MediHelpz Live w/Sandra L Washington
Patient advocacy and education
MediHelpz Live w/Sandra L Washington
From Granny Midwives to Modern Doulas: 40 Years of Birth Work Experience
Patricia "Mamu" Rangel brings 40+ years of wisdom from the frontlines of maternal healthcare to this powerful conversation about the past, present, and future of Black maternal health. A nurse who has worked across multiple hospital units including labor and delivery, postpartum, and now an OBGYN clinic, Mamu also serves as a doula, childbirth educator, and lactation consultant—bringing a uniquely comprehensive perspective to maternal care.
The conversation explores a striking paradox: how traditional "granny midwives" with minimal formal education could deliver hundreds or even thousands of babies without losses, while our modern medical system continues to struggle with maternal mortality rates, particularly for Black mothers. "What are we doing that they were doing, that we're not doing?" Mamu asks, challenging us to reconsider what wisdom might have been lost in the medicalization of birth.
Throughout her career, Mamu witnessed the evolution of the doula profession from misunderstood outsiders to valued members of the birth team. She passionately advocates for more comprehensive doula education beyond weekend certification programs, suggesting mentorship models where experienced doulas guide newcomers. "You might be able to say you know what you're doing because of the information that you received coming out," she notes, "but when you're with someone who's been in the trenches, they can catch your flaws."
The conversation takes a poignant turn when discussing the shift away from personal connection in healthcare. "Nobody wants to talk to you anymore," Mamu observes, lamenting how technology has replaced face-to-face communication. This disconnect extends beyond the hospital to family dynamics, where meaningful interaction has diminished. For expectant families, this highlights the importance of finding providers who prioritize building relationships and truly hearing mothers' voices.
For those considering careers in healthcare, Mamu offers invaluable guidance: find your niche, understand the demanding nature of the work, and maintain emotional boundaries while still providing compassionate care. Her wisdom reminds us that birth work isn't just a job—it's a calling that requires both passion and boundaries to serve families effectively while sustaining yourself for the long haul.
I made it very clear that I recognize that justice is indivisible Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
Speaker 3:Good afternoon, good morning, good evening. Not sure when you're looking at this video, but we do want to once again thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to stop, pause and listen to our discussion that we will be hosting. We're actually recording this on February 19th Not sure what day you are looking at this, but this is a part of our 2025 Black History Month event, and when I say we, I'm talking about I Sandra L Washington of Choms Many Helps Foundation, as well as Nneka J Hall, who is the founder of Mother is Supreme. So this year, we put our heads together and we've come up with a dynamic roster of speakers who have come and who willingly have come to share information for our community in reference to their jobs, in reference to how you can actually get a job doing what they do.
Speaker 3:It's all about recognizing the 2025 Black History Month theme, which is Blacks and labor, and our community needs help. We need to make sure we are working and there's ways that we can have a livable income, and so the senior matter experts who have given up their time and effort this month all deserve a great deal of appreciation and gratitude for just coming and just talking to us as a community and making sure that we know that, while we're at a stalemate right now, we are going to push forward, and together we will push forward. So, with that being said, I am going to go ahead and I'm going to turn it over to Ms Nneka J Hall so that she can introduce our senior subject matter expert for the day. Nneka is on you.
Speaker 1:Thank you, sandra, and good evening everyone. I you know I don't like to speak. Well, I do like to talk a lot, but I don't want to spend a lot of time on myself. But I'd love to take a moment to thank our guest, miss Mamu, known to some as Mamu, to others Pat Rangel, to others Patricia, to others mom and to others, et cetera, mamu would you please introduce yourself to us.
Speaker 2:Good evening, hi. My name is. My government name is Patricia Rangel. What I was born with my government name is Patricia Rangel. What I was born with my name in the doula community, in the birth community, is known as Mamo. I've been doing this work for over 40 years now, in the hospital as well as outside of the hospital. I am a doula, a birth doula, a postpartum doula, a childbirth educator, and I enjoy what I do. I have a passion for women's health and birth. I am also a nurse and this is what I do all day, every day, just about.
Speaker 1:So you said you're a nurse. What kind, what? Where are you? Where do you? Where do you work? I mean not not the establishment, but what unit are you on?
