168 - Mandy Nigg: There's Always So Many Layers to Everything

Join nurse and Spokane Valley, Washington native Honored Guest Mandy Nigg as she describes enjoying her time working in a nursing home in her teens, why she chose nursing as a career, her advice on balancing work and nursing school, not having a job at graduation, finding her first job, nursing school resources for help, what she loved about nursing school, her experience with helping in a code in the ER at clinical, how she deals with emotionally challenging nursing situations, what she loves about the nursing field, the power of believing in yourself, and more! 

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Transcript

0:01

Hello and welcome to this episode of the Feeding Our Young® podcast. I am so excited for today. I say it all the time. I'm gonna say it again. uh But this completes two back-to-back interviews with people that I have the pleasure of working with. And so the great news is, is that I already know how amazing this person is and you get to discover how amazing she is. And we're just gonna dive right into it. So without further ado, I'd like to welcome to studio the one, the only Mandy Nigg. Mandy, how are you doing today? Hi, I'm great. Thanks for having me, Eric. It's super cool. This is such a fun podcast. I just appreciate you like taking time, like on a day off, we're both on our day off talking about nursing and work. Like, I don't know. I feel like that speaks a lot to your character right there. I feel like I always talk a lot about work, but I feel like it's because I like it so much. you know, it's great. Yeah. it's because we work in one of the best, like, it's the best career ever and best, like, specialty ever. Well, let's talk about you. Let's get a, kind of open up with all the traditional opening questions. So first of all, who are you? And I kind of let the cat out of the bag. You're already a nurse. So what degrees do you hold and where did you get them? Yeah. So I, I'm sure you'll ask this also, but I'm from Spokane. So from Spokane, I went to WSU in Pullman for like my undergrad. And then Pullman wasn't the place for me. Like my purpose, I didn't find there. So I went to Eastern to complete my undergrad. And I actually really loved Eastern, but then COVID hit. So I didn't really get to finish. Yeah. um all the fun experiences there, which I still had so many and I'm very grateful I was there. But then I applied to WSU Spokane and that was before they had the Eastern Nursing School. There was only the WSU one, so I went there. And so I got my degree, it's actually a dual degree from Eastern and WSU. And that is the degree I have, yeah. That is so cool and congratulations on that. For those that don't know, the local-speak here. So Eastern Washington University just recently, it's a university in Cheney, I don't know, about 25, 30 minutes outside of Spokane. And they just started a nursing program in the last year, I wanna say year, year and a half. And so it sounds like maybe if you had been given that option, that's where you would have gone. No offense to Wazzu, right? Yeah, I just wanted a degree. I really didn't care where. Right. Yeah. Yeah. inland northwest as you can get. So that's fantastic. Wonderful. So then, mean, I guess you've kind of already answered this question, but you're from Spokane, so you know what I mean. That's been your hometown, always been your hometown, yes? Yes. Yeah. And I grew up in Spokane Valley. That's where I've gone to school and all the things and I still live there now. I really love it there. I love that here we get all the seasons and all my family's close and all of that. So that is really nice. And we have quite a few different options for like nursing jobs here in Spokane. So I think that's really nice to us being the biggest. um city oh one of the biggest cities on this side of the state so I love it. I'm just gonna, she paused there for a second because we're sitting here looking. So this is a question I'd probably ask later. We're gonna bring it up to the forefront. uh Any furry babies that you have over there? Oh. my chair is pretty low in this room and so he's like wanting to see what I'm doing and all the things. So yeah, that's our dog Baxter, but he's gonna be six this year. But yeah, he's a good boy. Yeah. Right. That's for sure All right back to where we were talking about though I have to know out of curiosity and if you don't want this to make air then nobody's gonna hear this but you said you grew up in Spokane Valley, so graduate of what high school? graduated from Central Valley in 2018. Awesome, okay 2018 CV the only reason why I asked this because I have family that went to West Valley and then my kids went to East Valley and so no family members in CV But we lived by CV probably about the time you were going there by all means, but that's so cool. Go Bears, right? Yeah bears. Yeah, and my boyfriend, he went to West Valley and he's a year younger than me. So that's where he went. Yep. Yep. Yeah. Yeah. So he graduated in 2019, but we ended up working. This is another thing I actually did want to talk about eventually is We met at our old work, which is a retirement home. It's technically an assisted living facility. It's called Evergreen Fountains. And it's off of Evergreen Road, by pretty close to CV over there. um And that was my first job out of high school. And I worked in the kitchen as a server. So it's like a restaurant in there. And the residents come in, they have different types of meals that they get to choose