184 - Katrina Nebel Pt 2: …Because There’s So Much In Life

Continue with recent graduate and Spokane, Washington native Honored Guest Katrina Nebel as she chats about what it’s like to run the Boston Marathon, why she chose nursing, how it felt going back for a second degree, how her family adjusted to that idea, what she loved about nursing school, the beautiful diversity of study groups, navigating through nursing school with chronic pain, her potential future plans, and more!

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Transcript

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my goodness, welcome back to the flip side, part B experience of the Katrina Nebel uh episode here. Katrina, thank you for the fun intro. If you all skip through that second intro, a lot of times we get, that's kind of the tradition here on this podcast, if we have a second intro, we just allow our honored guests to have fun with it, to do whatever they want. And so some people do it, some people don't. She did it. Go listen to it if you happen to skip through it. But enough about that. Oh, Katrina, we have not yet even scratched the surface on your uh new nursing career, nursing school, all the things. We kind of just talked about the fact that, and if you haven't listened to episode one, go back and listen. We talked about Katrina's whole first career, her first professional life, and touched on subjects that are very common to us, meaning. you know, not being able to hold just one job. um And then a lot of squirreling and rabbit trailing about man crushes and so many other things. So if you missed it, go back, you don't want to miss it. Now we get into the meat of the matter. But before we get into the meat of the matter, we're going to have a little appetizer first. So let's do some soft lob questions, Katrina, because we want to know a little bit more about you. What kind of hobbies do you have? So I love pretty much anything outdoors. uh Much like you, I love running. That's one of my passions. uh Because of some various things, my running is not nearly what it used to be, but I have a little pride that I have done a couple. So I'll say several marathons, one of those being the Boston. So running is definitely a passion that I have. I also love hiking, paddleboarding, skiing, I mean pretty much anything out and then reading. That's one of the things I'm enjoying being out of school is I'm reading books that have nothing to with school. Okay, I can't let that go. You did the Boston Marathon. did. Yes. so I want to complain about the year I did it. because it was so hot. They actually almost canceled it because of record heat, but the next year was the bombing. So I actually am like, you know what? My year wasn't that bad. It was, it's really amazing. The whole community comes out. I'd never been to Boston before. A really cool city. would highly recommend if people have not been to Boston to go. It was not what I envisioned. It was super cool, but yeah, it was hot. I did not do well in the heat. I'm that person that will get up at 3 a.m. and run in the morning to avoid the heat. Mm-hmm. And so it was not great time. I have to share a really funny story because again, I'm really good at getting off topic, but they take a bus. You take a bus that takes you to the start. And this bus that we're on ended up getting lost. And if anybody's done racing, you know there's usually like the pre-race. You gotta pee. And so there was like a bus full of us and this, yeah, and this is quite a drive anyhow out and we're just dying. We're like, like at this point, seriously, just pull off the road. We just want to pee. Like we don't even care at this point. We finally get there and all of us go, cause there's like so many porta potties, not enough for this full bus of people. All of us go like running off into the woods and did not realize that there was thorns. And so I come out and my legs are scratched. It was fantastic. Yeah, it was just a funny thing. My sister ended up coming out with me and so we hung out and did that and it was super awesome. But yeah, hot, hot and but amazing experience. I'm really hoping at some point I can do it one more time. So I mean there it is everybody, there's a little behind the scenes that the year before the bombing at the Boston Marathon there is a busload of runners who had scratched up legs running the marathon which is not fun to do when you have legs that aren't scratched and itching and all that. my gosh. I just, had to ask because you know I mean I'm the half marathon guy, I love doing half marathons and you know but they, you lot of the ones I run. They'll be like, well, this is, you know, their marathon equivalent is a Boston Marathon qualifier. Just, I mean, there's this mystique about it because it's, you have to qualify to get in. And even then, isn't it like a lotto? have to like, didn't they have to like. yes. Yeah, you have to qualify then there's still a lot of, there is a way which, you know, now that I'm getting older, I might have to go, you can also run it through a charity. They do have spots set aside for charity, but I'm still determined that I can get my running back to run it one more time. But I'm with you. actually love half marathons as my happy distance. uh Marathons, some people are built for them. I don't feel like I am. I feel so beat up afterwards that that's why I haven't done that many of them. because it's and it's time that's like a lot of time to commit yes i'm not like yeah ah Well, alright, so someone has fast forwarded through this because they're like, okay, I don't want to hear about running and they like running and no, no, no, no. And now welcome, you've reached the not running portion of our, but let's talk one last thing about you before we dive into nursing and that is traveling. Have you done any traveling? not a ton as an adult. say like we've my sister lives in Alaska so I've been up to see her a couple times. Actually did a really cool trail run up there. That's all I'm gonna say about running. uh And then family we went to Hawaii. As a kid I went to Australia because my mom's side of the family lives there which was really cool