Speaker 2:OK, so right now, I have, in my years of working, I've worked, I've worked surgery, I've worked medicine, I've worked PEDS, I've worked postpartum labor and delivery, and right now, at this point, I'm working in the clinic clinical center.
Speaker 1:So when you say in the clinic, you are in the Well Baby Clinic.
Speaker 2:Yes, I'm in the Women's Health Clinic OBGYN Okay.
Speaker 1:OBGYN. All right, thank you. And you said you've been a nurse for over 40 years. That's right. What have you seen happen in the maternal health realm during that time?
Speaker 2:During that time that I've seen a lot of miscommunication. I've seen disrespect, as well as nurses who are not keeping up with their education and information, and so, because of it, they have they. When you come with something new which may not be new to you but might be new to them and they're not aware of it, they have a reluctance to it and it's just. It's a shame, because you should be open to what was before. We look at the granny midwives. If you sit down and you look at granny midwives granny midwives you listen to their documentation. These women, some of them did not go to college, did not have a high school education, and when you ask them, how many babies did they lose, some say none. How many babies did you deliver? 800, 1,000. Well, I'd like to know what are we doing now that we're losing babies and mothers, that these mothers, who were supposed to be uneducated but trained and lost no babies, trained and lost no babies. Why is that? What are we doing that they were doing, that we're not doing? You know, where can we get that information from? And the other thing is is that, with all the knowledge and all the improved so-called improved knowledge that we have now, why are we still losing moms and babies? So you know, this is something that perplexes me and I have a hard time dealing with. What have I seen?
Speaker 2:From the beginning, when I first started this, I've always wanted to be a midwife. That was my goal. It got impeded because of family and so I had to. When I found out about doula work, that was about the closest thing to a midwife, so I was very excited about it and very passionate about it. When I first began, I found that there wasn't a lot of respect for doulas. Why? Because nurses were feeling that doulas were in the hospital setting. Nurses were feeling that doulas were kind of like taking their place. And then you had some doulas who were so excited about being doulas and what they learned and did not know how to communicate with the birth realm, and so they made negative reactions to doctors and nurses and because of that they began to resent them, when, in actuality, doulas are there to assist. They're not there to take the place of a nurse. They're not there to take the place of a doctor. You're there to assist the mother and to advocate for the mother, not take the place of anyone. You should be a part of the team should be a part of the team, and for a long time I feel that that's not what was thought. How can you go and do a program for a weekend or a week and come in and say that you're an expert? And then we come to another thing. How can you come in after a weekend and say you're an expert? So there's some things that you know.
Speaker 2:I, as a doula of all these years, I feel that doulas coming out now should have a mentor. There should be a mentoring program. They shouldn't just be thrown out there to go and find clients by themselves. They should be paired up with someone. You should be working with somebody who's been in the trenches before you can say you know, I know what I'm doing, I know exactly what I'm doing. You might be able to say you know what you're doing because of the information that you have received coming out, or a new nurse she still has to be paired with someone you know to catch her flaws and everything. So I feel it should be a mentoring program.
Speaker 2:The things that I feel that the other things is that I feel you know doulas need to get more education.
Speaker 2:There needs to be more education in just that you just can't think that you can just take that doula program and that's it and go out and, you know, become to be this great, great doula.
Speaker 2:You need to add on, like you need to know anatomy and physiology of the mother and the baby. You need to invest in what you are learning. You need to get more knowledge In order for you to be. I feel, in order for people to respect you, you have to be able to, especially in the hospital setting. If you are going to work in a hospital setting, because in the home setting, if you are going to work in a hospital setting, because in the home setting it's a little bit different, but when you're in the hospital setting it's really academics, you know. So when you're able to discuss and talk with that doctor and that nurse and you know, give them some feedback and be able to accept feedback also because we learn from each other every day and if we look at it that way, we have something to give Then I think we will have more respect for each other.
Speaker 1:Thank you, and I agree wholeheartedly. We've had many conversations about the state of doula, the doula today the the hospital setting. For as long as you have worked in the hospital setting, were you met with any issues?
Speaker 2:Were you met with any animosity from your peers knowing that you were a doula? Was I? Um, yes, I was, yes, I was. And there's many a days that I have had to, you know, bite my tongue and and not say anything and laugh, because these are my peers, because they didn't really know what a doula was and they couldn't understand why was I doing this. You know, and not only why was I doing it, but when I first started, I was actually doing it pro bono, ok. So they couldn't understand that, especially when they found out that it was pro bono, okay. So they couldn't understand that. Especially when they found out that it was pro bono, they, they will. You know, they were like what you, what you know.