and pick. And I was a server there. It was my first job. And I worked there throughout nursing school as well. And he started, his sister actually worked there first and then she brought him to work there. And so he worked there and that's how we met. yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He's not, not at all. He's very blue collar, yeah. Blue collar worker. He does, he works for a restoration company. So if you have fire, water, mold damage, they come in and fix it and we'll do demos and all that sort of thing. But yeah, he likes it. He likes that sort of work, but yeah, it's a good balance. I just love that that's where you two met. That is fantastic. Oh, that's awesome. You know what? For anyone who's type A out there and used to listening to the podcast and we do things in a certain order, today's not your day, folks. We're just gonna dive right into Mandy's story. I'm gonna save the rest of the morning questions or the early questions into the end of the podcast episode here. let's just dive right in. Before we talk more about your career progression, which I would love to do, you did have, you answered some of the prompts that I sent your way. You wanted me to ask you, And again, for the second person in a row, I don't know what her answers are to these, so I am learning just as much as anybody else is. Number one, what meal, if you could have a meal with someone who is dead or alive, anyone at all, who would that be and why? That's a really good question. My answer to that would be my grandfather. passed away in, I believe it was 2019, but he was a physician's assistant in the Navy. And so he passed away before, I guess it was, no, it was before 2019. It was before I was graduated, before I wanted to do nursing. And so I would love, I never got to talk to him about any like medical care or anything like that. And so that would be super cool to like sit down with him and talk to him about that, especially working in the Navy too, hearing those experiences of what that was like and all of that would be super interesting to me. Well, I that's touching like I'm like, my gosh, I wish you could have talked to him Like then that begs the question. Do you have any other family members in health care? don't my well my I guess kind of my mom what does was a dental assistant for like 30 years so I guess that is like kind of like health care um yeah but and then now she works as um she will work for the state and go in and be like a home health aide um and like help so she does that now which is good and we can talk about that and she definitely relates more about that sort of stuff now um than she used to um and actually her best friend is I guess, yeah, I always call her my aunt growing up. So she is in healthcare. She's a nurse and she's actually uh a professor at SCC's nursing school. Yeah. So she has always been in nursing and she's been a nurse for like 30 years. And so she's like, you know, seen it all, all the different things changing, but yeah, really just them, no one else, but yeah. And like again, not all family's blood. So she's your aunt, 100%. So then what are your hobbies and interests when you're not at work or sitting here talking about work outside of work? What is it that you're doing, Mandy? Absolutely. don't know if everyone else knows this, but obviously, you know, I'm a very social person. I'm very outgoing and I love to talk to people. I've always been that way, even since I was really little. I'm an only child, so maybe that's why I just wanted anyone to talk to me that could. But so. That being said, I really love spending time with my friends and family, whether it's just like going over, having them come over and like just watching movies together or going out to a new restaurant or we like playing pickleball in the summer, volleyball, that sort of thing. I like doing wake surfing on the lakes. That's another reason I love Spokane is there's so many lakes close by. So that's been really good. And then more recently, since another reason I love nursing is the schedule. We work the 312s. is on my days off during the week. I have been trying to find something to do since, especially in the winter, there's not a whole lot to do here. So I'm actually right now in my craft room. It's very messy, but I'm in my craft room and I started making these like felt books, like little activity books for kids, like my friend's having a baby. So I'm going to give it to her for her baby shower. But I started doing that and that's been super fun. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I love it. I love it. love it. So then before we dive into like your career progression and nursing school and all the fun things, one other question that stood out that you wanted me to ask you, and maybe you've kind of already answered this. I don't know. I'm excited to find out who inspires you most in life. Yeah, I would say I can't really put like a finger on like one specific person. I think that I draw inspiration from honestly like everyone around me, like whether or not that's my friends or family. I feel like a lot of people can relate but like family members who have had like cancers or things like that, seeing them being resilient and like battling with that always makes me like really inspired by them. or whether it be like my friends with their relationships, whatever they're going through. um Also, I feel like coworkers, like I feel we have so many good, fun, and I mean they're my friends, but like my fun coworkers that go on walks, on their lunch, or