but um I was like 12 so that's about an extent. But my yeah my I'm trying even with all my jobs and stuff, I'm saying like now that I'm out of school, I'm going to like have a little fun. So just training a few little small trips around the country. But uh next year is my husband's my 25th anniversary. So I have told him that we are going to Europe. Like this is what we're doing because I've never been to Europe, which is kind of crazy because my dad was from Austria. ah My kid, my oldest daughter got to go for her senior graduation. and now my youngest one like both of my kids are gonna go to Europe before me so Europe is happening next summer Yes, oh, that is so cool. It is on our bucket list as well. We are just a couple years past our 25th anniversary and man, we definitely want to go. So that'll be amazing. I guess we're gonna have to have you back on. You have to tell us all about it. um So what everybody's been waiting for. Let's talk nursing. Is this a podcast about nursing? I think it is. Let's make sure it is here now everybody. So let's... Let's start with the most obvious question then, Katrina. You've already established yourself in this one career, and you've kind of hinted towards the why, but why nursing? Why did you end up going that direction? uh I just felt that I love the exercise world, uh but I kind of felt like I'd hit my barrier as far as feeling like I'm impacting people. And COVID was a big shift for me. Things got kind of interesting. We live in Washington state. There were definitely some restrictions that people didn't love and people were getting so upset about those types of things when it came to like going to the gym. And I just, I don't know, it felt so petty to me because I had friends who were nurses and they're telling me their experiences. And I'm like, these people are getting upset over this when people are seriously sick and some are dying. And it just felt, I felt like I wasn't doing everything I could do. And... So I started to get pulled in that direction. I mentioned a little bit about the cardiac rehab that those nurses also inspired me to want to do more. So that's when I kind of shifted in. I mentioned a little bit about my first degree. When I was in school for my first degree, because it's an exercise science, a lot of the same prereqs. So I actually was with nursing students for my first two years. I remember being in awe of them. That was not something that I was like, it wasn't really the path I was thinking of going at that time. But I also like put them up on this pedestal of like, they can be nurse. Like that's just amazing to me. That's not something I could do. I didn't feel like I had that in me. ah I've had this conversation with him, he's like, why didn't you do it back then? I'm like, I didn't think I was, like, I could. And at this point, I'm like, yeah, I feel like I can be a nurse now. I feel like I'm at that place in life where I have the confidence in myself and the maturity to be able to handle nursing because there's a lot that goes into it that it can be rough. I even just this little bit that I've had from nursing school to the, not quite at three months working in the hospital, it's a lot emotionally too. I don't think I would have done well when I was younger. And I'm in awe of these, I want to say kids, because some of them could, they could be my kids that are, that are, they're adults, but, they're young. And I think like that takes a lot. I didn't have that kind of emotional maturity that I could have seen the things I see to be able to not get burned out. Like if I had started in my twenties, I would have been burned out by now. So. Interesting, interesting. I like there's something to be said for it being the right time, right? Yeah, no, I I want people to hear what you just said. You know what mean? Like going through that that first time with your first degree and sharing those classes with nursing students and the words you use putting them on a pedestal and kind of like looking at them like, my gosh, like they can be nurses. I want to highlight that only because. you know, fast forward X number of years, fast forward X number. It doesn't even have to be a long period of time. You know, if you're a nurse during COVID, I always joke that it's dog years, right? Every year that anyone was a nurse during COVID, each year was like about four to seven years of cynicism and experience as well. But all of that to say, you fast forward to this point in time and a lot of nurses are like, man, I cannot wait to retire. I can't deal with people anymore. I'm tired. And that's part of what I think I'm trying to fight here too with this podcast, because I mean, I'd felt that. Myself, this is not a, you know what mean? You guys need to be like me. That's not the case. We all get there. And the fact that like you were originally, you you think about going back to those first steps and you're like, wow, you know what mean? They get to be nurses. It is still a prestigious career. It is still a career that is honorable. You're serving people. You're taking care of people in their best and worst moments. And that cannot be lost in the midst of years of... cynical like, you know, policies, politics, patience, know, fighting you and all the things. Don't lose sight of the fact that we are in still the best profession in all the world. OK, enough of my own little speech there. But that being said, so you talked about how going to school the first time didn't really have a lot of support from the parents, did from the spouse and, you know, I mean, not quite the support you would hope for. Going the second time, to go into nursing school and that sort of thing. Obviously, bit older and life has changed quite a bit for everybody. Did you have that same feeling? Did you feel like you actually had more support? What did that feel like going back for a second degree? I mean, I feel, I mean, one of the ones I will say, my girls were like... When I told them, I was like, I'm gonna apply to, my husband, talked about it, I was very fortunate because my degree I mentioned overlapped a lot. And when I started looking to get into school and finding out