Speaker 2:But when you have a passion for something and you're trying to learn and you're trying to get in to, to know, to do things how it should be done, and you know you want to learn as much as you can. So when I got into it, I didn't just take one, I didn't just take one program. Okay, I took many programs. And you know, my children know, my friends know I am an avid workshopper, I'm an avid conference attender. If there's something to be learned, I'm ready to go if I can go. So that's just how I'm wired and that's just how I was taught that when you go into a profession you must keep abreast on that profession. If you're still working at it, you have to know the new things that are coming out as well as what was before, so that you can sit down and discuss it and get whatever else you can learn from someone else. So yes, I did.
Speaker 2:I got a lot of flack, a lot of flack, um, and some some things were, were not so nice, but at the end of the day now they understand that you know the benefits of a doula and it's not like that anymore.
Speaker 2:So after a while, you know, they would call me and ask me you know, can you come and be with this patient? At first I was really, I was really shocked when I was asked, but then I got asked again and asked again and you know, and so I began to understand that they just had to learn and understand exactly what a doula is, what a doula is about, and that we're not there to take their job but to work with them. You know, because nurses you know, nurses have a lot of paperwork to do and although they want to be with their patient 24-7, want to be with their patient 24-7. Sometimes they can't because they have to chart, they have to give out medication, they have to, you know, they have to put on oxygen masks. They have to do all these things. So we're there to relieve them of all that.
Speaker 1:So I understand, and this, this, I'm drawing things out. Um, another hat that you wear is lactation consultant. Now, once again, I'm looking at the intersectionality between working in the community and working in the hospital setting. How do those things overlap when you're there wearing your nurse's hat? But you see the need to wear any of the other hats that you've trained to wear.
Speaker 2:Okay. So you know, in the hospital setting hospital setting, actually, all these hats come together when I see a client I might see a client come in and this is her first baby. If it's her first baby, sometimes she doesn't have a clue, and you know, and especially if she has, you know her partner is with her. They both don't have a clue, and so it comes down to taking your time giving them information, evidence-based information, giving them books to read that might clarify or give them information so that when they come back, they can ask their doctor, you know, so that there can be a communication with their doctor, because it's important for them to have a communication with their doctor as well, and it's important to be heard. It's important for them to tell the doctor what they would like. It's important to be heard. It's important for them to tell the doctor what they would like and also, if there's something that they do want to encourage them to investigate, have questions, ask questions on it, go back and look it up, you know, show that doctor that you want to get involved with you know your care, that it's just not him telling you. You know, this is what you need, this is what you want. So these are the things that you know.
Speaker 2:I find that when you with me, my hats come into play with my clients. Unless I have a client that's an outside client and I'm doing something specific. If I'm going to see her because she's complaining of breastfeeding and I see where is positioning, or something of that sort, then I have what I'm you know. I have that in mind. This is what I'm going to talk about In the hospital setting.
Speaker 2:When they come to me, I never know what I'm going to talk about. It could be parenting, it could be you know how do I hold the baby. We might have to have a session on the positions of the baby. We might have to have a session on you know how to place that baby on. Do a crawl and get on by itself, which they're always fascinated with. Give them information on a VBAC. You know a vaginal birth after cesarean section. You know to ask if that's something that you're thinking about. Speak to your doctor about it. But when you go with them, go with them with information why you feel you should be able to do it. You know, and let him tell you. You know the outcome and then you can weigh the outcome of what you want to do.
Speaker 1:So what recommendations do you have for someone who is choosing services from a hospital setting Versus like? I know that I've worked as a volunteer doula through a hospital setting as a volunteer doula through a hospital setting and there were certain things that I could not do with my clients because I was working as a volunteer doula through the hospital setting versus them finding me on the street and being able to work with them directly on the street. What are some of the ways that you can tell us for people to navigate the system if they are choosing services within the hospital setting?
