165 - Runar Camp Pt 2: Always Check Your Own Pulse Before You Check Your Patient’s

Continue with recent graduate and Spokane, Washington native Honored Guest Runar Camp as he chats about what it felt like to walk across stage and obtain his diploma, how he prepared for and overcame failing the NCLEX, celebrating milestones, his recommendations for obtaining a job, how he navigates a tough specialty like the peds ED right out of nursing school, advice for working nights, and more!

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Transcript

0:02

Hello and welcome back to the part B flipside Runar Camp experience. Runar, gosh, it's been so long since we recorded the first one. It's been at least a few minutes. How are you doing? Oh, you know, I feel like it's been ages. I've changed drastically, evolved really as a human, and I don't even remember what we talked about. We're keeping it foolish here on April Fool's and we love it. Alright, well no, and I appreciate you, uh again, the time-honored now tradition here where we try and do something fun in the second episode. And I was like, dude, you could go like the D &D route that you were just talking about. And he's like, yeah, I got this. And so again, just winging it and winging it beautifully. But that does bring me to a couple, let's open up anyway, I like to return to the soft opening questions before we continue on your journey, as people are gonna wanna hear about that. But who dead or alive, who would you like to sit with for a meal just to be able to eat, fellowship, and pick their brain? Ooh, it's a great question. um We can throw it back to the D &D community for this, because I'm just all about the nerdy stuff. Love my nerds out there. Stay nerdy if you are. ah And I would love to sit down with someone who is alive, a weaver of tales and a crafter of stories. Matthew Mercer is a individual who is both a voice actor and a very prominent character in the D &D world. wrote, or is a part of the main game of Dungeons & Dragons called Critical Role. It's a bunch of voice actors. based, uh I think in California or maybe in Washington, don't remember. But anyway, they're in a lot of different media. They voice a whole bunch of famous characters, both in video games, TV shows. And they've actually come out with their own TV show. that we don't have to talk about really based on their first campaign in Critical Role, but they also do a lot of supporting work for their communities, which is another reason I love them. They have a Critical Role foundation dedicated to starting writing schools and benefiting education in their areas. And so they just do a lot of good, and I would love to both pick his brain about being an absolute nerd and the way that he is able to craft a story through this game that I love and hold so dear to my heart. And also just as a human being I think it'd be good to get to know him. Oh man, this is why I, again, this is just a selfish project. Sure, we're trying to help people, blah, blah, but I wanna get to know people. And I love, like, you just shed light on something that I had zero clue about whatsoever. And that's what I just love this. So, amazing. Now I kinda wanna meet him too. um So with that, then a couple other fluff questions here, from one nerd to another, any fictional characters you relate with? absolutely. I mean, everyone has their like yearly rewatch shows. And so one of those for me is Avatar The Last Airbender. It came out when I was very little. I absolutely love it. It's probably the best cartoon, anime. show ever written in my opinion. Iroh from the Avatar the Last Airbender is uh an uncle to one of the main kind of uh antagonists become protagonist characters named Zuko and he's wise, energetic, and so kind and I think it'd be so... I relate to him a lot in both the way that I want to treat people as like something he does in the show is he there's a blind girl named Toph he pours her a glass of tea, she takes it as, didn't you let me pour that? Is it because I'm blind? He says, I poured the tea because I wanted to, not for any other reason. And so he's just, that's just his whole personality. He's a very caring and loving individual and you get to watch him care for his basically son-esque figure. He's much more of a father than Zuko's father ever is to him. And he, one, is another person I'd love to have dinner with, or a cup of tea, uh if you understand that. from the show, uh but I relate to a lot in that way. I aspire to be kind in that nature to people that I meet who I don't know or I'm unfamiliar with. Golly, and I'm just seeing the similarities abound here, like between you and this career that you've chosen. Oh my goodness, I love it. Well then, the last question from one nerd to another. If you had any superpower, what would that be? I mean, it's easy, it's teleportation. It's the best. I need to be somewhere, I'm there. That's the easiest way. I don't have to wake up early anymore. I can just show up and I'll be at work. I don't have to walk to the med room if I need the epinephrine dose. I can just teleport, boom, boom, there in a flash. Like, it's great for convenient. I don't have to wait for the ski lift to get to the top of the hill. I could just