heat or humidity.

[39:19] So yeah,

[39:20] I probably wouldn't be a big fan. I've never been to Florida, but I've been as far south as Houston, Texas.

[39:27] Philip: Okay.

[39:29] Michelle: I mean as far east. I'm sorry, as far east as Houston, Texas.

[39:32] Philip: So unfortunately it's very hot here all year round.

[39:37] But I mean like in Orlando there's things to do for like any age group.

[39:43] There's, you know, a bunch of farmer markets and Disney's here.

[39:47] The beach isn't too far,

[39:49] but yeah, that's what we like doing.

[39:53] But unfortunately it is hot here a lot all year round.

[39:57] It's a little nicer around January,

[39:59] but yeah. And there's little hikes you can go on here and there.

[40:03] Michelle: I love doing that. That's great.

[40:04] Philip: Yeah, there's hikes and beaches, but yeah.

[40:08] Michelle: Okay. Do you have a favorite ride at Disney World?

[40:12] Philip: Ooh, favorite ride at Disney World. What's one of the new ones? The new Avatar rides are pretty cool. Have you seen the movie Avatar?

[40:25] Michelle: Yes, I love it.

[40:26] Philip: Yeah, like, you can, there's a ride where you ride on that giant flying monster thing and then you just fly around that ride. Right. It's pretty cool.

[40:32] Michelle: Okay, that's cool.

[40:33] Philip: Oh, the Star Wars ride's cool. The new Star Wars, but yeah, the rides at Star Wars are pretty cool, too.

[40:44] Michelle: Not a Star Wars fan, very good. Okay, Philip, there's a billboard on the side of a major highway, and it has your picture on it. What is the message on your billboard?

[40:57] Philip: Escape bedside and work from home.

[41:01] Michelle: Oh, wow. I love it. Okay, what has been your best purchase? Under $100.

[41:09] Philip: Oh. Hmm. Under $100, I don't really buy much things. I'm pretty. Pretty frugal guy, actually. Under $100.

[41:20] Michelle: Was it, like, a piece of equipment? 

[41:23] Philip: I think probably a couple toys I found at a garage sale for my kids. They're like a dollar.

[41:29] Michelle: Oh, my gosh. That's crazy.

[41:31] Philip: When they're like, usually. Yeah, when they're, like, usually for, like, 50. 50 bucks or something, like for a dollar. And they like it.

[41:39] Michelle: Love it.

[41:40] Philip: So we like garage sales.

[41:42] Michelle: Okay. I love sales. I love thrift shops. Yeah. Okay, what is the craziest thing that you've ever done on camera while working remotely?

[41:57] Philip: I've never done anything crazy on camera while working remotely. Yeah, well, we're not really on camera at work, so.

[42:07] Michelle: Oh, okay.

[42:09] Philip: So I.

[42:10] Michelle: Maybe at a Zoom meeting or something like that.

[42:12] Philip: Oh, at a Zoom meeting. Oh, I would always put, like. I don't know if.

[42:16] If you, like, tried, like, Zoom or Teams where you put, like,

[42:20] like, a mustache on your face or funny hats.

[42:23] Like,

[42:24] I was that guy during the meetings that would do that. Put, like, the funny glasses, and I'd just be sitting there,

[42:32] and then everyone's probably thinking, like, what's wrong with that guy?

[42:37] Michelle: I love it. It sounds so, like, your personality. Okay, last one. We're gonna play five words, five seconds each, and guess what? No one's counting.

[42:50] Michelle: So I'm going to give you five words, and you're going to either define or describe it in five seconds, and no one's counting. Okay, so an example,

[43:02] I would say cat.

[43:04] And so you would say whiskers,

[43:08] fluffy tail,

[43:10] or an obnoxious feline.

[43:13] Okay.

[43:14] Philip: Okay.

[43:15] Michelle: Ready?

[43:16] Philip: Yes.

[43:17] Michelle: Bambi.

[43:19] Philip: Bambi the deer. And that Disney movie.

[43:27] Michelle: Kite.

[43:28] Philip: Kite. Kite. I like to fly kites in the air with my kids.

[43:39] Michelle: Hero.

[43:41] Philip: Hero. Someone you look up to and someone that inspires you.

[43:47] Michelle: Love it. Banana.

[43:49] Philip: Banana. Very high in potassium.

[43:54] Michelle: What? A nurse. Oh, my gosh. Okay. Ecuador.

[44:00] Philip: Ecuador. A Spanish country. That's all I got.

[44:06] Michelle: I love it. You did great.

[44:09] I love that game.

[44:10] That's my newest game. It's so fun.

[44:14] Philip, I have really loved just seeing your smile. I know that our listeners can't see you because I'm not in video yet,

[44:22] but I love your sense of humor and just the lightness and the joy that you have brought to the podcast today. So thank you so much for being my guest.

[44:32] Philip: Oh, thank you, Michelle, for finally having me on here.

[44:36] Michelle: I know, I know. It only took me about over a year, right?

[44:41] Philip: Yeah. We should do this again. I've been thinking of doing my own podcast. Maybe I'll do that

[44:47] Michelle: You would be so amazing.

[44:52] Philip: Yeah, I have ideas. I have ideas for, like, you know, guests for remote worker or, you know, guests who, you know, are also remote nurses.

[45:00] Michelle: Yes.

[45:00] Philip: So I just need to figure out the logistics, and I'm not very good at editing videos,

[45:07] so just ask Brian.

[45:10] Okay, I'll ask him.

[45:12] Or I'll hire someone. I don't know.

[45:15] Michelle: There you go. I like it. Have a great rest of your day, Philip.

[45:19] Philip: All right, you too. Yeah, I should be going back to work soon. Thank you. Okay, you too. Bye.