Speaker 2:Number one if you're choosing hospital setting, you need to, first of all, your doula needs to go with you to a meeting with your doctor. You know one of your appointments she needs to go to, preferably the next. When you hire your doula, the next appointment she should go with you to the hospital. If you're a doula in the hospital, more than likely the hospital is going to have certain do's and don'ts, so you might be restricted. It's all according to the hospital's policy and procedure and I believe that if you are a certain group going into a hospital setting, you should sit down and have some kind of conversation with the hospital as to you know what your business goals are, what your, how you see birth and what are your actions going to be or how would you like it to be. But you need to discuss that. When you're on your own, it's a little bit different, because this person is going to choose you because of what you say, what you present to the table, so what you bring to the table. They want to join you in their meal and then they're going to have to find a hospital that is going to be conducive and a doctor that's going to be conducive to what they want, and that's the other thing. You have to find a doctor who is conducive to what you want within the means of keeping you and your baby safe. Okay, because you might want something, but it may not be safe keeping you and your baby safe. Okay, because you might want something, but it may not be safe for you or your baby. And you have to understand that, because nobody is going to put you or your baby in jeopardy. But, at the same token, you need to sit down and discuss.
Speaker 2:If you find somebody and you think you're comfortable with them, before you make your commitment with a hospital, with a doctor, even with a doula, you know, you interview, you go there, you see, you make an appointment. That's why you know it's good to start early when you find out that you're pregnant, for doulas it's the same thing. We have to look and see what hospital. You know. Doulas know what hospitals, what rules and regulations are at what hospitals, and if they don't know, they can call another doula. Have you been there? Well, what was your experience? Do you know about this doctor? Do you know about that doctor? You know, so you're able to communicate and share with one another. That's the other thing.
Speaker 1:So I know I asked you this question earlier before we we hopped on, but I want to ask it again in this setting in the 40 plus years that you've been doing this work, what exactly, if anything, have you seen improve or or change on the Black maternal health side?
Speaker 2:I would say I've seen it come to the forefront more. I think we were losing babies before. I think mothers weren't being heard before. I don't think this not being heard just came up. So I see more action, I see more involvement. I see more involvement. I see more accountability Holding people accountable for their actions and I see more mothers now getting involved with their care than I ever saw before.
Speaker 2:When I first started working labor and delivery postpartum, I used to say to moms you know, are you going to breastfeed? And no, I'm not going to breastfeed. Well, why not? Oh, you know, it's going to make my breasts sad Really. Okay, well, you know that's going to happen anyway. You know, but are you looking at that or are you looking at what's best for your baby's nutrition? So education has changed. So, because education has changed, more mothers have become educated about having their baby naturally, trying to avoid a C-section if possible, not making a C-section date because that's your birth date. You know your due date is close to your birth date and you want it on that date. So these are things that I see that are different.
Speaker 2:I see doctors, um. I see doctors, uh, having to talk to patients more, um, and not just giving them information, and because that's what they said, that's what she's going to do. Families are now asking questions, they're going online, they are getting information coming back, asking, even though I don't agree with this. You know this assembly line that's going on in the hospital. I understand that the hospital is a business, but I also understand that when you have women who are pregnant, they need a liaison. So there should be a liaison. If the doctors cannot be with that patient for, but so long, there still should be somebody that they can sit down and talk to. That's separate, that they can make an appointment and they can express all their feelings, because they have feelings and they want to communicate. And this 15 minutes that is in with the doctor. What I noticed is that they'll go in there and they'll stay 15 minutes and then, when they come to the nurse, they have all these questions that they want answered. And you know some of these questions should really be answered by the doctor. But when you ask them, did you ask the doctor? No, he seemed a little busy. Well, even if he's busy, he still has to speak to you. You know he still has to talk to you. Whether you say can I come back during the week and speak to you. Can we make some kind of time arrangement where I can come and sit down and talk to you? Is that possible? But you have to be heard and I think now they see that you know where.
Speaker 2:You know, women are being more informed, women are being more in tune with their body. Women and as well and not just women, fathers too, because we forget about the fathers, not just women, fathers too, because we forget about the fathers. But I mean, I never forget about the fathers, you know. So fathers are getting involved. I get fathers involved in care. I ask them how are they feeling, you know, is there anything they want to talk about? Do they have any questions or concerns? Because a lot of times we forget to ask them and they get lost in it. You know, and they shouldn't. They should be supportive in everything the birth, the breastfeeding, the postpartum care. You know they need to know what's going on too, and they go through postpartum blues as well. You know this is something that has been discussed about fathers going through postpartum and postpartum depression as well. So these are things that you know can be addressed.