what I need and they're like, oh, you should probably retake like organic chem and all this stuff. And I was like, dude, no. I said, I have actually been actively using my degree. If I can pass the T's test, I'm not retaking any of those. I had to retake one class. But as so as I was kind of go through this process and they're watching me study I had to do one developmental psychology class. I that was the only one I had to do as my pre-rec that didn't wasn't covered in my first degree. But it was just I don't know I think that they told me how proud they were of me. So that alone like knowing as a parent I'm a role model I had people had taken classes for me. They've become my since I have no relationship with my parents they became my family so they were spurring me on knowing I was going to be pursuing that so that was awesome. I love my husband but we actually like he had a hard time with it. um I think because I had a full-time job I had a full-time job and that's part of our income and so I'm talking about like leaving a full-time job when my oldest she actually was when I started she was at the end of her senior year of high school so he's like I'm gonna have two people in college at the same time, one who's not, you know, helping us support. It was a lot, I also believe, and I don't know if you experienced this, but I feel like guys kind of go through a little midlife crisis as their kids get older and they don't need them as much and then they start to go, so he was watching his kids who are both pretty independent. kind of do their own thing. And then his wife kind of take on this career. I've always, he's always been the main breadwinner. Like I've worked, but he's always made more money than me. And so it was like, now she's like getting this job where technically she might not need me. So he actually had a hard time emotionally with that and also just thinking finances and those types of factors that come in when you decide to just suddenly go to school. um it was hard for him, I will say, uh and we've worked through all these things over the course of my schooling, but he wasn't super supportive. And it actually made, and I've held in this, he made it really hard for me the first couple semesters. And then I think it was enough of his friends saying, hey, your wife's gonna be a nurse? Like, why are you fighting this? Like, figure it out. Yeah, they're like, no, this is a good thing. Like, she's, and that was my thing. I'm like, this is a guaranteed job. And it's, and I need this. I need this for my to have this fulfilling career. So it was a little hard. I won't say it was the same as when I was younger just because I feel like the maturity. um I went into it and I was like, I'm doing this. as previous guests have mentioned, it's really hard. The nursing school is hard. um But there was definitely some moments I had a few things happen during school that made it more challenging. But I think the hardest part was just the whole different technology. um And like that was one of the things I had convince my husband, like I need a new laptop. Like the one I have that I don't even know how old it was. I was like, this is not gonna work. I don't think you understand what it looks like. And I think we were watching some show one time and these kids all sit down and open up their laptops. I'm like, that's what school is now. I'm like, nobody's bringing a book to school. Like I have to have a good laptop. So that way of learning was different for me um because back, you know, before dinosaurs were around when I went to school the first time, um it was all books and we did scantrons and those types of things. that and I'm not, I'm okay with technology, but I don't like, I had to actually hand write all my notes out, um which I remember I felt really like ancient doing that. And I'm one of the writing professors. I was talking with him about that. I'm like, this takes more time. And he's like, but if that's how you read things, it's okay. So I just had to, I had to figure out what worked for me in that setting. Had to adapt to what the current setting is, is what you're saying. yeah, yeah. And I just think anytime something's new, like I mentioned, like when I'm doing my classes and things like that, like I'm in control, so I'm actually, I can be confident. But walking into a classroom, knowing that I'm gonna be, I'm not the oldest that was in my group, I was the second oldest, like to me that was intimidating. I'm like, I'm gonna be in this with 20 year olds. And how is that gonna feel? And I like, that first day I said, okay, you're gonna introduce yourself to somebody. And to me that was like huge because I am not the person who walks into a room and just like, hey, that's actually that's my husband. Like we're like the opposite of you and your wife. I am not. I'm that person who's like looking for that one safe person to talk to. And so that's what I did. I was like and I came home, my kids will even say they're like, I was so I was like, you guys, I've talked to somebody. The first day of class I talked to somebody because I didn't know anybody. lot of the students, like I said, I didn't do any of the prereqs. So some of them had done it through the community college. Others had come through Whitworth or WSU that route. So I didn't know anybody when I walked in that room. And that's like one of my biggest fears is just having to walk into a room and not know people. that was my so besides the learning, it was like, OK, I'm going to put myself out there and just start conversations and yeah, be vulnerable. Yes, yes. That's absolutely incredible. um you know what mean? I love that you, I have like four or five competing things that want to get out of my mouth at the same time. Let's work in reverse order. Like, first of all, you're talking about, I just love the fact that your first goal is like, I am going to talk to somebody. That's not even phrased as like, I'm to make a friend. It's, I'm going to talk to somebody. I'm going to, I need to introduce myself to somebody. need to know reaching out, reaching out. And I don't know how many times we've said on this podcast, you cannot do this