go. You know, all that. It's the simplest, easiest. I save on gas, there's zero cons, I can go anywhere I want in the world. Easy pick, teleportation. Oh my gosh. Okay, so a little peek behind the scenes for everybody just because. In the early days of this podcast, man, I was trying to line people up left and right, and so I had multiple days where I had multiple guests that I got to sit with. And now that it's kind of chilled and we're taking on our kind of a regular pace and all that, my goal is four honored guests that I get to sit with a month just to keep ahead of the curve and all the things. And so January, nobody. And then Runar signs up. Boom, yeah, all right, I'm looking forward to Monday. I get to know Runar, this is gonna be amazing. And then I go to my BSN orientation at Gonzaga and meet a new employee there and she's like, wait, you have a podcast? say, yeah, here's what it's about. And she's like, wanna, oh I'll have you, you wanna talk? Let's talk. So she signs up and where does she pick? She picks Monday. So I'm like, Monday? I've got back to back on her Guests for the first time in forever. But the reason why I bring that up, Runar, is because back when this was happening, And I don't know if this just speaks to the similarity of the nursing community as a whole or just, I think there's an old saying, something, and I've espoused it before, I can't take credit for making it up because I think I've just butchered it from somebody else. And it's something about God whispers on the daily, but shouts in the coincidences. And so, uh and I see this time and time again when I have multiple guests, because we never even, so anyone go back and listen to the episodes before, Runar's two episodes. And Katie is her name. And on her forum that she kicked back to me, one of the things if we had asked the question was what would be her superpower? And she had written on there, Runar, what did she write on there? It was teleportation. And so it's just funny to me, like, because then that question never came up in her two episodes. I just, I don't know, I didn't think about it. And here we are again without any, like, prompting whatsoever. It just, I love that stuff. I love that stuff so much. Katie, Katie, great minds think alike. That's all I have to say. Yes, well said, because I have, and this is why I love this job that doesn't pay me anything at all, but it pays me richly in something that is non-monetary, because like legit, I get to just sit down with great minds in nursing, and that means someone who's been in the business, you know what I mean, like they're top of a proverbial food chain, you know, in an educational institution, or you just graduated, or you're a nursing student, or you're thinking about going into nursing, like... I, it's just incredible people that I get to meet and I get to do this and I just want to, I absolutely want to. Okay, enough, enough about the podcast, enough about all that business. Let's get back to Runar's story. That's what I want to get to because where we left off last episode was kind of that, it of rounded out the last of, you know, how is nursing school for you? If you guys are jumping into this episode for whatever reason, double back, go hit the first episode of the Runar Camp Experience. You'll also understand maybe why we had a little D &D discussion there. Again, primo with the intro, man. Absolutely love it. uh But anyway, so as this new perspective, having been a nurse for four or five months or so, this obviously leads to the natural progression of questions. So nursing school, we talked about the highs and lows. You graduate. I want to start there. What does it feel like to walk across stage and get that diploma? Amazing. It was so rewarding. was the culmination of so much hard work. It felt like massive weight lifted off my shoulders, just like the, yep, I did it. I have this in my hand. And not only that, but I'm going to toot my own horn a little bit here. I got an award that means a lot to me because it's not an award for any academic thing, but something that I did. I got the award for clinical excellence that was given to me by one of my preceptors or one of my families I catered for. don't remember who, but they uh alluded to or said like he did showed exemplary clinical performance in executing his skills and also mentioned that like they would let me take care of their kids if they were ever in the ER and that made my heart so happy it like was more meaningful than the diploma in some ways and to walk across stage like knowing that I had an impact on someone's life in that way was all rewarding for it like it's just so amazing It felt so good. And so well deserved, man. Like I just, I often say, obviously, if we didn't have mouths to feed, we'd do this job. I'd do this job, maybe a little bit less. I dialed down the hours so I could focus on other endeavors and all the things. But the truth of the matter is, like, that's not why we go to work. The old adage from my very first clinical instructor, she said, you guys, you will never get paid enough to put up with what you have to put up with. This is well pre-COVID, well pre all of that. And she, it's 20, almost 20 years later. and her words echo so true. You