just find like the simple things in life to really love. And so feel like I get inspired by that as well. Well, awesome. So then, I mean, let's take it back then, because I, you know, let's start with. what other jobs have you had? Because that does open up the door to how you met your significant other. So what jobs have you had? And then where along the line does nursing come into play? Why nursing for you? It's kind of a marriage of the two questions. Yeah, I had, so before like my first official like job, like always did like babysitting, that kind of stuff, which was really nice. And I always like have liked kids. And so that's what I did before. And I had a couple cousins that were young that I would nanny them during the summer. So like I'd take them to all their things and that was really fun. But then I got older and needed probably like a real like a real job. So that's when I started working at the retirement center at like 17, I think is when I started. And then I worked there for I think six years, like on and off and part-time and that job was super nice in high school. Also in like nursing school, I think it's a really good job for kids because you can choose how much you want to work because what I did in the start was I worked the dinner service, which is 3 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. So it's a nice quick shift, yeah. It's a nice quick shift that you can get some hours in if like you're busy, or like even if you're an athlete in high school, or like if you have classes all day. So that was really nice. And then you still have time after to do homework or whatever you need to do. Mm-hmm. Yeah. m So I mean, a lot of people are going straight to flipping burgers, doing this, you know what mean, waitressing, whatever. Why the nursing home? How did you get in there? So yeah, my uncle actually was the kitchen manager and he like started with that company there and has always worked there and then his daughter works there as well. And I liked it because I'm not sure why I just never really wanted to work at like a uh like a fast food place or like a restaurant but this was also still a restaurant. And I got that experience and I found it really wonderful because I got to interact with a population of adults that I'm wouldn't have if I didn't do that job. My parents are older and so my grandparents are all passed away and so I never really got to interact with that super often. And so was really cute just seeing the residents and they look forward to that. That's like their main socializing event and so they're so cute and they like all tell your story and want to get to know you. so yeah, so I worked there during my prereqs and then also in nursing school as well. and they're always so invested in what you're doing and they're like, oh, that's amazing. And I'm still friends with, really good friends with one of the girls I met there too. So it was just very community and it was a family owned kind of business. So yeah, so one of the girls that I'm friends with got married this last summer and I went to her wedding and all of that stuff. So that was super good. And that kind of like made me want to do nursing. I didn't necessarily want to do it at a retirement home. But that made me want to. And then when I was younger too, I had a family member that was in the hospital. um And she had like an episode overnight where she like couldn't breathe and like the nurses came in and I was pretty young. I was probably like 10. And so it like really freaked me out. And so they were there. I'm not sure if it was a nurse or who it was, but someone was there and calmed me down. But I still like saw everyone come in and how amazing that was. And so that was when I was little, probably before middle school, but. I saw them come in and so that's ultimately like what made me want to do it, nursing. And then I just kept having good experiences with it and I knew it was a good career and I've always been very like independent. I'm always going to be able to take care of myself no matter what kind of thing. um And I'm very like believe in yourself. You can do whatever you put your mind to kind of person. So that's why I wanted to do nursing and very caring and want to help other people and all of that stuff. So nursing just made sense for me. Yeah. Well, we're glad it made sense for you because you're an awesome teammate. So it's like, I just love hearing people's stories. Like, where does that come into play? You know what mean? Whether it's like really young. You had an impressionable moment when you were really young that then comes back. sounds like when you get this job and you're like, oh, I could totally take care of people like this. Like ah any other jobs along the way or we were into nursing now. We're talking nursing school. had a summer where I worked at a bakery and made like a bunch of cake pops, but that was kind of just a little side quest and then I went back to the nursing home. Um, but yeah, so that was fun. I tried something else, but I was like, yeah, it's good here. So I'll just go back there. So yeah. into nursing school and you're still doing your jobs, you're doing your thing. Let's speak towards that just for a second because a lot of people, there's two sides of that coin, right? Some people are like, well, gosh, there's no way I've heard, I've talked to people like, there's no way I could have worked during nursing school. I couldn't have focused. And then others are like, there's like studies that show if you work while you're going to school