Connect Inspire Create
Welcome to Connect Inspire Create: The Mindset & Business Coaching Podcast. I'm Carol Clegg, your host and Progress and Accountability coach for women business owners.
Listen to conversations that delve into taking action, business and life coaching,
creativity, and different ways to foster a positive mindset. Whether you're a woman
solopreneur navigating midlife, seeking to overcome procrastination, or
striving for balance in your business, you'll find an episode or two on this show that will be insightful and motivating. That's the plan!
Let's embark on a journey to connect, inspire, and create a
space where our connections inspire us —welcome to Connect Inspire Create!
Connect Inspire Create
169 Intuition and Resilience in the Nursing World with Jenn Johnson
Join us in a heartfelt conversation with Jenn Johnson, an ER nurse turned author and wellness advocate, who shares her 16-year journey through the highs and lows of nursing. Jen opens up about the emotional stress, workplace bullying, and high turnover rates that plague the nursing profession. She introduces us to her innovative initiatives like specialized journals designed to help nurses cope with grief, track wellness, and reflect on daily experiences. Learn how Jen is mentoring new nurses and emphasizing the need for emotional and professional support to keep passionate nurses in the field.
Inspired by her pandemic experiences, Jen has penned a new book " Nursing Intuition" to illuminate the crucial value of intuition in nursing. In the book, she talks about the science behind using intuition and how she incorporates it into her care of patients. Jenn has a wealth of information to share!
You can find Jenn at www.nursejenn.ca
and her book on Kindle here
Come to my Etsy page to find all my nursing support materials? From journals to affirmation decks.
https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/TheIntuitiveNurse
Social Media Connect
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-johnson-bscn-rn/
https://www.instagram.com/ernurse.jenn/
https://www.tiktok.com/@ernurse.jenn?lang=env
Hello from your host, Carol Clegg. A coach for coaches! I work with women coaches to find balance with ease and flow, manage stress, cultivate self-empathy, and set meaningful goals that resonate with their individual coaching practices.
My clients often have too many ideas and struggle to decide which one to focus on first, leading to a HUGE BLOCK in just getting started. I love to help simplify the process, explore what is getting in the way and guide you to choose the next project, enjoy the journey, and celebrate progress while taking small, meaningful steps.
If you would like to take the complimentary Saboteur assessment to discover what gets in your way and then follow up with a complimentary coaching session to explore your results. Take your assessment here or visit carolclegg.com
BOOK your ✅ 30 minute complimentary exploration call HERE
Connect on LinkedIn and Instagram or join my LinkedIn Group Creative Ideas for Women Business Owners
Well, hello and welcome to Connect, inspire, create. I'm your host, carol Clegg, a progress and mindset business coach, here to help you thrive and flourish and turn those challenges into opportunities for growth. So, whether you're looking to find balance, say goodbye to procrastination or just in need of a friendly nudge towards your goals, remember we're all on this journey together. So grab your favorite cup of something, be it coffee, tea or something else, and let's dive into this conversation today, all right? Well, thank you everybody for joining us today and listening to this episode. Welcome. I am joined by my guest, jen Johnson, an ER nurse turned author, and I love the way you said you had so many stories to tell. You finally wrote the book. So an ER nurse by night and an author and a wellness advocate by day. So I've caught you on the day shift. Tell me where you are good bad days.
Speaker 2:I've caught you on the day shift. Tell me where you are. So currently, this moment, I'm in Muskoka, ontario, which is kind of our go-to retreat space. My parents have got a cottage, so I've disappeared for three, four days and I'm going to go back within the next day or two back to Hamilton, which is about an hour outside of Toronto, ontario. So usually the token Canadian.
Speaker 1:Okay, right, and so those night shifts, those are so interesting because my daughter's husband is a nurse and he's on the night shift and although it's awesome when you get those four days that you pack together, you know, and he gets whatever it is off, it's that transition that's so tough. I mean, have you done the night shift forever?
Speaker 2:For it's been the majority of 16 years. Like, wow, you know, when I first started, the night shifts were really, you know, you kind of had to pay your dues and and you did your night shifts and you were young enough to kind of bounce back pretty quickly. Um, nowadays I choose the night shift, uh, just because of daycare issues, and it makes, uh, every life a little bit easier. Do I prefer nights? Maybe, maybe not, but it's definitely a different take on nursing versus day shift and you know all the managers around and all the support services versus the night shift where it's, you know, skeleton crew and the whole goal is just to survive.
