115 - Deanna Robertson: Holding Others’ Hands, Even When Mine Are Weak

Join nursing student and Greensburg, Kentucky native Honored Guest Deanna Robertson as she chats about the importance of family, her heroes, experiencing the “eating our young” phenomenon, dealing with challenging personal diagnoses, how pain is temporary, why nursing, what it’s like going through nursing school over 40 years old, driving two hours to class every day, her future goals, and more!

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Transcript

0:01

Hello and welcome to this episode of the Feeding Our Young podcast. Today I'm so excited because, well, I guess I'm excited every day, I always say it, but I don't care because it's true. I am with someone who I don't know at all, really, short of the introductory texts that we've had back and forth. And these are sometimes some of the most fun interviews because I don't know where we're going. I don't know who she is. I don't know how to lean into her personality type. It's my job to figure it out as we go along. but also I get to know somebody new by the time we're done just like you. So with that, without further ado, we're gonna jump right in, because she's got a lot of an incredible story to share. The one and only Deanna Robertson. Deanna, good morning, how are you my friend? Good morning, Eric. I'm wonderful. How are you today? I am doing good, thank you. I know it's no surprise, but I ran before our little episode here, so I'm just enjoying the endorphin high while chatting with someone amazing. So where, let's just jump right into the questions, Deanna. Where are you from? from small town Greensburg Kentucky where we're having flooding and tornadoes. And she said this and I read the news and I'm like, gosh, there's some bad weather going on down there. And so I was like, I wonder if she's gonna have to reschedule. And so I told you that and what was your response to me, Deanna? Let's get going. I'm ready to do it now because we could have snow tomorrow. So thank you very much. In the midst of all the crazy weather, here we are talking about nursing, the one thing you want to do in your free time, right? No, I can't thank you enough for taking time to do this. So without further ado, where are you in your nursing journey? Are you a nurse? Are you a nursing student? How far along are you? Yes, I'm a nursing student and I attend Galen College of Nursing in Louisville, Kentucky. And I am just wrapped up my sixth quarter, getting ready to start Monday for my clinical and advancement search. So I have two quarters left and I'm finished. What does that feel like to be able to say that? In the beginning, was one of those moments where it's, this is long. This is gonna take forever. Even two years seems like forever in nursing school. But when you first get in there, it is like that. But then as you get, I'd say probably around your fifth quarter, you're like, gosh, time is flying by. Yeah, very much so. It's that whole, right? The days are long, but the years are short. my goodness. So without further ado then, being in the midst of it, what are three words that you have chosen to describe nursing school? The three words that I chose to describe nursing school is very accurate. I thought it was challenging, rewarding, and rigorous. and we'll chat about those at the end of your episode. And in the meantime, what are three of your favorite songs in life right now? My three favorite songs, I love music. I use music as an escape. So I like all kinds of genres. A little bit of probably hip hop from the 2000s. I could go always all the way back there. Depends on what kind of mood I'm in. But my favorite is country. Of course, I'm a country girl. You can tell by my accent. That really stands out. Country is cornbread. That's what I've been told before. I'm a country girl. I live... In a very small town, we don't even have a Walmart here. That's small, right? That's the definition of small right there. Right. But my favorite songs is pretty much all country as far as my favorites. I really love the song Where I Find God by Larry Fleet. That song, I don't know what it is about it, but I can put that online and I can listen to it numerous times and it makes me feel good. It makes me feel like, I guess at peace. Like especially when I'm struggling in my nursing journey. I feel like I'm defeated. I can listen to that and it really does help. I also like a song, I don't know if many people have heard it, but it's a new country song. It's called Straight and Narrow by Sam Barber. And then I also like Cameron Marlowe. He's one of my favorite country artists out. I've actually saw him in concert and it's one of his new songs called You Never Really Know. And it's just talking about you never really know what someone's going through. And that is very accurate in nursing. because you don't know what your patients are going through. You don't know where they've came from. You don't know where they stand or how they're dealing with life. So that's one reason why I want to be a nurse because my life is kind of been battles after battles, but I've always stood strong on my faith and I've always kept going regardless. And I just feel like I want to show that to my patients and I want to be that person. Oh, Deanna, I can't wait to get into that story. Apparently I can wait long enough to do a couple other questions here, but then we'll dive right into your story and kind of get to know who you are, because man, I'm already excited. She gave me