as an island unto yourself. I think a few people absolutely probably could make it work miraculously somehow. But even when you do, then unless you're going into an area of nursing that does not require you to be social, uh you know what mean? You're not setting yourself up for success. This is a team sport, very much so. And it's one of the themes that keeps coming out of the podcast. uh Every honored guest is like, what's one of your favorite things in nursing school? I love the people I met. I love the people that I suffered with. I love the people that, you know, and fill in the blank. It is you've got to reach out and just like that Katrina is your poster child for well What if I'm not that person? What if I don't do that? You know what mean? Like what if I that's not my inclination guess what it wasn't hers either and she's like hi My name is Katrina and we're gonna I'm a I'm assuming that paid dividends down the road But we're gonna talk about that here in a second. I'm gonna dial it back a little bit further, I just love the fact that you use the word scantrons. I know that some people in this audience are probably gonna be like What are you talking about? guys, they even still had Scantrons when I went to nursing school, and I was 30 when I got my first degree. they had Scantrons where you had to fill in these bubbles and you ran it through a machine and you could hit, anyway, and then it would grade it and it was well before, I mean, it existed, it predated all the technology and all that, but it also kind of existed alongside it. I think it took a while for those to totally drop off. NCLEX used to be Scantron. even before that we've talked on our desk, know, NCLEX used to be handwritten. Enjoy that thought there. But anyway, so yeah, Scantrons, yay. And then dial it all the way back to that whole do men have midlife crises? Oh, 100%. You know what mean? Like I can definitely vouch for your husband on that one. For me, it started early when, like the first time I noticed it was when the kids no longer wanted to play family games so much. I'm a big like, love that and I loved interacting with the family that way. And then after a while it was like, no, I want to do my own thing. Excuse me, I'm sorry, what? Your own thing? Like with other people, what are you talking about? Like this is the family, family first. Anyway, it's a hard, it's a hard adjustment. It really is. um it's ego does get in the way. Whether or not you are the most humble person of all time, I don't care who you are. You still got a little bit of ego down in there. And like you said, you know what I mean? Like seeing the missus go off to become a nurse. Like I can see how that would. further complicate that whole process. yeah, midlife crisis, very real thing. I would hope that it doesn't, you know, those don't use it as a license to go off and cheat on your spouse and get a brand new car and all the things, but it's called a midlife crisis for a reason, men and women. know, women have menopause and I guess men just have menopause. I don't know, like it's a thing, it's a thing. So. Let's pull it back around. You know, let's talk about nursing school. So you've decided to do nursing school. You've introduced yourself to somebody that was the first box checked off on the list of things to do. How was nursing school for you being a an older student coming back to this? Let me let me back up just one second. At any point, did you have any doubts? Like, were there any voices in your head that are like, do I still got it? Can I do this? say not really. I've always been a good student and like when tell my kids I was like, it sounds kind of weird but I feel like I'm fairly intelligent and so I've gotten through like high school and my other college like I was an honors student. did all this you know I was able to do that and I knew that I would be okay. I understood from friends who had been through nursing school, like kind of the challenges. again, like I was like, bring it on. I know I can do this. It's, I'm not going to say it's going to be easy, but I felt like I would be okay. So I think there was a lot of, I think it's the unknowns. I think the biggest thing that bothered me because I do tend to pack my life was not having schedules. There's nothing that bothered me more than like, this semester is getting ready to start and you're like, still don't have my clinicals. I don't know what those dates are. it's like, I have, besides the jobs, I'm like, I have kids, they're in sports. I want to be able to see them. need to figure out, I was lucky because my oldest daughter was already driving and those types, but I still needed to figure things out. And I was like, just give me a schedule. That was probably the thing that bothered me the most of all of nursing school was not having a set schedule until like you start. It's like, oh, by the way, so. yeah. Cause then on the flip side, they're trying to put it all together themselves and you gotta work with the state and you gotta work with placements and clinicals and it is insane. Like you don't know this going through nursing school y'all until you're on the other side of it and you're like, oh, there's this whole grid. Oh, there's this whole like city-wide grid that they're trying to place students in and statewide grid. You know what mean? For practicum students, we got practicum students from Eastern Washington going to Seattle to do their practicum. And so it's like you're trying to organize. It's like herding cats, I think, I don't know. But so then Katrina, what did you like about nursing school going through? I love learning. I feel like even before going to interesting school, I'm a lifelong learner. I love that. So just every time you'd hear something and it just kind of, it clicked and it's like, oh, this is how the systems work together. And like I said, with my extra science background, I have a lot of knowledge about the body, but seeing it on a deeper level was just, I love that. Even though there's days when... You just want to like not get up and go to class or you're tired and you take a test. But just that learning factor of when you get it was amazing. And