that you, you know what mean? Like you're actually able to do more or organize more or you know what I mean, along those lines. So what would be your advice to someone who's like, You know, I do feel like I need to work, but I really don't know that I can handle it. Like, what would you say to that person? yeah, I would say, I mean, that's why I loved the job I was at so much is because I could work as little or as much as I wanted, like finding somewhere that's really flexible. I know in nursing school, being a nurse tech is also a really super cool opportunity. And they get to pick their hours as well, which is really nice, but definitely just starting off slow. And I will say when I first started nursing school, I didn't work for a little bit to like see what the workload was going to be like and figuring out each semester what it'll be like and where you do have free time. And unfortunately in nursing school, you don't really get a ton of free time. I mean, or like for fun extra things. I do think it's really important in nursing school to take a day every once in a while to go out with your friends or do whatever you want with your friends. That's like, is like. putting your stress aside for a second, I think that's super important. And like at work, I was focused on work and not school, so that was a good little break. uh But yeah, I did have like some trips and stuff I didn't get to go on like fun trips, but it's because I was making sacrifice for something I really wanted in the beginning. um And obviously now I've gotten to go to Hawaii multiple times and all the different places now that I'm not nursing school and I make my big girl money now and all the things, so. But yeah, and I did too after nursing school. um I had to work at, I worked at Deaconess in their med surge. It was the medical oncology floor before. It was about a year before I came to our work now. And um that was rough because like the nursing was good. I learned so much and I am very grateful I had that job now. But it was so sad for me in the moment because I was like, this isn't what I want to do. Like I knew in nursing school I wanted to do some OB, like labor delivery or mom-baby. But it was very rough in the beginning for me because I was like, this is not what I want to do. But sometimes you do have to make a sacrifice and do something you don't want to do to get to where you need to be kind of thing. And I remember during graduation. When we graduated at WSU, they put up on your slide when you walk across where you wanna work or if you got a job. Because a lot of students get jobs now before we even graduate. And I didn't have a job. everyone, person after person had a job already and I was like, what am I doing wrong? Everyone's getting these super cool jobs and I don't even have a job. What am I doing? But it all works out in the end. it will be okay and like everyone is on their own timeline. And so it does not matter where you're at. So yeah. Like, number one, the sacrifice. Sacrifice now for something better later. Like you said, because I was going to ask you, you're making up for it now because I know you travel, And then, but, but in the meantime, it feels really bad, right? Like you're like, I have no free time, I have no life, and this is the worst thing ever. And even in a four year program, four year degree, you're talking about giving up only four years of I don't know, you know what I mean? 20, 30 years career and life and whatever. You know what mean? If we live to be 60, 70, 80 years old, four years is like a whiff, even though it doesn't feel like it in the moment. But not only the sacrifice, but then talking about like everyone has their own pace. So let's focus on that moment for a second, because you're kind of, I appreciate you being vulnerable and talking about that. Like you're saying everybody else has got. their position posted on that screen. I can see it and here comes Mandy. Oh, nothing. Okay, you know what mean? Like, how do you, I guess how did that journey look for you then? Where did you pick up your first job? And then how did you manage that moment? Like, I can't imagine people were like, my gosh, Mandy does not have a job yet. This is ridiculous. You know what mean? It's more of like an internal thing, right? Yeah. So when I graduated, I didn't have a job yet. And like I was saying, will going into nursing school, I thought I wanted to be a Peds nurse and then we did clinicals and I decided I did not want to do that. That probably wasn't for me. uh But I really loved the OB realm. So that's what I thought I wanted to do. We all know like med-surg is not very fun. So I was like, I don't need to do med-surg. I'll just go straight to OB. So that's my main focus was just applying for jobs like that. And I didn't, I wasn't a nurse tech since I had my other job. And I feel like a lot of times those jobs do go to those students because they do like a program with the hospital. And so, I mean, makes totally makes sense. But so that's just those jobs weren't available. And so I graduated nursing school. And then I actually became a nurse at that retirement home for a little while. Like I said, they were like family owned and needed like extra help in that sense. So I worked there for uh three or four months. And then I was like, well, I can't find an OB job. So I do need to get somewhat of experience. So I took the medical oncology job and I did that for nine months. So I ended up getting like a full year experience with my nursing home job and my Yeah, Med Search job, but