a little bit of a snippet, but I love trying to limit it to a little bit of a snippet, because then I get to kind of like find out alongside everybody else. I just love it. So in the meantime, we're also administering the unofficial Feeding Our Young Personality quiz, a nice little icebreaker. And you've been warned about this, correct? But you have not been given the questions to prepare, is that also correct? So here you are allowing me to administer yet one more quiz and a litany of tests and quizzes and exams that you're undergoing. But this one's a little more fun. Are you ready? Okay. And you can answer them quickly? You can give a little bit of background if you want. It's up to you, but these are just rapid fire questions. And here we go. Would you rather have the ability to fly or breathe underwater? the ability to flap. Awesome. Are you team pie or team cake? I love chocolate pie. Ooh, yum yum yum. Now you're making me hungry. Would you rather instantly learn a new language or a new instrument? a new language. and you have a time machine, congratulations. Would you rather go back in time or are you gonna use it to go see the future? to see the future. Nice. And the last one, one of my personal favorites, is Wham's song titled Last Christmas. Actually a Christmas song. Don't know that one, but I'm gonna go. I love it. Some people look at me like, it's not a video podcast. wish people could see that. some people are like, I'm not sure what to do with that one. Anyway, I'll let you listen to it. And then if you amend your answer, you let me know. But no, that's just a fun silly thing. And the results are in. You're amazing. Congratulations. Thank you, Eric. All right, enough of the jibber-jabber. We're going to get into your nursing journey. Okay? You've already hinted at some of the things that you've had to battle in life and that sort of thing, but we're going to start with the softer questions, then we'll get into some more of the harder things, right? Good plan. Yes, I'm ready. awesome. So tell us a little bit about your hobbies and interests when you're not all consumed with learning at nursing school. Okay, well, as I've already spoke with Eric before, I have three grandchildren and they consume a lot of my time. So that is really a hobby of mine is my family. I know that for some people probably sounds silly. They're like, oh, know, crafts, know, shopping, vacationing, things like that. But I love just spending time with my grandbabies and my children. All my kids are grown now. So now I have the grandbabies to spoil and you know, they say grandparents can really spoil grandkids, you know, and send them home. Well, that's what I do. which I'm sure your child loves you doing that, right? Yes. She's like Nana, Oakley wants to come see you today. I'm like, okay. And then she comes over and then of course I give her lipstick and she has lipstick all over her face and know, candy, candy rush all that good stuff. So yeah, it's a really spoil. Well, tell us more about your family then. You're already kind of hinting at that. So tell us what you want to tell us about your family as well as any pets you may have. Your furry babies if you have any furry babies. gotta talk about my doggies. I actually have two dogs. They're not really my dogs. They're my two kids that still live at home's dogs. But I have a dog. His name is Twix and then our other dog's name is Ace. And they're very spult. They get anything they want. Of course, they're just like babies. And Twix is kind of a mix. He's a mix between a rottweiler and a lab and he's so lovable. And Ace is a blue heeler. Oh, I love it. And then anything else about your family. How many kids did you say you have? You have three grandkids, which still blows my mind, because anyone who sees the picture of you will be like, wait, what? She's a grandma? Yes, and they keep me young. guess I could say that because they keep me going. I literally spend a lot of time with them when I'm not at school. But I have three children. Like I said, I have three kids. My oldest daughter has my grandbabies. She's 23. And then my son, he's actually going to school to be electrician. I'm really proud of all my children. He's actually, he just turned 20. And then my youngest daughter is just turned 19 and they're my two youngest ones are still at home Wow, that is just amazing, absolutely amazing. I mean, obviously they're inspirational to you. That's obviously clear. You beam when you're talking about your children and your grandkids, and I love that. But there's also someone else, you kinda wanted me to ask you who's your inspiration, who's your hero. Who is that and why? Yes, I actually have a couple heroes. I know it just asks really for one, but I have a couple heroes. Number one, I'm going to talk about my parents. And the reason why my parents are my hero is because my mom and dad has worked really hard all of their life. And they've instilled that in me to never give up and work hard for your dreams. My dad owns his own cabinet business, and he's done that for over 30 plus years. And he's a very smart man. He could build anything. that he sets his mind to. And my mom, she's a hard worker. She's always been there for me no matter what, even in the valleys in the house. She's always been there to lift me up, give me great advice, and whenever days are hard, I just call mom up. So those are my two number one heroes. another hero, I'm gonna talk a little bit about her. She just doesn't get enough recognition sometimes. She's