then the clinicals, I felt like that's where I was in my, because I, even though I'm an introvert, I really enjoy connecting with people. And so that was the part I loved. I mean, everywhere from the, for WSU, the first ones are long-term care. or the vet's home. And I loved chatting with those residents and learning about them and all the way through. I loved making that connection. And like I said, as an older person going in, I was like, bring it on. you know, like I had no problem walking into the room and just saying, and that's where some of the, like there was always jokes and I think I was always the oldest one in my clinical groups. And they're like, Katrina's gonna be. I shall just talk to that person like no big deal. That was my confidence. Like even if I didn't have the skills. for whatever was happening, I was like, I can talk to this person. I can make them, because I can make them feel comfortable. um I have that before I went to nursing, I was actually thinking of being, going into as a therapist, because people tell me stuff for just like random things. I'm like, wow, you just unloaded a lot. So people tend to feel comfortable with me. So I knew I had that side. I'm like, if I can just talk to the person, we'll figure out all the skills. Like those will come. Was there, and maybe this, maybe I'm making more out of this than I need to, was there kind of a symbiotic relationship then? Like where you being typically the oldest clinical student, you know what mean, in your group, were there things that you could give and take to one another? Was there a nice like uh cohesion when it comes from like, hey, I'm good at this, but you're good at that. Help me like whatever. was there a tangible expression of that? think it depended, a lot of times we, I mean like we would meet as a group, but we'd kind of go off in our things. I will say though that first day and it's, I only hang out with a couple people from school just because I already had my own friend base before I went to school. But I, one I will say she was a CNA. to somebody in her 20s and we were paired together first date and we go and when the nurse was like, hey, we'll just say Bob, I don't even know the guy's name. Like he needs, he needs help in the bathroom. And I'm like, okay, like I've never helped anybody go to the bathroom. Like, I don't know what this looks like. Her being a CNA, she walks in and she just owned it. And this is somebody who appeared kind of quiet and I was like, that was amazing. You're a 20 year old, you taught me something. I just watched you help this person. So I feel like everybody had their own skillset that they brought to it. I was like, you seem so quiet and then you walked in and you just did your thing. And I thought that was so cool. I have to say, CNA is to this day, I still learn so much from them because they can put briefs on like none other. They can shift people in bed. So they're my they're my heroes in many, many ways. But so I'll say yes. I mean, there was definitely times uh just in school in general. It's funny because some of them were talking about like applying for jobs. And then I go into like my mom mode where I'm like, you know, like, what's your resume look like and your cover letter? And they're like cover letter. And I was like, oh, OK, like we need to know. let's talk about. there were definitely moments where they would ask for my advice and I was okay with it. I was like, you know what? Like, I'm happy to be a little, be that person just because I do have, I'm 20 years older than most of them. So, yeah. And I'm gonna springboard off of that because this is exactly what I'm like. You just said, you I learned something from her that day. you know, almost in the context, and I'm not trying to put words in your mouth, but almost in the context of like, maybe weren't necessarily expecting that or whether the case may be not to a negative effect. like, and that's why any older nurses out there, anyone who's more senior, tenured, you know what I mean? Like who's been at it even a decade or whatever, know, even five years, I'm gonna tell you right now, like always stay open, always learn. We always write like as nurses, we always do. But that includes like, I always tell people like, I love teaching students. Not everybody does. That's great. Somebody has a student on their shift that day, that can be a burden. It legit can. I get that. That being said, yes, you are going to teach them how you do things. Yes, they're gonna see how you model care. They're gonna see how you do that. But stay open to learning from them. because that's what I love about the formal teaching of my students is that I don't care if I'm teaching 20 something year olds. I don't care if I'm teaching people who are older than me. Like I've done both of that. And yet I'm always like, how do I be a better version of me? What can I do better? What can I? And oh, OK, this was a misstep. Maybe I don't talk to this person this way. my gosh, I love how that person. There was one like just this last week. We have what's called oral care plans and our students like, you know, I've walked through this, you know, I think two, four. maybe five semesters now, oral care plans with students, and it's watching young minds were trying to formulate their mind into becoming a nurse, right? And thinking critically on the job as you're doing the thing. And I just had in one clinical conference, one of my students, she had this intervention and I can't, I don't remember it well enough to phrase it the way I need to to do it justice. But the way she had written this particular intervention, wasn't, pertaining to a problem that was particularly brand new, you know, this is a problem we've seen on other patients and stuff like that. But the way her mind worked and the way she focused on this one problem and it had to do with something, the intervention was something about being deliberate in talking to the patient and getting to know them as a person, not just the education and the way she phrased it was so good. I just was like, I literally was in conference and I told her when she was done presenting, said, congratulations, like