don't get enough money for all the things you gotta do and yet so grateful to be paid and to be paid well to do this job. But the truth of the matter is that's what sometimes sustains us are the, you know what mean, those atta boys that, but coming from the patience, when the patients are like, oh, I really liked RuneR for what he did today. You know what I mean? Like it's just some wind in your sail. You're ready to go like. Maybe you were having, and maybe that shift, I've had this happen, where I thought a shift was absolute, like I was like, oh, I just, I screwed the pooch on that one. I absolutely like biffed it. And then you find out, know, patient A, patient B, whoever said something about you, and you're like, okay, okay, so at least they didn't see, they didn't see how I was feeling. That's good. And yet, okay, you you're making an impact, even listener, when you don't feel like you're making an impact. So amazing, incredible, winging it, had no idea he was gonna share that. This is amazing. So you get your diploma, now let's talk that dreaded four-letter word that it happens to have five letters in it, the NCLEX exam. The national boards, of course, that everybody knows, loves, and fears. I, I, I, is a real stretch of the imagination, but let me, there's a few questions I'm gonna drop on your lap. All at once, you answer whatever you want in whatever order you wish, but you graduate. Everybody has different strategies on how long they're going to wait to take the NCLEX, what they're going to do in the meantime. let's not talk about the NCLEX itself. What did you decide to do in the interim between getting that diploma and sitting for the exam? I decided to stick with what my program had given me. A lot of people went for other resources, like some popular ones that I heard was like Archer Review and Kleks Boo Camp, but you know, um what's the big one? uh Blanking on the name, they have like a bunch of practice exams that are really allegedly good. Anyway, people go for outside sources and they're like, I want this specific NCLEX study guide thing. And we were given one by our program called ATI and I have a very love hate relationship, mostly hate with ATI. But. So I stuck with that and I was like, this is what they're telling us in my program will give me this 97 or whatever percent chance to pass. If I do all of these questions and do all of these assignments and get a certain passing score, then I'll do that. So was like, great. I have a plan. Let's stick to it. Let's get it done. I signed up very soon. I was like, what's the soonest I could take it. And it was like, I don't know, three, four weeks after graduation. Like I walked across the stage, had a couple of weeks to study and was just like, boom, get it off my chest, get it done. like for you, like the anticipation maybe was worse than, you know what I mean? Like it would have been worse to have to wait longer. Is that kind of the idea behind that? yeah, for sure, for sure. Which is really funny because right after that I actually failed the first time. I failed the NCLEX, yeah. For the first time. I've been itching to hear this because you kind of gave us a little tease there at beginning of your first episode. You're like, yeah, I kind of had an issue with the NCLEX. So let's talk about that. Let's open that up. I appreciate you being honest. So you failed the NCLEX the first time. Talk to us about that day, like what happened and man, what do you do to get past that? I don't know if I've ever felt more sick to my stomach than when I the NCLEX. um It's a terrible test, for one. The questions feel like they're rigged against you and the way that you're set up, feels like you're constantly being watched. So it's just very anxiety inducing in that way. um So my first... It's gonna be great. It's gonna be great. You're all gonna do great. um But yeah, it's really, really challenging. And when I stepped up to that plate for the first time, I was feeling confident, went into it. if people don't know, the NCLEX functions as there's a low cutoff and a high cutoff. So there's a minimum amount of questions. It's an adaptive learning exam. And so as you answer questions correct, you get points once you get above a certain threshold and pass the minimum amount. Being 85 questions, the test locks you out. says you passed. Or if you're below the threshold, it says you failed. uh another anxiety-inducing because the test just locks out and you're stressed because you're like, did I pass because I did so good or did I do that bad that I failed immediately? I was very fortunate enough I took all 150 questions which is the maximum amount you could take on the NCLEX exam. At least when I took it, it's always changing. I've heard that people took up to like 180 to 200 plus so whenever you're taking it check your questions, know, know what you're getting into. but I failed that first time. I found out that two days later I paid the $8 or whatever it is to get your quick results and I failed and I just felt defeated and sunken and depressed for a good while. And I had thankfully a lot of support from my family, my fiance and my fiance's mother-in-law in particular who is a nurse as well. She's been a very big inspiration