actually... been my mentor, my friend. She's the one that gets it because she's a nurse practitioner. And I worked alongside of her for five years in a telehealth company. We worked together doing site care for geriatrics and long-term care. And she pushed me to go back to nursing school because I was actually an MA, which is a medical assistant if anyone doesn't know that. And I loved my job. especially with her because she was so inspiring and she was always so good to her patients and she took time with them. She was worried about making them better. She wanted to see the better side of things. She wasn't just trying to put a bandaid over things. She wanted to try to get the better outcome of everything and she currently has went back to get to actually further her education to do functional medicine, which is amazing and I tell her every day I'm so proud of her. She's always looking to try to help people and she wants the best for everyone. her name is Lisamarie Pietragallo and she is my best friend and we live like a couple of, well, we live a state away and she lives in Ohio and I live in Kentucky, but that does not mean that we're not best friends because we are. Like I know I can call her up for any kind of advice or anything I need and she would be there to listen. Mmm. I love that and and for those listeners who are maybe just jumping in Deanna's episode and hadn't heard previous ones Lisa Marie really was an honored guest her episode likely dropped a few episodes ago and I can definitely I have obviously not known her in nearly the capacity that you have but in my short time with her like she's just super inspirational and just a positive like force in this world and we need more of those you know what I mean and For nursing students out there hearing Deanna say that, I feel like Deanna, you said right off the bat, she's your mentor, right? You have someone who you can go to and be like, my gosh, I'm losing my mind, what is going on here? But also to celebrate the victories with too, right? Yes, and I think we all need that as a nursing student because like this whole podcast is about feeding our young. I think that's what nurses need to do because everyone I think that is going to nursing school has experienced some point where they have had bad experiences. And why don't we just, I don't want to spend a lot of time on this, but you did mention that maybe even in Kentucky, it's not exclusive to just where I'm at or other people I've talked to, but also in Kentucky, you might have experienced that eating our young phenomenon. What'd you want to share about? Yes, Eric. I've had some great experiences in clinical settings, but I've also had some bad experiences. Like, we're there to learn and we've had some experiences, not just myself, but my friends as well. We went into clinical sites to where nurses will actually sit and talk about us. You know, they don't want to be with us. We're, you know, they're there to do their job. They don't have time to take care or help us learn. and I don't understand how we can be better nurses if we don't have that support. And it's such a challenge. Like it's already hard enough as it is. And why make it harder? And I mean, I'll circle back around to what you said. Again, not to offer excuses for anybody that, you know what I mean? That treats people that way or treats nursing students that way. But on the same token, like you said, we don't know what everybody's going through. You know what I mean? We don't know what our patients are going through. We also don't know what that nurse maybe is going through. But on the same token. That's the whole reason why this exists. We are trying to change that culture. It is more than a podcast. It is a mission. It is my personal mission. If I can change it just a little bit here or there, I feel like I've done my job and we can continue this movement forward. I don't know. Like, I think that's amazing. But Deanna, like that is a challenge in and of itself. But now I kind of want to get into your story because you've kind of touched on it briefly with me beforehand. And, you know, As we said, just minutes ago, nursing school is hard enough as it is. And you have mentioned, like, you're like, man, I just, like, things keep happening and I keep standing and I keep fighting and I lean into my faith. What are those things? What are the things that have been challenging you? Tell us your story about that. Well, out of high school, I decided to get married, which is not a bad thing. I've been married to my husband over 20 plus years, so it's not been a bad thing at all. It's just I decided to get married young and of course, as newlyweds, things, you know, you got bills, you got things, and you kind of put yourself on the back burner. So I didn't get to start school right away. I started actually started at Lindsay Wilson College here. I was not even gonna go for nursing. I was going for like social work. And I started there and I ended up, I found out I was pregnant and I was very sick. I did not know what was going on with me, but I was sick the whole entire pregnancy and ended up having my oldest daughter and kind of just took a break from school. I thought I'd go back later, you know. We all say that sometimes, we'll go back later, we'll do things later. And I just kept pushing it further and further along. And then I had my son like two years later and I got really, really sick. And I could not figure out what was wrong with me. My son developed like a respiratory