Nursing Mentors Influence and Change Lives – Happy Nurses Week

by Angela Brooks

 As a seasoned nurse with 25 years and many miles walked in nursing shoes I am now the forerunner for the young nurses who will soon be taking my place in the field.

With May 7th through May 11th being Nurses week, we all had a chance to tell someone else thank you for the job they do.

Nursing is a tough career and nurses have been known to “eat their young” from the stress in the field. Stress can come from management, managers, patient acuity, or from being new in the field. Your welcome to listen to a call Lisa Birnesser and I did on nurses and stress.

I clearly remember the nursing mentor I had when I began my job 23 years ago. She was an older seasoned nurse who had no time what so ever for a young buck with fresh ideas. She made it clear to me that I needed to get somewhere and sit down or stay out of her way….and I did. She taught me nothing I needed to know at the time. I watched what she did from a distance; I did not dare ask Mrs. Doris a question. She had me or I had her for three long weeks. The routine did not change, and I stayed out of her way.

I was so relieved to be out of orientation and out on my own, I knew I could figure it out. With a little luck under my belt I met a nurse who had the time to teach me a little along the way. I stayed out of her way too, I did not want to get in her way but I always made sure she knew I appreciated her help when it was offered. With medication errors from time to time, charting blunders, patient run ins, I survived the first 5 years and felt like I had my feet planted a little more solid.

Then it became my turn to be a nursing mentor. My supervisor came to be and said she was going to try me as a mentor, did I feel like I could do that? I replied with “yes ma’am!” My supervisor had been a nurse for 35 years, she smoked like a train and drank straight black coffee like it was being infused into her veins through her lips.

She had a dry since of humor and at that time I was not sure how to take her. All I knew was I was not going to be like the mentor I had.

As time has flown by I have mentored most of the supervisors that are now in the building and most of the staff that worked on the floor with me for many years. I made sure I treated them with respect and never once told them to go sit in the corner. I was guilty of being very straight forward with them and letting them know where they could improve and tricks of the nursing trade to make their shift work easier.

I challenged them where they were nervous and helped them when their knees shook. I am sure I left something out they could have used but by the time they went out on their own we have built a relationship and they felt comfortable with the tasks that lie ahead.

After my mentor Mrs Doris retired with 27 years of service she passed away with breast cancer I paused to think about her. I had seasoned many years by this time and I now had a new vision of her. When I was young I thought she was mean and did not care about the new nurses. I was wrong, she taught me more than I could have learned with her holding my hand. She pushed me out of the nest and forced me to learn the hard way. I became observant to the point I was determine I would not fail. She would not cause me to fall on my face, she would not make me cry and she would not make me feel like I did not know what I was doing. She taught me how to stand strong and learn with all my resources.

The day they had her going away party I stopped by and told her best wishes for her retiring years. She smiled at me…it shocked me because that was not something I was used too. She replied “thank you, you turned out much better than I thought a young girl would have” from her that was a compliment and I shared the moment with a smile back.

As a forerunner, for the future nurses, it is our privilege to pass on to them the things we have learned in our journey. Give them your best so they can pass it on in their future.

Tell me your mentoring story – post it in the comment section below.

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Being a mother and a nurse I have missed several actual mother’s day celebrations but not once have I missed out on being a mother. I must say in all the things I have accomplished in my life no matter how hard I have worked being a mom has been the most rewarding. I love watching my children grow and achieve goals they set for themselves.

As a daughter I was influenced by a strong mother. There were several years that we did not see eye to eye but she was always there when I needed something. No matter what the something was I knew she would be there. She provided a roof over my head even after I became an adult and my son and I were in transition. She has traveled many miles with us  to my children’s base ball games, soccer games, school events, cook out’s, you name it mom was there.

I was given my “do not quit-do-what it takes to get it done” attitude from my mother. There have been times in my life that things have happened that we did not want to do deal with but it was something we had to do.

As a nurse I have stood beside my mother as she lost her mother, her two sisters, and several other family members. It was something that had to be done, and I was glad I could be there with her.

Becoming a mother has taught me lots of patience that I was defiantly not born with. I took all the women who influenced my life and drew something from each of them to carry with me.

My Mom: Stay strong, deal with life as it shows up, I want to be there for my children just like my mother has been there for me. She has lived her life giving to others; her home has been opened to numerous people who were in the middle of transition. She provided a place for them to stay.

My Grandmother Annie: A strong country women who did not know the word “can’t”. She raised 5 children in a time that life was hard. She taught me how to raise a garden, how to freeze and can foods how to depend on myself when there was no one else around.

My Aunt Flossie: Who was never able to be a mother to children that passed through her own body but she was a mother to many more children that she could have delivered herself. She taught me how to love others and how important family gatherings are, and food always draws them; she was a giver.

My Aunt Ruby: A strong women, taught me how to sew (not nearly as good as she could), we shared recipes to her famous dishes, and family was her main focus.

My self: I learned what matters in life, and it is not money. My family comes first no matter what happens around me and it is my privilege to take care of them. Working full time, running a business from home and the entire task that comes with being a mom from cooking, cleaning, washing clothes and being the taxi. The days are flying by and I wish I could slow them down just a little.

I also learned that I can be a nurse to others in a very professional manner but when my children are hurt, sick or in pain I seem to have to stop to think like a nurse.

Where ever you are and where ever your children are. I have two healthy here on earth and three in heaven. I wish you the most amazing mother’s day ever. I hope you tell someone you love them every day.