I'm very glad I did that. Like I said, I did lots of things that's needed that we do on our floor. That can be kind of scary because we don't do them very often, but I did them before. And so that was super easy transition. So yeah, at Deaconess, I was just applying for jobs all the time, trying to get in. I was interviewing with different managers at Deaconess in different areas I was interested in, and they just weren't hiring at the time, which is just how the cookie crumbles sometimes. So I mean, I was definitely like discouraged, but at the same time I wasn't gonna give up trying to get another job. And I really, in the hindsight of things, hadn't been looking that long, like it had only been a little bit. And so then I um found a posting for our job as a fellow, which is like, you know, the year experience. And I had that under my belt now. And so then I came um to our work and it was great. It was super amazing. Yeah. And so, I mean, how do you, and you kinda touched on it, but like during that time, like is it just the straight up I'm not giving up on my dream? Or what else gets you through that time? I mean, without getting into specifics, know, I don't think one of my kids would appreciate this, but you know, they're having a hard time getting a job. And it's not because they're unwilling to work. It's for all sorts of reasons. And it really does weigh on like, self-image, self-confidence, all that. Did you go through any of that or was it short enough that you didn't have to deal with that? no, I definitely had that. There was definitely times where I was applying for jobs and not getting them and like crying being like, why I've like, I want this so bad. I know I'd be so good at it. And I ended up having like a ton of interviews for the job, but they always had the next candidate or whoever that fit their description better. And then by the time I got to my interview and the job got to me, the managers had been like, This is one of the best interviews we've had in a while, which was really good to hear because I was like, well, I've been trying for so long. I mean, it's good to hear, but I'm a big believer in that everything happens for a reason. So that's usually kind of just what I have to fall on. And I also have like a really good support system. Like I said, my family's here and everyone, so they all know, I know that they're there for me. So that's a really big thing too. You've always got someone you can ring up and be like, hey mom, hey dad, hey whoever. This is what I'm dealing with today. Like talk some sanity into me, right? Yeah, that's so cool. Well, I appreciate you opening up about those challenges, know, professionally, really, like the start of your career. There was a prompt that you wanted me to ask you about and this relates very well. Let's dial it back a couple years and let's talk about what challenges did you have in nursing school? Yeah, I would say in nursing school, again, I feel like the biggest challenges for me as like a social person is like the social aspect of it, just that you're so busy that you can't really see your other friends too often. I think it was big for me taking like once a week or once every two weeks or whatever to see friends that I didn't normally see. And then definitely like being with your friends in nursing school that are going through it and understand what's happening. to lean on them and lean on each other. uh And I think too, nursing school is so different than like any other school you could ever be in. uh Like just going into it and the like questions being something you've never seen in your whole life uh is super challenging. But again, I think just like believing in yourself and knowing that you can do whatever you put your mind to is really big uh for sure in nursing school. And like if a test doesn't go well, Do I need to study longer for it? Or do I need to find more resources, that sort of thing. Awesome, thank you for sharing that. And when you say, can I find other resources to help with that, like what other resources would you recommend for someone who's like, yeah, I definitely need help with this? I think your professors can be a big one. I know like everyone is always, every professor is different, but like talking to them, like your thought process, why like you thought it was that way or again, I think your peers are super good teachers as well. Like going over, whenever I was studying with people, um talking to them about it and how they explain it in their head or what makes sense to you, that sort of thing. getting other perspectives on this whatever difficult situation is or challenging topic for example. So I mean those are some of the challenges you face in nursing school but let's take the flip side of that. What did you love about nursing school? Like you do mention it is and I have to admit like anyone who listens to the podcast, anyone who knows a nurse, like we will all say to a single person like nursing school is the hardest school you can go through and with the exception of like one or two guests that I've had on this podcast, who have had other experiences and can validate this. Most of us like this is what we did, right? When we went to nursing school, we can't really experientially say it's harder than other programs because we haven't been through other programs. But the truth of the matter is like it is validated externally. There was something that even just popped up in my feed and it was somebody who had posted this infographic but like the data was from like 2011 which I