it takes a lot to surprise me and that surprised me. This was something that I'm like, I really like that. Like, this is something we need to use moving forward and just be open to learn, just be open to learn. So thank you for like sharing that kind of uh perspective there, Katrina. So was there anything else that you loved about schools that you wanted to talk about before we dive into say the challenges of nursing school? I'd say just overall, like, I'll be honest, that story, but also I had, I don't want to say stigma, it's not the right word, but knowing that I was going to be with younger people, I was not as open-minded about what they could bring to the table. So I think that once I was like, you know, who cares if you're old, you can still learn from everybody. I loved, because nobody really likes group work, but... You learn a lot. You get those different perspectives. You have and so that I actually enjoyed. I enjoyed getting to know my peers and because they all brought something different to the table. They all had different stories. We had some amazing people like I've heard your other some other guests that had babies during school. We had some of those. We had pregnant. We had people who had. really hard challenges that brought them there and I just loved learning about that and seeing what helped them overcome those and I just thought that's amazing. We had people who failed one semester and had to come up and it's just hearing their vulnerability and and their honesty and how they You know, you can, if you fail a semester, some people just are done and just they're derived. And I have, I mean, hats off to them, because I don't know if I would have been like, I'm going to wait and then jump back in on another. I don't know if I would have had that in me. So I have the utmost respect for those who are like, nope, this was just, you know, this is just one little bump in the road. I'm going to keep going. So just hearing everybody's stories, I think to me, that was probably my favorite part of nursing school besides the learning side of it. I appreciate that and I you know you bring to mind I'll shout out Yasmin known as Yaz go back listen to her episode she talks about failing a quarter of Community college and then going in and that process of going in with a whole new group of people Feeling like a failure you don't mean all the things like it really just compounds the difficulty that already exists And so yes, I am most most impressed by anyone who is able to do that because it is easy to say and it wouldn't be wrong to say, you know what, I gave that a go. You know what I mean? That was, especially if it was like a second career. uh A for effort, that didn't work out and I'm not going back. You know what I mean? So for someone to just pull up the bootstraps and go, no, let's do this. Let's make the best of this. Make new friends, make new people. You know what I mean? And start that over again. I just love that. You talk about, you know what I mean? We briefly just touched on challenges. You talked about not necessarily having. a different level of support or that support looked a little bit different, but there was also a physical challenge, something that happened during your nursing uh school tenure. What was that and how did you work through that? So I actually, after I read this, I thought of a second one I got to talk. This will be a quick one, possibly. uh So I mentioned, I mentioned my running. Yeah. morning I was out running my dogs, I usually run in the dark during when it's dark and I have my headlamp and everything. And as I was coming around, one of my neighbors was coming up, not wearing a headlamp, please, if you're running in the dark, wear a headlamp for your safety and everybody else's. But our dogs like essentially like collided into one another. And so I went to pull my dog's way and I fell and I looked and I'm like, look, there's a bush. not thinking there was also a huge rock in that bush and I like smashed my face into it. And it was one of those things I was actually going to be I usually taught a class before I went to school and I'm like putting bandages on it and I'm driving in and I feel the blood running down like through my bandages and I was like oh this is probably not good so I like made a little beeline to the emergency room and ended up like I had to get stitches and all kind of stuff. Well, but as I'm driving into the emergency room, I'm looking at the clock and I'm like, it's shift change. Like, this is the thing, once you know shift change, like, this is the worst time becoming it. But also, as I walk in, look, I'm like, it's also a clinical day. that's... And one of them was one of my professors, and she's like, my gosh. And then she looks at everybody, she goes, remember HIPAA guys, to the other students. But I ended up getting a concussion and had a test scheduled the next day and I was like, here's the deal. Like I'm I was always that person. I'm very I get distracted. So I was always like sit up in the front of the room for tests put my to put my earplugs in and I was like, this is a lot like so I had messaged my the professor said hey Do you mind if I can go to like a room and just do this on my own? know those accommodations so amazing. She was like you have a concussion you are not taking this test. She's like, that is a terrible idea. So, uh Joni, just have to say hello, Joni. uh But yeah, so that was one little thing. This was literally the day before Halloween. I had like this face that so matched Halloween. So that was one little thing. That wasn't, that was just a small, but uh my, actually, and this is right when I met you as a tech, uh I was on my way heading into school on the freeway. and I got rear-ended. And yeah, so I was actually so mad because I was like, I'm gonna miss class. as I'm waiting for the police to come, I'm like messaging my instructor of like, got hit and everything. And it was one of those things where it kind of like, it wasn't that like, my car is a little messed up. You I can feel a little whiplash. I didn't think much of it other than I'm just gonna be sore. So they were like, I think your car is