for me both going to nursing school and support through nursing school. And she was like, okay, let's do it. Let's make a plan. like she just jumped to the next step and was a very big guiding light, especially in this moment for me of like, let's look at other programs. What went wrong with this one? Why did you not understand these questions? Like let's break it down and let's think about it like a nurse would think about it and let's get back on it and let's do better the next time. And that's exactly what I ended up doing. I signed up for my next exam, minimum 45 days in between. I bought a couple of those extra resources that a lot of my classmates recommend. And I just started doing questions every single day and I would do a minimum of 50 every day upwards to a hundred and hundred and fifty every day to try and like match that same test that I did but I never missed a day in between them of just constantly doing questions constantly reviewing the questions I got wrong and Second time around I took all 150 questions again in the NCLEX Waited two days, which was probably the most stressful two days of my life. I'd never been more stressed again, right? Like you're like, oh, okay, nope, okay, we're going for number three, third time's the charm, right? Yeah. and I wanted to pay for my quick results. And it was funny because I wanted to do, speaking of April Fools, a little April Fools joke to my fiance, like, I failed again. What are we going to do? Everything's falling apart. And this pure euphoric rush that I got when I saw the pass, I couldn't do it. I couldn't stick to the joke. And I just yelled out, I like, I passed. We're done. We're past this. I never have to take this test again. And I will never let my license expire, ever. I will die before it expires. Amen. Hallelujah. will pay whatever money you need every year. We're going to keep that thing fresh. Oh my gosh, man. Thank you for being transparent in that you're not the first person I've talked to who failed the first time. And it's just so important, you guys, like failure. Again, it's cliche. There's something there that you know what mean? Where it's like failures only really truly a failure when you don't get back up. Like when you're like, you know what I mean? That was it, that wasn't for me, I just wasted years of my life, whatever. And uh you know, it's not, we had peers that never did pass their NCLEX. That's a horrible thing to hear, but the truth of matter is sometimes people don't pass the NCLEX. And they went on to, I know one in particular, became an incredible LPN and still was able to care for patients and all the things. you know I mean? Like it's just, I don't know. The test is not the measure of who you are. And regardless of how many times you have to take it, who cares about that? Like, I've never had a patient, I always tell my students, you go into a room, I've never had a patient say, what's your GPA? Guess what they've also never asked me? How many times did you have to sit for the boards? You know what I mean? They fortunately still trust us to a point where if we're coming in and walking into a room, they know we've passed our boards. We've passed that minimum standard. that is nationally recognized and a national standard, and they know that we are competent to care. And that is all that matters, you guys. Like, ugh. And it's easy for me to say, right? Eric, well, you didn't fail the first time. I didn't fail the first time, you're right. I felt like a failure. I tell people it's the one test that you'll pass and still feel like an absolute moron. And it's true. It's 100 % true. But they have to make sure you're competent and safe to care. And if that's the national standard that we gotta uphold, by golly, the alternative is scary, right? very, very true. Yeah, man. Oh, no, thank you for that. So you pass the NCLEX, you're so euphoric. You're like, you can't hold up the non-April Fools April Fools gag. And I mean, you guys celebrated, right? You had to celebrate. Oh yeah, we went out, we had a nice fancy dinner, we called all my friends, like anybody who was available that day, we were just like, let's go hang out, let's party, let's go have a drink, let's go. just, you know, enjoy the release from this exam that I got. Like I'm finally done with it and it was amazing. I called the bro horde again, a little call back to episode one. Uh, and like they came out for a little bit and it was just so wonderful. Got a bunch of kudos from a bunch of people. I called my preceptor that I had throughout nursing school and she was so excited for me. And it's just, I don't know, very relieving, very amazing moment for me. and you gotta celebrate those wins man. You gotta celebrate those wins So now the inquiring mind the question that all inquiring minds want to know Are you one of the ones that had a job lined up before this? you get a job after and where is that job? Yeah, I did have a job lined up. I, like I mentioned previously, I was a nurse tech for the whole, my whole nursing career. The second I passed my first semester, I signed up to be a nurse tech. I ventured a lot throughout the hospital, but I ended up settling on the pediatric emergency department. They had a residency