didn't really appreciate but it was like BSN is one of the hardest programs ever because and it like here's all the number of tests and exams and questions and this and that, and all of that is true. But it's also what makes it one of the most challenging and I think one of the most rewarding is that it changes who you are as a person, right? Like it's one of those things that you cannot go through without, you can't be the same person coming out of it that you were going into it. So sorry, I gotta do my little rabbit trail there, because I will preach that all day long. But what did you love about nursing school, man? I think that it really proved to me that I really can't do anything that I set my mind to and that... Sorry, him squeaking his toy. No, you can keep going I was I wasn't gonna say anything about it and we're gonna keep this in if you're fine with that Mandy But he's back there like I hear this like we we we I'm like he loves to chew his toys and they literally squeak and he like doesn't do it that often but of course I'm like dude what are you doing? my gosh, I love it. We're gonna have to- okay. So we always take like the little promo picture, you and I took a promo picture of the screen before we started. We're have to do one more with him in the picture. Uh, yeah, we'll do that at the end. But anyway, as you were saying, uh besides squeaky toys... Yes. What was it? Sorry. Oh, yes. Yeah. Yeah. Nursing school definitely showed me that I'm very resilient and that, my gosh, he's being so loud. I'm going to kick him out because he's distracting me. Okay. oh my goodness. Take your toy with you. Anyways, um yes, yeah. Nursing school definitely showed me how resilient I can be and how like when I want something, I can like make it happen no matter what it takes to get to there. um So I think that showed, that was super cool to see in school. And then um another thing was that like we can do cool things. Like, I mean, nursing is pretty cool. Like, I mean, you have people's lives like literally in your hands. and that you can do like hard things and like what you do can help bring them back or like save their life. I think that's pretty cool to see. I remember during school we had like a clinical day in the ER and we came in and they or she came in and they were coding her and me and another student got to go in there and help. And the other student I was with put her IV in, I threw in her catheter and we both got them like the first try and they were like doing CPR and stuff on her. um And so, I mean, that was obviously like a super sad thing to see someone going through that, but it was really cool to see that we got those in her and then that they were doing everything they could. And um it was cool that they found out too, like they talked to a family member and said that she was complaining of calf pain. They took her to the calf lab and she had this huge PE. um So it was cool just to see how like they like solved it, how. they put all the things together and did that. So I think that's really cool to like be a part of something like that. So I think nursing school can be rewarding in that sense of like, I can do hard things or just that like we can help people like turn the corner totally. Yeah. Yeah. that just a little bit more, like I fortunate I mean, I don't say fortunately, but I did not have to do chest compressions on anybody. I never had to see anybody go in a code in nursing school. just it just didn't happen when I was where I was at. And so I you're not the first nursing student I've talked to or nurse now nurse. But at the time, experienced this as a nursing student. So how do you I mean, obviously you leaned on your family, but How do you navigate that? like, did you have any residual fallout? There's like emotionally or PTSD or anything like that. Yeah, I know for me, it's probably not the best, but I feel like I like more like turn off my emotions in that sense. And then working also at that retirement home, I had seen like multiple residents, you know, just being there pass away. So it wasn't something that I was like super new to, but of course, like seeing that whole situation was new. uh And I've always been like the weird kid that likes the medical shows. Like even since I was in elementary school, I was watching like untold stories of the ER and like all that sort of stuff. I always found it really cool. So I mean, it was like crazy to see and that someone was going through that. in like in, mean, nurses totally get this, but like in the situation, you have to be like, you do have to be turned off and like just assessing like what is happening. And yeah, definitely I feel like more decompressing it at home. And I'm definitely like a talk it out kind of person, of course, leaving out, you know, the... the things that make it HIPAA, but yeah, talking it through in your day and all that stuff is super helpful. like talking to your peers or other friends that work in healthcare for sure, like other people that would actually understand it. That's awesome. Thank you for sharing that because again, that's not an opportunity that comes up super often and anytime we can take a look at that because it is. It's a career. It's life and death. It's not always life and death. And, you know, I mean, unless you're working in ICU or maybe even in the ER, you get a lot more of it than in our field or elsewhere. But it really is. You know, it's one of the few professions where you have the opportunity to be with someone at the start of their life. you know, birthing