Speaker 2:But what's the difference that I've seen? I've seen it come to the forefront. More. That's what I've seen. I've seen it open up. You know the quietness is gone. You know why did this happen. You know people want an explanation. Why is this happening? They're holding hospitals accountable. Explanation why is this happening? They're holding hospitals accountable.
Speaker 1:They're holding doctors accountable, and because of that you cannot be lax. You have to give your best, because you're going to be accountable for what your actions are.
Speaker 3:Thank you, sandra. Do you have any questions for our guests this evening? When they first found out they're pregnant, do you also recommend even when they start talking about building a family? If they have that opportunity to start talking about building a family, do you recommend that they actually talk about it even before they find, before they actually go through the process of being told that the woman is pregnant? Do you recommend that be a concept or a topic?
Speaker 2:of talk. You know it's funny that you said that, because that's something that I've been thinking about about preconception discussion, discussing not so much anatomy and physiology but discussing how do you feel about getting pregnant now? Right, whether you want to now or you don't want to. Do you have the funds? Do you want to save your eggs? Because so many women are now thinking about business education, so I see a lot of women getting pregnant later than earlier. So, yeah, they should. There should be a discussion and it should be a very open discussion. There should be a discussion and it should be a very open discussion.
Speaker 2:I think, if you know because it can be something if you're with someone and you're with somebody and you want kids, and suppose that person wants to wait Right, wants to wait you need to rationalize that out before you pop up and say, oh listen, the rabbit died or the test is positive, and then there you go. You know there's a dilemma. So the act of communication is very important. You need to be on the same page and, yes, you need. There should be a group for preconception to sit down and talk, to talk about what do you want from life, to talk about. What do you want from life? What do you really want? In a group, where, or a group, or even one-on-one? You know what is it that you want, what is it that you don't want?
Speaker 2:These things need to be, you know, spoken about. They don't need to be waiting until you get pregnant. You need to know what's entailed once you have a baby, because this is a person. This is a person that you're responsible for their life, you know, which means that you're going to have to take time out, you know, do you get a nanny that's going to, you know, be with your baby most of the time while you're? You know, you come home and then you have a couple of hours with that baby. Is that what you want, you know? Is that how you want it to go? So, yes, it should be. It's very important and that's an important thing.
Speaker 3:And then my other question is this this and you've touched upon it briefly, and it goes to the part which is, you know, our theme behind this is blacks and labor. Are there doulas that are actually being? I mean, I don't know if they're being licensed in certain states to actually not have physiology and anatomy. Are they coming out of school without that knowledge?
Speaker 2:Well, the thing is is that you have some programs that they touch on. You know they touch on anatomy and physiology, but it's not that you need a total. You know anatomy and physiology, course, but you need to know the anatomy and physiology of what that mother is going through. You should know the anatomy and physiology of how the blood is circulating. You know you need to know the anatomy and physiology. If you're going in with a mom and she's getting ready to have a section, you should know what's going on in that section. You know Not just what you see, but what is actually going on. You know you need to know the circulation of the blood, how that baby is being fed, what nutrition does that mother need? What part does the placenta really play? You know, in the delivery and after the delivery. You know what is the history of the placenta.
Speaker 2:You know why are we all of a sudden into placental encapsulation, which actually has been done for centuries? You know it's nothing new. It is not new. It's just done in certain areas for certain reasons. But when you go and you look at it, you know they actually correlate with each other. Why, why they do it. So that's why I think you know you need to know the anatomy and physiology Some people when I say people, I don't mean to say people, but some courses. I think some courses are too short. Right, you know you're cramming information and you know you cram it when you cram something. How can you, you know, in a weekend?
Speaker 3:You know, there's just certain that's.
Speaker 2:That's not enough time to give a doula the confidence to go out on her own. You can give her the basics, but then there's more to it. You just can't stop there. There's other classes that you you really should take. Um, like neck is uh, grief class, because who knows your first baby? You don't know what you're going to experience. Okay, the first day I, the first day that I became a, I had a patient that had a cold. Okay, and I looked at the nurse and I was so grateful for her because I looked at her and she said it's okay, we got this. She said we got this, I'm going to walk you through it and you're going to be okay. And then the patient wound up expiring Now I've got to go through that. And she sat down and we talked, you know. And she sat down and we talked and she was just the most. She was the most beautiful head nurse that I ever had, very empathetic, very compassionate. You know that's the part of nursing that I know when I started. We work together.