virus, like RSV. I got sick right after him. Just could not get to feeling any better. I went to the doctor. They did some heart tests on me. And I got a diagnosis that I was not expecting. They told me I had cardiomyopathy and I was very young. I was like in my 20s, I was like 20 years old and developed cardiomyopathy. I did not really get a diagnosis of postpartum or viral cardiomyopathy, but they kind of leaned, they just said cardiomyopathy because they couldn't really diagnose me with one or the other. And then I just kept getting worse and worse after that. And I was like, look, something's wrong. I'm having more issues. My joints hurt. Something's not right. It's not just cardiomyopathy. So then I got diagnosed with lupus. my goodness. So the cardiomyopathy now is stable and the lupus for the most part is kind of stable. I have my flare ups with it throughout nursing school. Stress, know, stress brings on lupus flare ups. So it's hard to keep away, you know, keep that kind of at bay sometimes, but I do the best I can. But I've had other struggles, know, personal struggles. It's been hard financially trying to go back to school. My husband works on the road as a truck driver. So he's doing that so that I can go back to school. He stays gone like a week at a time, sometimes two weeks at a time. It's rough. But I want this dream to come true. I've always wanted to be a nurse. I've wanted to take care of others. I've had some bad experiences in my health journey with nurses. And I want to be that nurse that is caring and compassionate. And that's why I kept fighting these challenges that I've had to arise throughout my journey. I just keep fighting and fighting because I won't give up. I just love that. I... Not for the sake of being exploitative or anything like that. Would you care to describe what a lupus flare-up looks like, feels like, that sort of thing? Yes, definitely. When I start getting really stressed or something doesn't really go my way per se, we all have those moments, know. Most people can kind of fight it and go on with their day. But if I get really stressed, I'll end up in bed for a couple of days. My joints hurt, mainly my hips, my knees, even my hands. Sometimes I can't grip things really well. And at first I was kind of scared about going back to nursing school because my hands sometimes are really weak on me and I'm like getting an IV things like that but I have done really well with my skills and everything and of course I worked as an MA before so I do you know I have had that experience and I was like if anyone can do it you know and I've seen people that had lupus that's been able to do it and you know these kind of challenges and they still went to nursing school and become great nurses I can do it too. Yeah, that's amazing. And I, again, not trying to, for those that are going through nursing school and they're like, man, it's just rough, it's rough. And so it's not a, well, okay, yeah, it's rough, but look at people like Deanna who have these extra things that they gotta deal with. Like it's not that sort of comparison game. So I don't want you to walk away from this going, my gosh, you know what mean? Like I feel bad because I'm complaining about nursing school and I don't have to deal with these flare ups. I don't have to deal with. physical problems, I don't have to deal with mental health problems, whatever the case may be. The takeaway is actually going, my gosh, okay, so here's Deanna, this is amazing. Like, it sucks that you have to go through that, that your body, you know, rebels basically against yourself, and that you have to deal with that when you get stressed out. But if Deanna can do it, then hopefully you're saying, man, if she can do it, I can do it. And that's what I love about getting to know people like you, your inspirational story. Like we've all got issues, right? We've all got the things that we gotta deal with. And I can't imagine what that's like. know, the husband's gone for a week at a time. And my wife starts losing it when I gotta work three shifts in a row. And you know what I mean? And so, and I miss her. Like, it's like, it's just those things that, but I think maybe the takeaway there too, Deanna, and tell me if I'm not barking up the wrong tree on this one, but I feel like it's more of a, the pain as great or as not great as it is, is temporary. Right? That's right, that's right. And that's what I've said this whole nursing journey. You know, there's times that I've come out of an exam crying. I'm not gonna lie, I've come out crying and I come home and I'm like rethinking my decision. Is this really what, can I handle this? Can I keep doing this? And God has been there for me every step of the way. I know I keep going back to that, but he really has. I pray before every test and he's got me through this far. I'm not saying I'm better than anyone by no means because we all have our issues and we all struggle. Excuse me. But I will say that faith has a lot to do with it as well and motivation. And you can struggle, you can have pain, you can have things, you can have setbacks, but don't ever let it determine where you're going in life because don't ever give up. You may fail a class, you may fail a test. But keep fighting for it. Keep going. Don't say I'm done because it's took me this long. I'm 42 years old and it's took me this long to get to nursing school and I'm about to do it. I'm about finished. that's what I'm talking about. 