still drivable. It was really not. I should not have driven it, but I was like, I'm gonna go to school. I show up and my professors were like, what are you doing here? But I was like, I can't miss class. um Anyways, long story short, it turned out I'm having some things in my back are completely out of place of where they should be. uh This is almost a year and a half later and I'm still dealing with chronic pain. My lovely physician that I'm working with um has been trying many many things. I've gone through a lot of procedures that have not been successful. So I've just had this pain for over a year and a half that's really hard and I have a hard out for people of chronic pain now because it sucks and I don't want to take things for it other than like I'll do muscle relaxers but I can see how people get addicted to pain medications because it stinks to be in pain all the time. And so it made sitting um really hard in class. I was that person who had to like get up and move around because it was really painful. So that made school hard. It made clinicals hard. It makes my job hard right now. So that's been my, yeah, my biggest thing that was really challenging. Yeah. Yeah, I'm so sorry, because, that's I mean, I I don't even know where to go with that, because I you know what I mean? Like for me, obviously, like car accidents are a very intimate thing for me and what that has cost us in our life. I've talked about that on the podcast before. And it's like I feel like it's just one of the number one dangers. You know, we take it for granted every day. But like. We're telling our kids when they are growing, know, son in particular, maybe I shouldn't have told him, but we were talking about like, you know, you have other people's lives in your hands. You know what mean? You're driving a two ton metal box. You know what I mean? And very bad things can happen and not trying to scare you, but trying to scare you enough so that you respect it and don't lose that respect because we all can take that for granted. so uh circling it back around to you though, like, I mean, how do you manage through that chronic pain? uh while avoiding the traps of, you know what I mean, potentially getting addicted to pain medications. Are there other things that help? Are there other options that you have to try moving forward? Um, I mean, I- Like said, I do must relaxers um and then I do like creams and things like that. I was actually that person who took ibuprofen right after and was like, ended up in urgent care, not using my nurse brain of like, oh, I ended up having so much ibuprofen that it was giving me heartburn thinking that it was something else. I guess they're doing the test. was like, oh, I'm an idiot. I know this, I know this, but you know, when you're just like things hurt. So I have to be careful with that. just kind of dealing with it. mean I have a fairly high pain tolerance but it's not fun. um I'm trying another procedure here in a couple weeks hoping that helps but that's... It honestly, which it might shift. I mean, I'll say the wonderful thing about nursing is there's lots of different opportunities, but I'm sad knowing that if I can't solve this, I might have to do different things than what my original plan was because the shifts that I'm working, it's really hard to get through them. And so I might have to shift to something differently. Hmm. Well, let's, you know, we'll cross that bridge if we have to when we get there, but that does bring to the natural topic. What, now you've got your license, you just graduated, end of last year. uh How does that feel, by the way, being four months newly graduated? It feels really good. It's good. Once you get past those, like you walk, you graduate, and then you pass the NCLEX, which I've heard many different stories on that. It sucks. I cried. um But I passed. That was one of the things I left and I told my husband, I'm like, I failed. And he's like, well, you can retake it. I'm like, I can't retake it for 45 days. You know, it's like all those things. And then you find out you passed. But yeah. And then, yeah. Actually, the floor I'm on, uh I mentioned a little bit, I was a nurse tech. I had many, many good experiences in that. But for me personally, and I know everyone has different perspectives on this, but I felt that I wanted to start on a med search floor just for my own. I felt like that would give me the base that I could do anything else uh because I'm kind of a squirrel and I like to do lots of different things. I felt like that base would be good for me. because then I could in the future if I wanted to spread my wings. um So I picked a floor where I loved what, so I work on, I work at Sacred Heart here in Spokane. It's a very long title. So we do orthopedic, trauma, plastics, ENT, and they've just added urology. So we do a lot of things. So it's varied, which is challenging because I mean, you can have you can have something that you've never seen before because there's so many, that's such a broad uh range of things. But I also love that it really challenges my brain. But I also, the staff, uh I just felt a connection with them. I will say I felt in every nurse tech position I had, I was like always pleasantly surprised on how great the staff were, but I just felt like what the floor offered as far as my skills, the skills I needed and the staff. So I've been, I actually got my practicum there. I requested it, had that and then got hired and I love it. uh I am on night shift as pretty much all new nurses have to do. That's hard for me. I don't know if it would have felt different in my twenties, but this old body who is like very much, I'm like the opposite. I love waking up. if you, I will wake up at three or four AM just naturally. So the night shift is rough. It's really rough, I love what I do. I love the variety. Hmm, that's awesome. I, so I mean like, obviously, you know, you're talking about, well, we might have to adjust plans, we might have to do this, we might have to do that. But I know you wanted to touch on future plans. What potential future plans do you have in store for you? Yeah, so regardless of if I can stay on my floor or not