Speaker 3:You know you said when you started is that not what's going on right now? You've been in the field for 40 years.
Speaker 2:I don't see that now. No, I don't. What I see now is everything is you know, just about everything is put it in an email.
Speaker 3:Okay.
Speaker 2:It's not I, it's not one-on-one, it's not I. You know, and I'm an I person and I had to get used to that because I'm a hands-on person, okay, so I had to get used to that, you know, put it in the email. You know, put it in the email. I show you something and you tell me I want to present something to you and you say put it in the email. Ok, I put it in the email, I send it to you. Then, when we have the next meeting, what I put in the email, you should already know, because I've already sent it to you. But yet you're asking me questions on what I sent you and I already gave you the answers, which tells me you didn't look at the email. Yeah, you're right, you're right. You see what I'm saying.
Speaker 2:So everything now has become to be technology. I know I'm going to get in trouble for this, you know, but this is just me. This is just me. You know, I want to sit down. I want to talk to you. Nobody wants to talk to you. Nobody wants to talk to you. Okay, they want you to put it in the email. Email me. Oh, that's a wonderful idea.
Speaker 3:Email me and you know, and some things go better when you're talking to some person, somebody, versus putting everything in the email, translations gets lost. When you saying putting everything in the email translations gets lost when you're saying put it in the email, it just gets lost.
Speaker 2:Now, don't get me wrong, emails have their place, just like anything has their place. Emails have their place, okay, but I just think that we are losing With the phone, with everything going to and don't get me wrong, technology is beautiful and and moving forward is wonderful, but I just think we're losing it. We are losing communicating with each other, and you saw it during COVID. You know, my daughter's a teacher. During COVID she said the parents were just going crazy. Well, what are we going to do with them at home? You know what are we going to do. They're going to be home all day. What are we going to do with them at home? You know what are we going to do. They're going to be home all day. What are we going to do? You know?
Speaker 2:My daughter was like well, what do you do when they're home? Well, maybe we can get them some more games, you know, to play on their computer. You know, and my daughter's calling me and she's like Ma, there's no interaction. You know, she said. You know I had to sit down and I had to laugh about it because I have five children and I raised my goddaughter, and Saturday and Sunday either Saturday or Sunday, sometime during the week we would have a night where everybody did something. They either read a poem, they talked about a book, they sang, even if they couldn't sing, you know, but they did something right we did.
Speaker 2:Family night is what we did, we did something together, right, that's not done. You know that's that's really not done anymore and it's just not done where you sit down and you just have you know how many times you sit down and just have girl talk, right.
Speaker 2:You know, just sit down. How many times does somebody just call you and say you know, listen, come have lunch, let's talk. Well, what's going on with you, how you doing? You're right, you know how are you doing, you see, because everybody who's got a smile doesn't mean that everything's okay. Sometimes you need to ask.
Speaker 3:And I'm with you, I wholeheartedly agree. And sometimes well, not sometimes all the time when we ask we need to move away from asking close-ended questions, because then that's when your mental health, that's when we see an influx of mental health problems happening, it's because people are like, well, I didn't know that they was going through all that. What would you ask them when y'all were talking? Were you asking them questions to pull that out of them, or were you just asking them just basic questions just to be blown in the wind? Yes or no is not an answer for you to actually pull out of someone something that they're going through so.
Speaker 3:I so hardly agree with you. And then my question is this we have an influx of young people coming into the field. They want to be birth workers or they want to work as a nurse. What three tips would you give to them so that they are successful, because, lord knows, we need them? What three tips would you give them to ensure that they have a successful and a long career, such as yourself?
Speaker 2:I think the first thing is to find which table you should eat at, right, okay, because, um, you have to be happy and if you don't like bedside nursing, please don't do it. Okay, if you're a corporate person and you want to be in administration and you know that that's what you want, then go into administration. Test the waters. Maybe you feel that you want to be a bedside nurse Once you start doing it. That's not what you want and that's okay. But the worst thing you can do is stay doing something that you do not like to do. That is not going to benefit you and that's not going to benefit the people you take care of. Secondly, you know, with nursing, for me, I feel nurses are special. I see nursing as appalling. Some people may not see that now. Some people may see nursing as you know. I can make what I can make. You know I can make what I can make, but nothing can take the place of you supposedly working 8 to 8. And then you wind up working 8 to 11, 8 to 12.