Speaker 1:Well, I know I'd love to just hear, hear you know, tell us a little more about your story. I mean, you've shared that you have personally been part of all the heartbreak on the ER nursing side, which has include drama, bullying. I mean, when I just read this and I see some of these things that that you're sharing, um, but just tell us a little bit about you first of these things that you're sharing.
Speaker 2:But just tell us a little bit about you first. So I'm Jen. I'm an ER nurse of 16 years. I'm an author, mother, ceo of multiple pivoting businesses. I've been nursing for way too long.
Speaker 2:The majority of my career has been the ER, so I've just been kind of working through it and the joke is always that any ER nurse is really just somebody with undiagnosed ADHD. It's a personality trait that we all tend to share. The ICU nurse is usually a little bit more OCD, with just a titch of ADHD. You know we kind of interchange a little bit because of critical care.
Speaker 2:But the ER is where my heart is and it's just so satisfying to kind of go from someone really not doing so well and watching them kind of transform after you kind of intervene and do all the things and get the medications and get their pain under control and watch them kind of become a totally different person. It's super interesting. Yeah, I've kind of been all over Northern and Southern Ontario hospitals, big, small, everything in between, from an ER where I was the only staff in the ER to a trauma center the only staff in the ER to a trauma center and all everything in between. So it's been a lot of back and forth and and pediatrics, so children, and you know I just kind of split wherever my heart takes me.
Speaker 1:But then I guess there's been a turning point, because now you are taking all these life lessons, which has to be huge, and besides turning that into a book, your passion is trying to help new nurses. Kind of hang in there, keep going. You tell me you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So the statistics that are starting to come out are more and more nurses who are graduating nursing school are really only lasting a year or two or three before they decide not only just to leave that job but to leave nursing entirely. So in order to help kind of staunch the bleeding, my hope is to give them lots of support and expertise in all the areas where it's all the things that they don't teach you in nursing school. They don't teach you about coping with grief, they don't teach you about how to kind of mitigate your own emotions around things or how to deal with, you know, really tough situations or tough personalities, and there are so many things that you know. We kind of get told in the moment oh, you'll learn that on the job, it's fine.
Speaker 2:So trying to give them a little bit more support through my journals, so the grief journal, the wellness journal and the hundred shifts journal. So the hundred shifts follows somebody through their shifts and it's things like you know, did you how many hours of sleep did you get? How much water have you gotten? How many steps have you gotten in? What was good about the day, what was bad, what did you learn?
Speaker 2:What happened through the day and the things that a lot of us who have been in it for a while know that there will always be hard days, but we usually have, you know, a really big win or two to kind of lean back on and go like, okay, no, I do know. Yeah, it's hard to kind of come out of that tailspin a little bit. So this way, you know you're having a rough day, you can go back in your own journal and say like, oh, hey, I advocated for that patient. I knew what that medication was before and I knew the side effects. I was able to organize my time. I was able to get that patient's pain under control.
Speaker 1:You know all these things that are little wins that we don't really keep track of, right, these things that are little wins that we don't really keep track of, right, and you know, as you're sharing this, I'm just, you know, you often you sort of think of somebody who's in a job and goes to work and, yes, we all talk about self-care and that we need to fill ourselves up, et cetera. And you know, for myself, as a positive intelligence coach, that is what I'm trying to equip people with is the tools to be able to shift out of stress and anxiety. But it's so specific with what you're sharing. And then, because in nursing, you're responsible for somebody else and I'm sure that the responsibility for yourself slips down to the way down at the bottom of the ladder.
Speaker 2:We are the absolute worst at caring for ourselves, and sometimes it's a little bit of the stereotype that kind of gets ingrained in us in nursing school. And sometimes it's a little bit of the stereotype that kind of gets ingrained in us in nursing school that you're only a good nurse if you sacrifice everything for everybody else. And so it's this weird little dichotomy of you know. Okay, I've cared for other people, Now I can veg out, I can drink myself, you know, into it, yeah, and you can.