program open up right when I was about to graduate. I applied, I did my interviews, did all that, and I got the job and I was stoked. I was like, this is awesome. I planned out my start date to try and give myself enough time to pass my twice thankfully I did that because if I didn't it would have been really bad ah my gosh, so you intentionally put the start date out far enough just in case. yeah. And I was like, the alternative is I then if I wait, I just get a month off. had enough savings. I was like, I'm just going to enjoy that time, do whatever I want. I don't have to be at school. I don't have to work. Um, I didn't get that. I still had to do school stuff, but I did it just because like, I, I want to set yourself up for success in that way. And so I'm so happy I did. And quite frankly, I probably got what I would consider my dream job. I'm currently now working as a, an RN in the pediatric emergency department. department at Sacred Heart Medical Center here in Spokane and I love it. Oh, dude, okay, so, so many natural questions just burst forth from this, the least of which of course is obviously like, okay, peds ED the first, why? Why the peds ED? You obviously when you were doing shout outs to, call back to first episode, y'all, but you're doing shout outs to Eastern Staff, you a lot of peds kept coming up. So was that something you knew early on or did that come somewhere along your nursing school journey? I've always wanted to work in pediatrics. I've always wanted to work alongside kids. I like that environment. think that like, yes, sick kids is very sad. It's very difficult. I see a lot of very challenging things, both emotionally and ethically in that world because that's just the nature of working with kiddos who are sick. uh But I always wanted to do peds because it's just so, I think it's way more fun. They're super excited when they get to like meet these milestones, when you get to do little things for them, it makes such a big difference in their lives, like you can just give them a popsicle and their whole world changes for that day. you know, little things mean so much more to them because their worlds are a little bit smaller than the adults and they don't think about much further than that. They think about that moment. And so if you can make that, like, more, if you can ease their way there, then it makes that whole experience a lot better for them. And I also just I don't really like adults. This is no uh dog and anybody who does, but I just never jibed with them. It wasn't my favorite thing in clinical, and I just found my heart live in the peds world. Awesome. again, you guys, anyone, there's no dogging on anybody because you know very early on I'm not touching a kid or I'm not touching an adult. And I tell people, like, I knew early on I didn't want to work with adults because I am one and I know how particular and cantankerous we can be. nope, let's stick with the kids and do all the things. And now ironically, I end up with a little bit of both. But no, I think that's fantastic, man. So then, I mean, it's peds E.D. Like, this is a specialty. ah This is uh no small thing that you are starting this as a new grad. Let me back up. How'd you get the job? Any recommendations for anyone who's like, my gosh, Runar, did you have to interview? Was it just from the nurse tech job or how do I get a job like this? I think the... I think the nurse tech job helped a lot. I would highly recommend if you have the opportunity to do nurse tech and do it because it sets you up for success. You get your name in the doorway. They know who you are. You can show what kind of work ethic you want to put forward. You can put your best foot forward and you can learn so much. You can learn from the people there. You can learn about the environment. It's sort of a try before you buy kind of a thing. You know, like I was in the ICU for a little bit, tried that as a nurse tech, was in the NICU for a little bit, tried that, PICU, OR, all these different places. and I found that I really enjoyed the pediatric ER the most, so I was there as a nurse tech. I did my practicum there. I tried to make myself as known as possible before I even sent in my application, and I think that helped leaps and bounds for that. I did have an interview process. I met up with uh Shane and Casey. They're two amazing, amazing managers there, and... the full interview, I submitted questions, I did the whole nine yards regarding to a job application, sending in a resume, competing with other people, uh and other nurse techs as well. uh And what put me over the edge, I think, was just that little bit of effort that I put in, making sure I was known, putting myself into these situations, trying to be as helpful as I could, and putting my best foot forward there. So I think if you can do that, if you have that opportunity, do it, if that's where you want to be, in any department. And I'll shout out Shane as well, because that's the guy I want to be like when I grow up. I mean, he's I think he's all, oh, man, I feel like he's a few years younger than me. I don't know what it is, but I don't care. Like I'm like there are in Shane. I don't know that you're going to hear this. I don't know if you're ever