My Story

Nursing is not all
trauma and warm blankets.

Hi there, I’m Hailey! I live in Texas with my dog, Theodore, spend my days working from home and my free time doing whatever my hyper-fixation brain will allow me to do. I have my BSN, finishing up my MSN, and pursuing a PhD in the next year. And this is my journey from bedside nursing to informatics and beyond. Lets start from the beginning…I graduated nursing school in 2013 at the peak of the EMR emergence and an opioid crisis. I know these may seem completely unrelated, but if you’re an ER nurse with a knack for technology, this is the catapult that launches you into a world of nursing you never knew existed.

I started out like many new graduate nurses, bright eyed and bushy tailed, ready to save lives and make a difference in this world. Unfortunately, I was in for a world of hurt when I decided to start my nursing career in the ER. Don’t get me wrong, the ER taught me to be a strong, confident nurse and I’d do it all over again if I had to, but let’s face it, nursing is hard and the ER can be a harsh environment. One that you’re constantly fighting to thrive in like a plant in a desert. After 2 years in an ER that was such a toxic environment it could put Chernobyl to shame, I decided to switch gears and follow another passion of mine, hospice and palliative care.

When I say I changed gears, what I’m really saying is that it was like I pulled the emergency brake and Tokyo drifted my way into another dimension. Where the ER was all adrenaline and doing everything you can to keep a person alive for another day, hospice was slowing down, learning to really listen to your patients, creating relationships, and helping to find the beauty and dignity in such a vulnerable space. And as peaceful as that sounds, it came with its own difficulties. Case managing is not for the faint of heart. You are not just managing the care of your patients, but you’re also managing the needs of their families not to mention you’re responsible for the entire care team involved with your patients. If you’re careful (ahem…like me) it’ll become your whole life. I worked in hospice for a little over a year before I decided it was in my best interest to go back to working in the hospital setting where I can regain at least a sliver of work-life balance. And that takes me to my next (short-lived) endeavor – inpatient oncology.

I won’t speak much on this 10 month stint because it was, well, underwhelming. I commend anyone who chooses to work in any inpatient setting because I do not have the attention span for it. I did gain tons of invaluable knowledge of hematology oncology and chemotherapy so I can’t discount this part of my career as every piece has built the nurse I am today. And this brings us back round to the good ole ER.

I bet right about now you were thinking, “This chick claims to be an ex-ER nurse but only worked there for 2 years before dipping. What a fraud! Bring the pitchforks and fire!! Let’s take her down!! She’ll never work in this town again!!!” Well, sorry to disappoint as I’m sure you’ve got some pent up aggression if you’ve been in nursing for more than 5 minutes, but I am apparently a glutton for punishment because I spent another 4ish years getting my ass (sorry mom) kicked in various ERs from level 1 trauma centers to privately owned freestanding ERs. And after finally succumbing to crippling compassion fatigue and questioning my entire nursing existence, I somehow stumbled my way into…drumroll please…NURSING INFORMATICS!

Now I’m not going to sit here and talk about how much informatics has changed my life and I’m the happiest I’ve ever been because that would be a lie. There’s still a lot of guilt and stigma around leaving bedside. There are still many times I question my decision to leave bedside to dive into a world of EMRs, polices, procedures, and conference calls galore but I can say that my quality of life has improved and I actually have a, dare I say, work-life balance (the crowd gasps). That’s right folks, my life isn’t centered around work and I’ve actually gotten to explore my hobbies and interests. Heck, I even have non-nurse friends! It’s wild out here guys. But, reeling this bio back in, I decided to create the blog to give nurses something I didn’t have and that’s a true understanding of what your options are as a nurse and that it’s alright if you decide bedside isn’t for you. I applaud and thank every nurse who does decide to stay at our patients’ side to continue to provide the care they deserve but nursing on the other end of the spectrum can be just as important to ensure we continue to advocate for those patients and ourselves.

So follow along as I explore alternative nursing careers and share some of my favorite ways to achieve and enhance your all important work-life balance.