Speaker 2:You can rationalize it away in 18 different ways in a minute, um, because of what you've already been through in the last 12 hours or 24. So it's it's time we start setting some boundaries. It's time to start really actually saying no to a lot of things and start really focusing on us. And as much as self-care is kind of the buzzword at the moment and resilience and all that kind of good stuff, um, it's time to move it from lip service to to actual action and you know, as you say, that I mean when you say lip service, I think it's often we can think this in our head and go.
Speaker 1:We know we need this, but it's also to allow it to feel through your body and to to spend some time and going okay, what am I feeling? I'm in an awfully stiff neck and my shoulders are crunched up, et cetera. But you know your body's trying to tell you something and I wanted to just dig into something that you shared. That sounds fascinating, which is intuition. You started listening to something that your body was telling you. Tell me about the story.
Speaker 2:So I thought I was just good at my job. I you know it started out as um. So when we moved from up north to southern Ontario and all of a sudden went from that one ER that it was just me and we saw maybe 5-10 people in 12 hours if it was really busy um to seeing 80 to 100 patients in 12 hours and sitting at triage and having to go through all these people and their stories and all these things, and it was just kind of a way to kind of keep myself engaged. And so I just kind of joked around that, oh, I'm just going to start guessing what people are coming in for. And so of course you're looking at people and you know somebody's grabbing their chest. It's a little obvious they're grabbing. Grabbing their chest, it's a little obvious. They're grabbing their stomach. It's a little obvious.
Speaker 2:But it got to a point where I would go oh, I just don't like the way you look, and it's not physicality, it's your skin, your, your skin's color and pallor. And are you sweating a ton? And do you look like you're in a lot of pain? Are you? Are you breathing so heavily that you really can't get more than one word out at a time, and it would be these people that kind of pique my interest that I kind of grab onto and say, okay, obviously this is my job to say you are sicker, you need to kind of go to the front of the line and I would go through and the day would progress.
Speaker 2:And I'd kind of come in at the last end and go like, hey, whatever happened with that guy with the chest pain? They're like, hey, whatever happened with that guy with the chest pain? They're like, oh yeah, like he was a huge heart attack, like we ended up shipping him out. I'm like, okay, so I know what I'm doing, I get it. And so it just turned into like a good five years of a game, because every time I'd be stuck at triage I'm like, okay, let's see what comes up. And the more I trusted it, the more I was right. And then you get that validation back, going like, oh, I was, you know, I was really onto something there, okay. And so you double down. You're like, okay, well, now I'm going to listen to it more. And in the world of nursing and medicine, everything is very, you know, science-based and evidence-based and as it should be.
Speaker 2:And so these 3am conversations would happen with other nurses where you're going like, oh hey, like I just don't like the look of this guy or I don't like the feel of this, like my, there's something not right. And you'd get to a point where you then are asking the physician like hey, I just don't know about this, can you come and see this person? And sure enough, something was off. And again, more validation.
Speaker 2:And with COVID, and kind of hitting a super, super low point actually the lowest point I started writing down some of my good stories for my kids, in case you know, heaven forbid, I passed away during COVID and they wondered why I chose to continue to go to work instead of staying at home with them. So I started with the good stories, which then led to the bad stories, and it started clicking like oh, I keep using this and I didn't realize that that's what I was doing. And so, on a lark, I kind of just said like let me just see if there's any evidence to support this. And sure enough there has been like at least 20 years worth of evidence, not just on intuition but specifically intuition and nursing.
Speaker 1:So like okay, now that there's evidence, you know.
Speaker 2:Let's bring it into practice. Let's stop making the very woo-woo conversation. Let's let's put some emphasis behind it, because those of us who've been in it for many, many years, we, we do this, and it's only when I start talking about it that somebody else goes oh yeah, I do that all the time. And I'm like why, when I start talking about it that somebody else goes oh yeah, I do that all the time. And I'm like, why aren't we talking about this? Like, why aren't?
Speaker 1:we talking about it.
Speaker 2:It's it turned into the book nursing intuition, and so that's due out October this year and if nothing else, if it helps one person just understand that they're not alone and all this craziness, then my job is done. Um, but it's. It's something that we need to like, really start putting some emphasis in and start teaching and and it's not just nursing, it's, it's everything everybody's got intuition. Women women alone, are very good at intuition. You know, oh, I don't like the feel of that guy, I don't. Oh, he gives me the creep factor kind of thing.