going to hear it, man. But I straight up there are shifts where I'm like, like, how would Shane respond to this? Because he just he seems like he's almost always upbeat. He doesn't allow the circumstances. He stays calm. He all these things. And I'm just like, I wanna be like Shane when and if I grow up. uh So that's amazing though that you do get to work in this environment with him and all the incredible, there's such an incredible staff down there and you're right, you do see a lot of things in the pediatric emergency department. So I guess that begs the natural question, like how do you deal with some of these more tougher cases? And you guys, for those that have never stepped foot in one, we're not talking just, you know what I mean, like. childhood cancer and these diagnoses that can be life altering, but you're talking about neglect, you're talking about abuse, you're talking about mental health. um It's, some of my hardest float shifts have been there, to be perfectly honest. So how do you navigate that, Runner, just as a human being? There's a lot of different ways. mean, like you mentioned, we have a fantastic team down there. Our doctors and our nurses are very close and our techs as well. We all sit at the same nurses station. We all are right there for each other. And we talk very openly about these things. one of my, remember even as a nurse tech, I was working, we had a code. It was a suicide attempt. A kiddo tried to take their own life and they were brought into our emergency department. I was doing rounds of CPR and like the debriefing right after that experience of coming together as a team and saying, Hey, what did we do good? What did we do wrong? What happened here? How could we improve for the next time? How does everybody feel about that situation? Like they take time to acknowledge everyone's feelings. And even our doctors, came up to me and they're like, Hey, are you okay? They made, they made sure to talk to me specifically, look me in the eyes and say, that's, I know you're new, you're not necessarily going to be here. Are you okay? How are you handling this? Like, so that environment down there helps a lot. There's also fantastic therapists. provided by Segra Heart that um we can go and talk to for free. We get a couple of free visits to him every, uh I want to say every quarter or something like that. It's like four of a quarter. um And so he's fantastic and he's always open to chatting about that. And I have a very supportive family of what I do and... like the hardships that come along with that. Like my stepmother I mentioned, or my mother-in-law I mentioned earlier, who's also a nurse, I can come and talk to her about these things. I can talk to my fiance about these things. No, she's not a nurse, but she understands growing up around that environment and uh she's always just willing to listen. And so I think that's how I deal with it a lot. I have a lot of support from many different places. And that it's so key and so vital. You cannot be a nurse as an island unto yourself. And maybe there are some jobs you can, you know what mean? And maybe there's some areas of nursing you can. But ultimately, you need to rely on your team members. You need to rely on those loved ones in your life that are your go-to people, right? Like that is just the most incredible thing. So I, pulling it back around then. You're a new grad starting in a specialty, a challenging one at that, as has obviously clearly been explained and described in this very short period of time. How do you make that adjustment and why be so crazy to jump into a specialty straight out of school? Well, I mean, it goes back to me just wanting to do pediatrics. I wanted to be in that environment anyway. I didn't care where necessarily. I found myself in the pediatric ER and I went for it. I shot my shot and I hit that mark. It's been such an adjustment because there's so much to learn. It's absolutely overwhelming some days, the amount of stuff I have to try and remember because in an emergency department like that, in those situations, you can't second guess yourself. You just have to act and that's been a very hard adjustment. You it's not this kiddo who I'm watching who's been stable for the past few days. It's this kiddo just got his leg run over by a lawnmower. We have to now stop this bleeding. They have to go. Like there's no wait and uh I mean there is a little bit, but... um So that's been a big adjustment. And pediatrics as a whole, mean, nursing school, get one semester of PEDS experience and it's split with OB. So you really don't have that much knowledge base. It's not like you had the whole med-surge rotation. You had the whole ICU rotation. Those are both adult-driven fields that you go into extensive talk about in nursing school. I mean, you just don't have that same exposure. And so it's been a lot of learning. uh Luckily, like I said, I did get the residency program. So I went through that and it was phenomenal. mean, working with other nurses, walking through these situations that can arise and what they mean, what our standards of care are and what to do when these things happen. What's my first thing? Starting to build uh those actions, those assessments of the