42 years old, starting your career in nursing. That's fantastic. You've got many years ahead of you. And the idea that, you know what I mean? I always circle back around to the idea that, okay, let's say you come out of that test that makes you cry and you go home and you're questioning, you're reflecting. Is this really what I wanna do? I've lived a lot of life already. Now, is this really something I wanna push through? And if you say no, that's not a failure. You go a different direction in life, great, so be it. But also, I think about all the patients, the potential patients, the future patients that wouldn't have the honor of being cared for by Deanna Robertson and your heart and your ability to do it. You know what I mean? That to me, that's the tragedy in it. It's not that someone says I can't do it anymore and I gotta go another direction, great. But. The issue is then we've lost maybe another good nurse before that nurse could even start. And so kind of the other mission of this whole thing is just propping up those careers and propping up those students and not allowing nurses to be snuffed out, their careers to be snuffed out before they have a chance to burn into a giant flame. So, Deanna, thank you for sharing your story. So then let me ask you this then. Why nursing? You said social work originally, you thought that, and that sort of thing. Why did you circle back around to come into nursing as a field, as a career? Well, like I said before, kind of my health journey that I have experienced, I guess I just want to care for others the way that I would want to be cared for. And I've not always had that experience before in different settings, different doctor settings, hospitals per se. So I just, I love taking care of others. It's rewarding for me. I worked with Lisamarie in the long-term care facilities in geriatrics. I worked mainly mental health. I also worked with a psychologist as well. I was a facilitator and I set up sessions and stuff for group therapies, or not group therapies, but individual therapies. I really enjoy getting to know the patients in long-term care and I got really connected with them. I've always worked caregiving jobs in the past. I'm actually currently doing that now on the side while I'm going to nursing school. I stay with a lady that's had a stroke. I do that like 12 hours, like on a day that I have off or if it works out with my schedule, I'll stay with her. And I've been doing that now for about two years off and on helping her. And I love taking care of people. It's rewarding and it just, it blesses my heart and you know, just ways that I can explain. Yeah, and again, that woman is better off for it and your future patients also better off for it. I love it. So then being in the midst of nursing school as an quote unquote older lady later in life, right? A wiser lady, not an older lady, a wiser lady. I felt older at 30, getting my, you know what mean, getting my degree at 30. But all that to say, it's all a matter of perspective, right? All the things. But what do you love most about nursing school and what is that like going through that as a 42 year old woman? Going to school at an older age is hard. gotta have, you know, of course, most people at 40 years old usually has routines and they, you know, they're used to a routine every day, which is not a problem in nursing school because you have to have a routine. Everyone knows in nursing school, you have to keep a routine and you have to get up those early, early mornings. And I drive two hours away to class, four days a week. Yes. that is dedication. Yes, so it has really taught me a lot. It's discipline, you know, it's a lot. But nursing school, what I love about it is the little bond that I have formed with many friends. The friends that I have formed in nursing school are just a different breed because you have to have those friends in nursing school because if you don't have them, it's going to be hard. You've to pick your little clan and your little clique in nursing school because there's They're the ones that you can text whenever you're needing some pep in your step to get you through because your family don't understand. They do, but they don't, if that makes sense. They'll say, support you, I'm there for you, but they don't get it because they're not in your shoes. And just like you said, they're super supportive. They love you. They want to see the best out of you They're gonna do everything they can to make you succeed. I'd imagine and hope but they don't know if you haven't done it, you don't know and There's a lot of things we see there's a lot of things we deal with and and again, it's not tootin our horn Look at us, you know, we're better than everybody else But there are things that we deal with that many people you ask on the street you'd be like, If this is your job description and you give them a few of the things that you see and do, they'd be like, no, thank you. I'm good. That's not for me. So no, just, I love that. And so graduation's coming soon. I mean, much sooner than had I have talked to you a year and a half ago, but it's very close. So what does your future look like, Deanna? I mean, you kinda hinted at that, it sounds like, but what are some of the areas of nursing you wanna practice in? What are your goals post-graduation? Well, I love geriatrics. I absolutely love geriatrics. A lot of my friends are like, why do you want to work in long-term care? Why do want to do that? I can't, I'd rather deal with babies. I'm totally opposite. I always have been, I've had a heart for