Speaker 2:So that's one way to kind of start understanding that that feeling is intuition and then to try and start see if you pick that up in other situations where you know maybe your life isn't at risk or in danger or you're not in an uncomfortable situation, but you start realizing, oh, like I'm drawn towards this or like an idea popped into my head. Let me kind of follow that through a little bit longer than I normally would, just see where it goes.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's interesting that you said it doesn't only apply in nursing, because we do. But I think sometimes we get into our heads and we try and think our way out of and don't, almost not respect our own bodies, providing us with this gut feel, this instinct that is there to say can you come and pay attention to this? And then we, we sort of let the negative thoughts power and think we're lying to ourselves and you don't know, um, yeah, so so the book journey, how long did that take you?
Speaker 2:um, so, I, I wrote the book in six weeks I and that was, you know, in September, the first year of COVID um, and I don't remember writing it. I really don't. I wish I did, but I I don't know if I blocked it out because of some of the stories that I was delving back into. It was originally going to be traditionally published. It was picked up by a publisher in the States.
Speaker 2:Unfortunately, they've decided to go and focus more on their physiotherapy angle, which is their main goals and groups. So I've got my rights back and I didn't realize that I missed them until I got them back. But now I'm going to be self-publishing and just going full force with it and going to a couple of conferences this year and we're just going to bring not just intuition out and about and like talk about it and really get it out there, but it's also okay, like let's look at these really soft skills that we don't talk about, like intuition, and see how we can help newer nurses, develop them a little bit earlier to help them, you know, really get a good foot into nursing before they decide to leave.
Speaker 1:Right. Oh, this is going to be so powerful. By the time this episode launches, I have a feeling it might be time reasonably close to your book launch, so I want to make sure that we I'm presuming the book's going to be available via your website.
Speaker 2:Will you self-publish on Amazon as well, so the book is available for pre-order right now on Amazon. Okay, and and um, yeah, so October 29th it will be available for both paperback and ebook. Okay, yeah, and then going from there, so it'll be on Etsy, I'm sure I'll hawk it wherever I can go. That sounds fantastic and it's nursing intuition. Nursing intuition how to trust your gut, save your sanity and survive your career.
Speaker 1:All right, if we come up before your book launches, then listeners know that you can go and pre-order and while we are just talking about all the wonderful products and things that you're creating and putting out there and helping nurses not give up, tell me a little bit more about the products.
Speaker 2:So the journals are great and and fantastic and they're just there to support you through. So the grief journal alone gives you not just um prompts about how to process grief and exploring your own grief um, but then gives you room to write about up to five deaths um of either patients or family members or whoever kind of comes up. The wellness journal is more you know daily kind of intake as to like am I sleeping, am I eating, you know, am I moving? Am I feeling? Like again more gratitude.
Speaker 2:So you know, the smallest things that I can be thankful for, like just being able to take a deep breath without any pain or struggle or restriction, is just one of those things that so many of us take for granted. But it's not until we see those people who can't that we go oh man, we're actually really quite lucky to be able just to do this. And then again the hundred shifts, just kind of watching your skills grow. There's some teaching about, like identifying triggers and setting boundaries and a little bit of emotional intelligence in there. Again, just to solidify that there is so many angles to nursing that nursing school can't cover because there's just not enough time so you're sharing these with me.
Speaker 1:I'm just thinking to those that are listening. You want to get yourself an early Christmas gift in for your loved ones that are nurses. Nursing week is in May.
Speaker 2:Uh, you know if you, if your loved one, has got a specialty there are specialty have been so interesting because, you know, looking back doing some therapy, there was a moment where it's just like I don't know how many people I've touched, I don't know how many people I've talked to and I don't know how many deaths I've even attended. I can't even guesstimate, you know, I can't. There are so many monumental life moments that I've been a part of, for, for strangers, and a couple of those will stick and that's okay. If they stick, the do that they need, and understanding that we all have patients that we carry with us, that there are reasons why they stay with us, and as long as you're still able to function, that's kind of the main thing. But you know you can't see what we see and not take at home. So don't try to be superhuman and pretend like everything's fine, because just getting started in nursing alone you're not fine.
Speaker 1:Right. Well, it's such a huge sacrifice and it's such a long journey, and so for people to be giving this up a year or two in it's like what can we put in place to support them on that journey? So I know I'm going to make sure to have Jen, the places where people can go. Not only do you have an Etsy site which is called the Intuitive Nurse, but we also have your website which is nursejen, and that's j-e-n-nca. And then, yeah, before I just share, I have one other question for you. Before we jump into where else to find you, what do you wish the public knew about? Er?