based on my body, um again, I love being, and I don't like settling ever, and I don't think there's anything wrong for people that are okay with that. But there's this thing, the hospitals give you a certain amount of money for education every year. And in my mind, I'm like, I don't wanna just leave that on the table. So I wanna chip away at my masters. which actually when I first decided to go to school, there are some programs where if you have your bachelor's already, you can get your master's. WSU was not one of them, so in my head I thought that was an option, but it isn't at this time. They're hoping to do that in the near future. So I just figured I'm gonna chip away at that. I have decided, and it's gonna take me at least a couple years, because I'm gonna go the nurse practitioner route. Nice. So I have a fallback. I need to, originally for the masters in my previous career, I did a lot of education. And so I have a heart for education. And I figure like, obviously not now, I don't have enough knowledge to educate anybody other than a patient. But I hope that by the time I'm done, I have the option to be an educator and possibly a nurse practitioner if that's where I need to go for my body. Incredible. Well, I mean, your future's bright, regardless of what happens with that one thing that is, you know what I mean, causing so much problems. And I will definitely be keeping you in my prayers in that regard. I don't, before we close in our traditional manner, was there any other subject that we didn't touch on that you definitely wanted to communicate? think we covered a lot of it. mean, we could talk all day, you and I, but I think we're good. Yes, yes. Awesome. Well then, with the traditional closing questions, of course, we're circling back to the three words you chose. What were they and why did you pick them? oh I'll stay humbling because I mentioned like I feel like I've always been a pretty good student and the first pharmacology test I took I got a D. um And we, it was one where we could take it at home. And I just remember hitting the button, seeing that score and crying and immediately getting on, sending an email to professors saying, hey, can we meet? I need to talk with you about this because see, you know, how can I do better? um And she laughed. It's actually funny because I actually went to high school with her and she's like, oh, you are, she's like, you're above the average. And so I just had to reframe my thing. I um did end up doing better down the road as I learned different test taking strategies when it came to nursing. But that was, yeah, I was like, I've never gotten a D on a test. So that was really hard. I'm leaving there. um Empowering because it's, think, first off, because I didn't think I could do nursing back in my 20s. And so I think the fact that it's now something that's like, I'm a nurse. um It feels pretty awesome to say that and know that um I've made it. And also, it just opens up opportunities, I think, in life. And whether it's like, for me, I know that if I have to change... paths and go a little different. I have so many options. It's not the end of a career if my body doesn't let me do something. I can have so many different avenues and to me that's empowering because there are careers where people if they got hurt they'd be done and I just think it's wonderful that we can do that or if it's maybe it's not in my body maybe it's just like I mean you changed to a different um focus and and I think that's wonderful and I wish more nurses thought about that because I think we've all been on a floor and you're just like... This is a fantastic nurse, but they're done with this particular area. So I think it's empowering to know that we do have different options. um Exhausting, as we talked about, and it's on me. I put a lot on my plate. That's a choice that I've made. So it was hard between school, my family, my three jobs that I had during school. uh I did not get enough sleep. again, partly me, partly just, it takes a lot. There's a lot of studying. things that go into nursing school. And yeah, that's my three. That's incredible. Thank you, thank you. I love those words and I love the reasons why you picked them. ah And now you have one piece of advice that you want everyone who's listening to take away with them for the rest of time. No pressure. What is that one piece of advice that you want to impart? Well, mine's going be focused on nursing school. And I just think use your resources. I like it really started like that first. I mentioned me getting that D and I had I reached out to professor. That's not something I would have done previously. And I think that's probably why I had a harder time succeeding with my first degree or it had to kind of hop around a few different times to different schools to figure out what I needed. And I've told my kids this as they get into the college. Like there are resources there are people that want to help you The career counselor at WSUSHI is now since retired. She was amazing even if I just needed to like spew and Just get stuff off my chest like it's okay There are people that want to help you, but they can't help you if you don't ask for help um and I think that that's huge and sometimes it's your peers and sometimes it's professors sometimes it's the counselors the Writing Center whatever it is, like ask for help. They will help you. They want to support you. There's a lot of different things that you might not even be aware of that are available to you as resources. incredible advice and definitely needed especially when you're going through the rigors of nursing school. So Katrina, thank you so much. I really appreciate you taking, gosh it's been almost an hour and a half now of our time together just talking nursing, talking life and uh I know that I'm encouraged. I'm walking away encouraged which is always my litmus test. That means I know someone out there is encouraged listening to your story and what you've been through and going through. So like I said, I'm keep you in my prayers but Man, you are a warrior, you're inspiring, and I'm just excited to see where the future takes you. Thank you very much.