dementia patients, Alzheimer's patients. I don't know if it's because I have seen them treated so badly before by different staff members, not just nurses but just in nurse in like in the healthcare and they just don't have the patience sometimes for those folks and I think that they just need people that's got more you know compassion and understanding and I really would love to go back and work at the nursing home that I worked at before when I worked in mental health. They're wonderful there. They're great. They have great personalities and they would be very welcoming to me to start out. But then I've also considered maybe working in the ER to kind of branch out and get more experience in my local hometown. We have a little small town here. Like I said, I live in a very, very small town and everyone's family and there is a wonderful hospital. I almost envy you in that regards, you know, that whole small hospital versus big hospital, you know, small town, etc. Because I did, that was my, for my associate's degree, my capstone experience is what we called it, kind of the last hurrah. I specifically chose, you you kind of give your few, at least this is how it was for our program, you give like your top few choices of where you'd like to go. to put it all together, to get it all figured out at the end of your experience. And on the top of my list was a smaller hospital in a town here in Washington called Colville. And it's a small town, everybody knows everybody. don't, maybe they have a Walmart now, I don't think they have, if this is how we're judging it, I don't think they had a Walmart at the time. But no, was just kind of, everybody kind of knew everybody and all the things. But I just loved the feel of that small hospital. I loved the kind of the camaraderie that kind of was there. I know it probably works both ways. Maybe people get to know too much about everybody and you know what I mean? And so, and that's the reason why you're like, discussed with my wife and she was like, you don't want to like move up there and do this to you. I'm like, well, I mean, I would, I feel like it would be fun. I think it would be, you know what I mean? But also like, also know our personalities and we were like, yeah, no, we'll stay in Spokane. So before we close with our traditional questions, is there anything else that we've missed that you want to share that's on your heart? I just want to say thanks for this because I think this is something that all nursing students going forward could benefit from. We sometimes feel like we're not supported and we feel like that it's just across the board like this. I know from experience that's what my friends have said, well, you know, I've seen this, some of my other friends have talked about it. And I mean, I know it happens all over the place, but I feel like that it's a burnout too in nursing. Like nursing in general, there's some burnout going on. Cause I worked during COVID when I worked in long-term care and I seen that burnout in nursing. A lot of the nurses that I worked with at the nursing home, they were burnout very quick during COVID. And I can understand that. It was tough. It was very tough on everyone. But I feel like that we need some kind of support. to get this movement changed where we feel like we're there to make things better, not to make things worse. And we may not be able to change the ones that have gone before us, but at the very least, if we can start with us, with the Deannas, the new nurses coming on, and they know, okay, you know what? I don't care how burned out, how irritated I get, you know I mean? I will not treat future nursing students this way. So that's the heart, we'll see where it goes. But in the meantime, you picked three words to describe nursing school. What were they and why'd you pick them? I challenging because it can be demanding due to the coursework, clinicals, long clinical days. And if you're like me and have to drive two hours away, it can be very challenging. Needing to master both the knowledge and the skill set as well. The skills check-offs that you have to do plus dosage calculation tests that I do not like, that I struggle the most with. I hate when I know I got a math test to take. We do one every quarter. So I have another one coming up this quarter. But I know it's honestly to prepare me because a lot of people's like, well, you'll never have to really do that in your head again. But yes, you technically could have to do it in your head because you may have to figure it out yourself. You may not have pharmacy doing it for you. So you may have to know. some people see it differently, but sometimes I see it that it's actually helping me. Everything's helping me prepare me to be the nurse that I need to be. Yes. And then I chose rewarding because despite all the challenges and that nursing school can come up, that can come up with nursing school that also it gives you a sense of fulfillment and opportunity to learn how to care for others, make a difference in the patient's lives, and contribute to the healthcare field. It will bring a lot of personal and professional satisfaction. And so that reward is is great. It's a benefit for you and the patient as well. Because know at the end of the day that you did something to help someone and you were there for them, not just them, but their family. Because, you know, the families come in and, you know, they may not be in the best mood. They may not have a great, you know, personality to begin with, but it does not mean