room. What am I going to evaluate first? What am I going to do first, especially in an emergency situation? The TNCC, the Trauma Nursing Care um that we learned in our residency program that is dedicated to those situations has been so helpful and I think it's just been a journey but I am learning it and loving it and here for the ride. man, and your patients are the better for it. You know what I mean? Like, I just love the fact. Like, and I was gonna ask, are there other, cause I was gonna say, what kind of systems are in place there to support you in your new career? And you talk about the residency program. I just, you can expand on that a little bit more. Are there other resources in place to help you as a new grad nurse entering a specialty field? ah Yeah, I mean there's all of the there was the long a little bit longer of an orientation I think most people got like six weeks and I got nine so like just a few extra weeks to kind of get that under your belt there was also a lot of Encouragement that like if you need extra time to be oriented or you need like extra shifts to feel more comfortable You know talk to us. We'll extend that and so that was really helpful There's also just a lot of support from my peers still there in the ER. They are like if you ever need help and I'm on night shift so we're limited on staff but there's such a great team down there I mean you say the word and someone's got your back whether it's a tech or a doctor or anybody who's just has an available hand they'll be there for you and it's been very very nice and wonderful uh And I can, I like we talked about with Shane and Casey, I feel like I could talk to them if I'm ever uncomfortable or feel unsafe as a new nurse, I can be like, hey, I need to step back. need to be reeducated. What do I do in this situation? I feel very comfortable bringing that to them. And I think that's a big part of it too. So that's kind of my support structure there. Very cool. And this is going to sound like a straight rabbit trail here, but before we close in our traditional manner, was one thing you just said made me go, hey, someone's going to want to hear your advice on this. So you're starting out night shift, yes? As is often the case as a new grad. So any tips, tricks, and or advice for those that are worried about starting night shift out of nursing school? Try and find your rhythm, especially when it comes to drinking caffeine. I am a big coffee drinker. I'm a big energy drinker, especially throughout nursing school. uh Try and learn how your body reacts to those things and plan accordingly. Whether that's you're working tomorrow, so you're gonna go to bed really early. Also, blackout curtains. Get blackout curtains. When I say blackout, not just the dark ones that hang over, black out your window. Make it dark in the room. paint over it you have to, I don't know, just make sure that like it will make the world of a difference in your sleep. em But like whether it's going to bed early to try and flip your schedule so you're waking up at like midnight or 3 a.m. and then you can sleep throughout the day for the next day, like taking that little extra time to give yourself a day to flip your schedule I think has been really important for me. Yeah, it kind of sucks because you lose a day em either way for your... like essentially your time off, but I think that you'll feel healthier as a person if you do that. And in my experience, I've been doing that. I've been either staying up late to try and sleep through the day the next day or going to bed really early to try and flip my schedule preemptively. And I think that's made a big difference in my attitude when I get to work and how like conscious I feel throughout the shift. Which I understand is very helpful when you're doing things like nursing. uh And on that note, I'll piggyback too. You're like, make sure that you're always kind of checking yourself because I knew when I was my most crabby, you know what I mean? Which for me was always that not when I would come home from a shift in the morning, but that first day that I had off. That was truly off not waking up from my nap after a shift But when I go to bed that night and then get to my next regular day man that there's like this I could only describe it to my family is like having this feeling in the frontal lobe of my brain and It doesn't hurt. It doesn't ache it just and there were times I felt like I was outside myself and as the years got on and I got older like you get more short-tempered in that time period. And then by the time I slept the second night and got to my next day, I felt like a normal human being or normal-ish. And so I just feel bad. I don't know, looking back, just protect yourself. Protect yourself always at all times, you guys. Like he's saying, those blackout curtains, man, I had blankets pinned to my wall. I did whatever I had to do to just try and trick your body into thinking it's getting as much restorative sleep as it possibly can. And so, Runar, don't, this has just been amazing. I loved our discussion. Before we close in our traditional manner, bringing it back around to the things you've already brought up. ah Is there anything else you wanted to talk about, anything