an infant and or holding someone's hand at the end of their life. And you get the whole spectrum in between. And it's just what makes nursing so incredibly cool. So I don't I mean, this this is the segue into, you you talked about what you loved about nursing school and the other prompt you had sent me that you wanted to talk about is what is it that you love about nursing? I know you've already touched on a number of things, but go ahead, just share what do you love about this career that you have chosen for yourself? No, definitely. I really love nursing because we are the people that are supposed to help everyone of any kind of people from like, you know, all over the world, like uh America, as like everyone here, like, you know, immigrated here, unless you're Native American and just helping all the different types of people and every, all sorts of backgrounds. Like, you know, we get people that are super privileged, make a lot of money compared to like the homeless people we get to help as well. uh I think it's super important to understand that everyone has a story and people react the way they do because of their backstory and everything that's happened to them in the past. And so I think it's super important to understand that no matter what's going on, um people, like everyone's human and we're all just people trying to help each other. And especially like med-surg, any other place you work except ours is usually like. the worst days of their life. Like no one likes to go to the hospital, no one wants to be there, which makes total sense. So just understanding that there's a lot that goes with that. And so of course there's super amazing people that come to the hospital and then people that aren't as happy to be there, which is, totally understand, but just dealing with that and kind of just re-grounding yourself is really important too. And then our job, is so wonderful. It's usually, you know, like the best people, best day of people's lives. And it's usually something they want and all the things. And so that is like so amazing and so fun. then to realizing that there are days where it's not what they wanted or things didn't go as planned, all that sort of stuff. Yeah, there's always so many layers to everything. So I just think it's super important to think about different reasons and like backstories and all that sort of stuff. And I really wanted to work in postpartum or labor delivery to like really empower women. I'm very much like a girl's girl. Like I love this job because all the amazing women I get to help and families in general too, like the dads and the different types of families. There's such different like dynamics and all the things. And that's super fun to help and just help them feel, I feel like women or parents in general feel like they aren't doing enough or They're like failing even in the beginning. And I think it's really important to like empower them and make them feel like they're doing an awesome job and just have someone there to say like that I'm proud of them. They're doing their best. So that's really why I love our job. Yeah. I, you make me want to be a nurse and I'm already a nurse. This is amazing. Like, I'm like, oh my gosh, I love how you say that. Like, I mean, but you're so right. Like I, what I love about it too, cause you know, and being a man in a traditionally women's world, right? First of all, a women's career, historically, and then specifically in postpartum. I mean, like I was just talking with them on the other day who was pumping, not getting anything. So she's, she's pumping breast milk. She's trying to, you know, get her milk supply up for her baby. And she's, you know, tears down her face and she's like, I was like, you're pumping, you know, like how's it going? Oh, well, and she points to the, you know, to the bottle and she's, you know, there's nothing in there. And I said, I get that, I get that. said, but just trust the process. And that, like you said, like it's those moments where in the midst of everything else, you know, this woman had a baby. She, for all intents and purposes, she's not as ill as anyone on med-surg or ICU or whatever else. She's just there to learn how to care for her baby and how to be a mom. and physically, emotionally, and all those things. And then she's there in a moment of, I'm inadequate, you know what I mean? Without saying so much. I've had moms, you you've had moms say that. Like, I can't make enough breast milk. I am not capable of this, that, or the other. And our response is, try it. Just, you know what mean? If this is something that you're passionate about, keep going until your body tells you otherwise. And that's not the time. It's like, whatever you can do to empower your patients and empower each other. um That's, oh, it just, that's what I love about nursing. I love it so, much. ah Mandy, is there anything else, before we close, I would say in our traditional sense, but there's a couple of opening questions that I have to ask at the end. ah But before we close in our traditional sense, is there anything else that you wanted to make sure you communicated to other nurses, nursing students, or anyone listening? Absolutely. I mean, I've already brushed on it, but it's definitely like what I totally believe in is believe in yourself. You can do super hard things. uh You literally can do whatever you put your mind to. uh And I feel like a lot of times like I my I grew up like my mom telling me that, but I feel like a lot of people didn't have the opportunity to have others tell