Speaker 3:Mm-hmm Okay.
Speaker 2:So I mean, I have never left at the hour that I was supposed to leave. Okay, there's either a patient asking for something, or maybe your coworker needs help with something, you know. So you have to understand that when you're a nurse, you know there's a lot of times that you may not get to go to that. You know you may not get to go to that party, or you may not get to go where you want to go because you got to work. You know you're on call or you know not, unless you're doing agency or something like that, and you can pick and choose. But when you're on staff, you're on staff. So you have to understand that sometimes you might miss that anniversary. You might miss that, you know, unless you plan ahead.
Speaker 2:The other thing is is that you know you have to be able to be empathetic and sympathetic and you can't take it home. And you can't take it home. What goes? You know, when it comes time to leave the job, you have to leave the job. The job got to save the job.
Speaker 3:Got that right.
Speaker 2:And you got to go home. You know, if you're starting to take it home, then you know maybe that's not the place for you, maybe you're getting too emotionally involved and it's going to start to feed off of you and you're going to get drained and feel like, you know, somebody is just sucking all your energy and whatnot, and then you're going to begin to resent your job and that's the worst thing. You're working on a job, you like it, but you resent it. Yeah, so those are the three things I think, and the most important thing is to find your niche, find where you're happy at, and find out if you want to be a nurse at all, right, because sometimes you go into a field that you know you think you want to do this and it's like no, this is not for me. Now let me see where I can go. And don't wait till the hour, ok. And don't wait till the hour, okay. If you know that this is not where you should be, find something else.
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 2:It's time for you to use your transferable skills, find something else. When I first started, I started on medicine and I knew I couldn't stay there Because I started taking stuff home. It started getting personal with my patients and you know my mom that was a nurse she said, you know, you're bringing this home, you know, and you're stressing yourself out. I don't think you should stay on medicine. No, and at that time I was seeing a lot of people dying, people that come in and go out, because it was during the era of HIV and they were coming in and coming in and going out, and coming in, going out, and then they'd expire, you know, because they don't have. They didn't have the medication and knowledge that they have today.
Speaker 2:So what I did was, um, I had to make a decision and I was a new nurse and I really didn't know if anybody. You know, I knew I didn't want to go to N, you know. I knew I didn't want to go to NICU and I knew I didn't want to go to ER. I knew that because I don't like the artist surprise. And so I went and I told the recruiter who recruited me. I told her thank you for hiring me, but that I was leaving and she asked me. I told her thank you for hiring me, but that I was leaving, and she asked me where was I going with those five babies? And I said well, I really don't know, but I know I can't stay on medicine. And she said well, that's okay, I want you to take two weeks off. You come back and you go into labor and delivery.
Speaker 2:I said but I don't have any experience for labor and delivery. You have to have an experience. She said well, you'll get it. She said so you come back, you don't say anything to anybody, you come back and you report to labor and delivery. And that's how I got to labor and delivery. And then I stayed there. It's women's health all the way, all the way, and I love there it's women's health all the way, all the way, and I love it.
Speaker 3:Thank you for that. I'm going to turn it back over to Nneka for her final remarks, and thank you once again so much for taking the time to spend with us and share that information with us. No problem, nneka, I'm going to turn it over to you.
Speaker 1:Okay, mamua, I want to thank you for sharing your Black job with us. You know we've been sharing a lot of Black jobs this Black History Month, mm-hmm, and in a way of being able to say that what others consider a Black job, we have a Black job, or two, or 10. We're on day 19. So 19 Black jobs so far that are not the ones that were listed as Black jobs. For your service in thank you, um, and in finding your roots in um, mama, baby, um, pouring into your mamas and your babies yeah um, and I would love to wish you all a good night.
Speaker 1:We will see you um, see you guys soon. Good night, good night, we'll see you guys soon, good night. Good night, you're worthy of it all. You're worthy of it all For from you are all things and to you are all things and to you are all things. You deserve the glory.