it's you. Sometimes it's just they're seeing their loved one like that and they need you to be there for them, whether it's offer them something to drink or just sit and talk to them and hold their hand. And I've done that many a times, just working in long-term care. When I worked in mental health, I would have to sit with patients before, patients' family before, just to talk to them because they were upset because something wasn't going their way or whatever. But I think that's the biggest thing is the rewarding part of it. But then also it can be rigorous because the pace, the workload, especially if you're an accelerated reader, accelerated program. I was thinking back to primary school. Yeah. program like I'm in where it's like two years and it's four days to five days a week and some are like two day clinicals, 12 hour days. You know my last quarter will be two 12 hour days plus your coursework and if you got pre-reqs like my program we actually have pre-reqs filtered into the program so you're doing them along with them so like this quarter coming up I still have ethics to take. my gosh, okay, okay. still doing prereqs, but that's my last prereq I have left. So I'll be done with those. But I do like Galen because they do allow that. You don't have to do prereqs first. It's filtered into your program each quarter. That's interesting. So just because I have not experienced that and haven't talked to somebody who's done that yet, what did that feel like for you? Did you feel like it was more challenging or was it like you're like, actually I kind of like getting into the nursing stuff right away and taking care of this other stuff we have to do alongside it? At first I thought it was a little bit too much because it was a lot at first but then I like it because you're getting your nursing over with early. You're not having to do pre-reqs first and then getting burnt out and then thinking well I'm not gonna do nursing because this has already burnt me out. So you're kind of getting a little bit of both of it together. Like you're mixing it together. So it goes by a little faster. I feel like that way. I had to ask that question, but the original thought that I had based on what you said, like I just pictured you're talking about how you have to hold, you've already like held patients' hands and held family members' hands and being there for somebody and doing those little things. like, and you're talking earlier about lupus flare-ups, you know what I mean? Like here's someone whose hands may not be the strongest in any given moment and that you're still giving those hands to somebody else. I just, that's a beautiful image, Deanna. Thank you, Eric. Thank you. I just hope to be that nurse that everyone needs one day. That's all I've, if I do that, I've done my job as a nurse. I have no doubt you're gonna do that in spades in spades All right. So with that, I don't know what happened. I don't know why people didn't listen this whole time But they just fast-forwarded they wanted to hear the one thing that you wanted them to walk away with from your episode What is that one thing? One thing that I want to share with you that you should walk away with from this episode is do not ever give up. I know I've said it before, but do not give up no matter the challenge, no matter the obstacle. Just keep going, keep fighting. You'll fail that test. I've actually had some friends that failed tests and don't think it doesn't break my heart because I come home and those classmates that I went to school with in the beginning is now probably not gonna graduate with me, that breaks my heart. Like I come home and cry for them. But I'm trying to be that person to support them and tell them, not give up. I did not give up. It's not been an easy journey for me to get here to where I'm at. I'm 42 years old. It took me this long to get here. So don't you give up. Don't you give up. Just keep going. And that's the biggest thing that I can just keep saying and repeating over, keep going. It's not easy, but it'll be worth it. Mm-hmm. Those rewards on the other side are plentiful, bountiful. Keep the heart pumping and like just make your day. Make your day. Ah, Deanna. school, therapeutic communication. That's what all these patients need. And you will get that drilled in your head throughout nursing school. Therapeutic communication. 100 % like you say that and I'm like going right back. You know, I'm 18 years at a nursing school and I'm like, my gosh. my gosh. Like you see the instructor, you hear it, it's there. But I guess that's a testament to, you know what I mean? Like instructors who have laid that foundation for the next generation of nurses and then the next generation of nurses and so on and so forth. So yeah. No grapefruit. No grapefruit! No grapefruit. my gosh, yes. Okay, so for those who are like, what the heck are you talking about? Why no grapefruit? Most medications you cannot take with grapefruit. No grapefruit anybody, no grapefruit. Cut it out, do something different. Take all antibiotics. even when you're feeling better. Those are two bonus, two bonus things you should never forget. There it is. Now, Deanna, thank you so much. I greatly appreciate you taking time this morning to just drop the wisdom and to inspire, because that's what you're doing. You've inspired me. I know you've inspired someone who's listened to you. I wish you the best, and I'm excited to hear about your graduation. Thank you, Eric, and I look forward to talking to you again. You too.