them that or they grew up in a different situation. And so um That's something I remind my boyfriend all the time is that you're smart. You can do hard things. Like you just believe in yourself. I loved when I saw a trend on TikTok go through and it was women with their kids like looking in the mirror and giving them like daily affirmations. And that's just something I love so much because as a little kid, you definitely should grow up hearing those things. Even honestly, even adults need to hear that. that we can do hard things and we need to just believe in ourself. And if it's something you super duper want, will find whatever way you can to make it happen and you can just believe in yourself and you'll get. Excellently said and I you know, I have to geek out and let my Seahawk fandom come out You know, I did I I try not to talk about it too much But just recently with the Seahawks winning Super Bowl 60 Sam Darnold their quarterback, you know, he's got this whole story He's been with seven eight teams and all the things and they asked him, you know what I mean at the podium holding the trophy, know, and he's like I just believed in myself. I didn't stop, know, and it's not like he 100 % of the time I've got this, this is me. Of course he's probably had plenty of moments of doubt along the way. Like you're saying, you should hear, he has loving, supportive parents and everyone absolutely should. And sadly, some people hear the opposite, right? You're worthless. can't, this gets me worked up, but you can't do it. You can't, you know what mean? And for anyone who out there who sadly had to hear that and are now getting into nursing or want to get into nursing or in nursing school or are a nurse, Mm-hmm. man, you can just believe in yourself. You've got the Mandys of the world, the Erics of the world, the people of the world who are going to come alongside you and be like, you've got this, just believe in yourself. I love that, my gosh. Okay, so then the traditional closing questions plus one, because I have to know for the... uh Feeding Our Young®, Honored Guest Spotify playlist, uh what are three of your favorite songs in life right now, Mandy? Yes, that's a really good question. This question is honestly probably the hardest question for me to answer like ever Because I just like so many songs um I would say a Pocketful of sunshine has always been one of my favorite songs like I talked about those girls I used to nanny when they were little and that was something in the car that I like just would blast out my window all the time and I taught them that song because that song's too old for their generation. But I don't know. just feel like that's also like very, I just love like, you know, very uplifting, like fun songs. So I definitely would say that one. uh who like is there any particular rendition of it or who did that one? It is by Natasha Bedingfield, that rendition of that one. And then I would say, right now I really love um Zara Nelson. Just her music just gets me in a really good mood. Not like any song particularly, but I would just say her music. And then also just give you another person, because I can't really. think of a certain song, but Shawn Mendes has always been a really good one for me. I actually listened to him a lot in nursing school when I just needed to like, I was too stressed, I needed to calm down and I really like his music, but it's like calming enough that it would like make me feel better. So I would say his music too. I love this. I love this every which way to sideways because it's those things that get you through nursing school, whether it's for you, the calming music, for me going back for the master's degree or even anytime I went to any education, any college, and you can dial this all the way back to high school. But if I had to do a project or something like that, I didn't need silence. I needed like either some ACDC, a little thunderstruck, like, you know what mean? I needed music. I needed something to like get that motor revving. And I love that music is that powerful. So that's awesome. I love that. Thank you for sharing that. um And then the other question, usually you've already shared, but you haven't yet. What are the three words you would use to describe nursing school and why did you pick those three words? Yeah, we actually have really talked about all of them, but haven't like said them specifically, but my three words for it would be resilience, for sure. My second one would be rewarding. And then also the last one would definitely be self-confidence. Yeah. Yeah. it. So then, and you've kind of already done the same, maybe, I don't know, but I always ask this of everyone. If you had only one thing you wanted people to walk away from your episode and carry with them in their heart for the rest of their lives, what would that one thing be? Yeah, I think that that would be um treating people with kindness. Like I said, there are so many layers to everything, understanding that everyone goes through things and that's what makes them them. And there's reasons that they're feeling a certain way or whatever the hand that they got in life. And so it's important to understand where everyone's coming from and having that compassion for every different type of person. can't think of something more important to say, you know what I mean? In this time and age and climate in which we live, especially in our country right now. So Mandy, thank you so much for taking time out of your wonderful day and I appreciate just chatting with you. Thank you.