Speaker 2:what I wish most that the public knew about the er is, um, if I'm not worried, you shouldn't be worried. You know, you may. I understand that you, coming to the ER, you feel like you are having a life-threatening emergency and and I understand that to a point um, I don't deserve to be abused, uh, verbally, physically, sexually, anyway. Um, you know, and and I'm not superhuman, I, I am a person, I am somebody's mother, I am somebody's, I am somebody's mother, I am somebody's wife, I am somebody's daughter.
Speaker 2:So, when you go into those situations, we will give you quite a bit of room understanding that pain, stress, anxiety, all creates different behaviors in people. However, there is a point at which we will not tolerate, tolerate it anymore. So please just understand, um, you know, we accept that you're unhappy with the way things are and you feel like things aren't moving fast enough. They never move fast enough. Um, but to take it out on your nurse or your physician or the health care aid is absolutely unacceptable. Um, please just think about you know, if I did this to a McDonald's employee, would I be arrested? Maybe, before you start swinging or spitting or hitting or kicking or calling me every name in the book, in every possible language.
Speaker 1:Thank you for sharing that, because I think, for those that are listening while you're listening and you're not in that ER situation, digest this, please, and just think about it that, yes, one is scared when you're in where you are, but as you said, we're all human and you're not a magician.
Speaker 2:As much as I would love to be a magician, there's only so much I can do. There's only so much I can push. Know that, no matter what, my attention is usually divided between anywhere from four to 20 people and truly just a thank you. Yeah, I, you know I would much rather a thank you than anything else. Um, a card also. A card goes such a long way because we can take photocopies of that card and then keep it in our journals again. It's really, really rough days where you've lost a patient. You feel like you haven't done enough.
Speaker 1:You're wondering why you're even here and you don't know that that thank you that you provided that to that nurse may be the thing that keeps them going yeah, oh, so powerful what you've been sharing and I just hope that those that are listening if you have anybody in the medical industry, I think of even taking this to to vets. I'm thinking it's the same thing with dealing with animals I mean, it's that same abuse and save my pet, and you know. So, those whole industries where we are, we're expecting people to be miracle makers and magicians, and they're all human, but with a gift. So for the new nurses, don't give up. Please don't give up.
Speaker 2:If you are not in an environment which is not supportive, please text me, find me on Instagram, find me on LinkedIn, you know, send me a message because, like I can guarantee you, I've been there, I've done it, I've been, you know, bullied to the nth degree. We can. I say we, but me and many of the people who I'm in contact with, we can find you a better option, and whether that's staying at the bedside or not, that's up to you, that's not for us to say, but just, please know that you are supported, and it may not feel like that, but there's 5 million nurses in the US alone and those are just the ones that are practicing. So you are supported and we're here for you.
Speaker 1:Thank you, jen. As listeners reach out to Jen, I'll make sure to have her links for all the social media the Instagram, the TikTok and her LinkedIn and if you can think of anybody that needs to listen to this episode, I invite you to share it with them and I encourage you to continue finding your own unique way of connecting, inspiring and creating that's going to bring a sense of joy into your life it's worth searching for. So until the next time, thank you, thanks, jen. Anytime, if you are looking for tools to build powerful habits around a lifelong positive mindset, then I'd love to explore what results you are looking for tools to build powerful habits around a lifelong positive mindset then I'd love to explore what results you are looking for in your life and your business.
Speaker 1:Every coach needs a coach. I'm sure you've heard that before. As a mindset and accountability coach, I work with women coaches in midlife to find balance in their business endeavors and prepare their foundation for a positive mindset. By blending my personalized accountability and mindset coaching along with the powerful positive intelligence program, you'll learn about saboteurs and sage powers and gain lifelong tools to create a shift in all areas of your life, from personal to professional, and reduce the negative self-talk and discover more self-love. Curious to know what your own saboteurs are, I invite you to take the free assessment provided by Positive Intelligence that you'll find on my website, carolcleggcom, and then book a call with me and let's explore the results, because I am here to support you on your journey. You can connect with me on LinkedIn. Just search for Carol Clay, or up by my website, carolclaycom.