you wanted to ask it? Me, anything you've got going on? I think that nursing is such a broad and wonderful field to be entering into. I absolutely love it. It's so challenging and it's something that will keep me interested for the next several years of my life, which is a big reason I picked it as well. And so to anybody who's thinking of nursing out there who happens to listen to this, I say check it out, go for it. You won't regret it. The money is there. Like Eric said before, you'll never be paid enough, but you will be paid leaps and bounds by the small things that your patients say, the little mementos and the feelings you get for providing good care. um And some of the best advice I ever received, because you just mentioned this and it brought me up, is always check your own pulse before you check your patients. um Whenever you walk into a room, check your own pulse, check your respirations, check your heartbeat, and know that you're there to care for them, but also take care of yourself. That is, I've never heard that, I love that. my gosh. Check your own pulse before you check your patients. Okay, Runar, so you chose three words to describe nursing school. Remind us, because that was a long time ago. What were they, and why'd you pick them? Uh, yeah, the first word was challenging and I feel like that's an obvious one. It was definitely the most challenging thing I've ever done. Uh, getting this degree, working those horrible, horrible hours and adjusting to the life schedule that is being a nurse. nursing school doesn't make it easy. You know, you're doing eight hours. plus a day at class and then you're doing a 12-hour shift later in the week and you just got getting slammed with assignments left and right and then tests every other week. It's tough. It's definitely the hardest school experience you'll ever have. Just rely on your colleagues, know, rely on those people around you, which leads me to another one, friends to colleagues or colleagues, whatever you want to say. Rely on those people. Those are who are going to get you through it. Those are who are going to make that experience better. You can do it alone, sure, but if you do it with others, you'll be better for it, both as a nurse and just mentally going through nursing school. And the final word that I talked about was growth because I think I've grown more as a person in the past two years than I did in, I don't know, at least the 18 leading up to it. The 18 to 20 leading up to it. You learn so much, you grow as a person, emotionally, intelligent, like your brain just changes. You think about the world differently. You think about every interaction that you have differently, even if it's just at the store. You change so much going through nursing school and trying to embody those values of nursing in your everyday life. don't, once you learn them and you start applying them in that clinical setting, you just apply them to your life and that's just how you change when you go through it. That's what, those are my words and why I thought about them. Oh man, so good, so good. And then the last question that we ask everyone, and maybe you can reiterate something you've already shared or if there's something new, that's great. But if you had one piece of advice that you want people to walk away with, what is that piece of advice? Connect with your colleagues and build a team. your people. Find the people that are going to support you through the hard times and the good times. And they will continue to support you afterwards, both in nursing school and in your nursing profession. Amen, hallelujah, preach into the choir. I love it, my man. Runar, thank you so much for taking time this wonderful day to just chat all things nursing and to let us know about your story, Yeah. Thank you so much for having me. It's been an absolute honor. mean, it's not every day that you meet part of the reason you chose this career. So it's just really, truly an absolute honor to be here on this podcast with you, Eric. You do such wonderful work. And I know it's not the Eric story, but he does so much more than a lot of other people that I see in this profession. what a profession to be a part of nursing is truly a gift and it keeps on giving. Ah, it is, it is. And man, I'm gonna tell you, I'm gonna flip it right back on you, because then I get that vision of like, you know what I mean? I have no idea. Like I said, zero clue. Why do we know each other? Go back to the first episode if you didn't hear it. But I had no idea that here we are now sitting many years later as colleagues, talking nursing and all the things when my first interaction with him is as a nurse taking care of a 14 year old patient. And uh Runar, I can guarantee you, you keep going down the path that you're on with the heart that you've got. and you're not gonna be looking for it. Because I think that's the other thing, if you're looking for it, you're never gonna find it. But you're not gonna be looking for it, and you're gonna be that inspiration for the next generation of nurses coming up behind you. You know what I mean? And so I just, ugh! Thank you for keeping it going, keeping it real, and I hope you have a great rest of your day, my man. Likewise.