My Story

Up until the age of thirteen, I was a healthy, athletic teenager. Until one morning, on what should have been my first day of band camp, my alarm clock sounded off. It startled me. When I opened my eyes, the room was spinning. I woke up hours later in the emergency room at our small local hospital with no monitoring, no cardiologist, and no interventions. That was the first of many episodes of being mismanaged in the healthcare setting that I entrusted with my life. Years of frustration would follow with a series of misdiagnoses, disregard, labels, and even errors and oversights that nearly cost me my life. Time and again, even after receiving a diagnosis of Prolonged QT Syndrome (PQTS), my symptoms were mismanaged and dismissed as hyperactivity, anxiety, and even indigestion. Despite numerous trips to the emergency room after dizzy spells and near fainting. I'd get an EKG, no diagnosis or treatment, then be sent me home.

It was in 1994. I was driving on a busy road when I got extremely dizzy. My cousin and her newborn baby were with me. I was terrified. Fortunately, I made it to the emergency room where, once again, they said my EKG looked normal and that "nothing was wrong". I was upset about the lack of treatment but I was also mortified knowing that I could have fainted while driving and potentially harmed or even fatally injured myself or some else. I had to advocate for myself! They begrudgingly admitted to a telemetry unit. That day marked the beginning of a lifetime of advocating for myself and eventually advocating for others as well. Less than two weeks into my hospital stay, I had an episode of Torsades de Point that was finally captured on telemetry. Finally! The physician reviewed it. Cardiology was consulted. And I received my first pacemaker the very next day.

Having cardiac issues since childhood has been difficult but it undoubtedly has made me a better  nurse. I prioritize my patients as the center of every shift change, physician rounds, and involving them in their own care. Despite my efforts as a bedside nurse, advocating for my patients often fell on deaf ears. I've witnessed the pushback between nursing and providers cause delays in patient care that contributed to poor patient outcomes. I have experienced multiple preventable errors as a patient, a parent, and witnessed as a nurse. Some of which led to injury, suffering, and in worse cases even death. Fortunately, for me and my loved ones, I was at the bedside to advocate on their behalf. Others don't always have that advantage. Families and patients are often unaware of the near-misses and errors that cause injury. Many also lack understanding of of the care they are receiving or even the procedures they consent to. As an independent (not working for the facility), I can fully advocate for my patients and families and help prevent and correct errors and oversights, and help ensure informed consent to improve patient outcomes and satisfaction. This not only protects and improves outcomes for the patient, it can also be an opportunity to bring awareness to and improve patient care for the facility.

Over the years, I've taken extraordinary measures to provide care for my patients and families as well as improve my skills and broaden my knowledge. But, like many nurses, I simply became burnt out by the ever increasing demands of nursing compounded by a sense of hopelessness that I could truly make a difference. But working independently with individuals, couples, and groups as a nurse coach I can effectively help others to develop into the better, healthier version of themselves that they desire to be. 

That is the foundation of The Nurse Coach, PLLC. I aim to help people feel and be safe in the healthcare system. It is also my hope that physicians and practitioners see overall improvements in their patients baseline health as coaching provides the guidance, education, and support they need to understand their medical conditions, treatment plans, medications, and learn to be active participants in their own health. As an independent nurse coach, I can effectively fill that gap and effect change for a safer, more efficient, and more effective healthcare model.