 
 
 
 
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by Angela Brooks

May 5th 2012 the 138th Kentucky Derby race begins on a sunny warm Kentucky day. The horses load the gates and they are off. Horses run the race with such grace after months and weeks of practice. The jockey on top of the high strung animal melts into the saddle and becomes one with the horse.

As the race comes to the final corner a horse begins to pull away from the middle of the pack and gives just a little more than the rest. I’ll have another wins the race.

The jockey begins to cry as the reporter ask what he was thinking after winning the race. He did not mention the two million dollars that was just won but what it meant to his family and the belief he had in the horse. His belief was what propelled him to ride that horse like the winner that he became. The money was an end result but it was not the focus.

He was quoted by the NY Daily News: “I don’t know what to say,” an emotional Gutierrez said after the win. “Thanks to Mr. Reddam for the confidence he showed in me at Santa Anita for allowing me to continue to ride this horse. He is an amazing horse. I told everybody before the first time I rode him, I knew he was the one.”

2012 Kentucky Derby: I’ll Have another races past Bodemeister down the stretch to win the 138th Run for the Roses at Churchill Downs. 

I love horses and horse races – I do not go to  the tracks anymore because now we go to the baseball field. There is something about a horse than can totally change your mood, lower blood pressure and when you sit on their back to ride it becomes a friendship. In my younger days I rode the barrels and poles in club shows and the state show twice. I was far from a rider like Gutierrez, but when he says ” I knew he was the one the first time he wrote him” I understood what he meant.

The other statement that caught my attention was “Thanks to Mr Reddam for the confidence he showed in me and allowing me to ride this horse”

Over the years of listening to patients in mental health talk – the words low self esteem and no confidence is spoken allot. The two things that I feel make or break the healing and growth of a person.  Just knowing that someone has confidence in you gives you the courage to step out of your own comfort zone and try to be more.

As new business owners - my clients need to know that I have confidence in them to do the task it takes to grow their own business – providing guidance and business tips help them go in the direction that it takes to grow. Once they have met goals along the ways I give them another step to work on through email and a training center. Like Gutierrez, who had ridden other horses to the winner’s circle, he still needed to know the new trainer he was riding for had confidence in him.

You could be someone’s next step – continue giving other people courage. As a nurse, we have the opportunity to change lives by leading, with confidence, the ones we come in touch with. Help them step towards the winners circle.

Congratulations “I’ll have another” and  Mario Gutierrez, you have come a long way since your first winners Derby debut in Stewart Elliott in 2004!!!

by Angela Brooks

As we grow up we trust the people around us to be honest with us, when an adult tells a child they cannot do something they believe them. Even if the adult meant no harm or did not realize how deep those words would sit in that small person’s mind. However, through out your life you have a burning passion that you keep hidden because you can hear that voice in your head that says you can’t or you’re not good enough.

Most of the things that happen to us as people are between the ages of 5-18 years of age. We carry those days with us for the rest of our life and people end up in therapy over something that happen 20 years ago.

Even I had those voices in my head that said I could not, and I believed them. My 7th and 8th English teacher who carried a long red pencil she used as a pointer also used it to whack your desk with when she looked over your shoulder to correct your paper. I hated to see her coming close to me. She was a perfectionist and made a scene over your paper in front of the class. I started hating to write, however at home in my journal I loved to write. I carried a journal for years and to this day I still have a journal.

What she said to me even made me hesitate as an adult. That voice was still sitting there reminding me about commas, run on sentences and periods.

In December 2011, with my imperfections I put that voice to rest and published my book “The Nurses Voice”, what I did not know back when I was in school was as an adult I could pay a proof reader and I did.

I was frightened in social studies of public speaking when we had to stand three times in a year to recite The Gettysburg Address without our papers in front of us; I never wanted to do that again.

Today I stand in front of nursing student’s classes, and rooms of new employees teaching. At this point in my life it is now fun and I enjoy it. Once again I will be speaking in October 2012 in Hollywood Florida to a room full of entrepreneurs who are learning how to use their talents to change their life. I am still nervous, but so excited to be around a group of people who understand life is out there but you have to go get it.

Learn how to profit ridiculously with your passions while having amazing relationships with people, every single day! Have a blast being the best you – no one has control over who you are – you have control over what you do with who you are.

My life is so different from last year I have to pinch myself as dreams are opening up and life has a whole new meaning. I hope you will be brave and step into your best you. As a mental health nurse I have seen people spend a life time regretting, depressed because someone let them down, unable to get out of the mindset that use to be.

I am leading a team with small steps in business and what they need to be working on as they move forward. It doesn’t happen overnight but it happens when you activate and work toward a goal that was once just a dream or a vision. We are having a blast and I think you would too.

Tell me about your dream, in the comments below – what have you always wanted to do but have not reached out yet?

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StartupNation.com Honors Nation’s Leading Moms in Business

AngelaBrook.com Wins Top Honors in Mom Business Competition

  Kentucky – May 2, 2012– From among thousands of contestants, AngelaBrook.com has been ranked 110# in StartupNation.com’s 2012 Leading Moms in Business competition I got an email that said "The winners are in, and you are one of them! You are officially a leading mom in the world of business. KUDOS!!!" I had to read it twice before I realize how large of a contest this was. With over 350,000 contest-wide votes cast, what an incredible achievement!