Hi, I'm Lauren.
If you're here, you already know that I'm a nurse and that I work in nursing education. Instead of giving you the résumé version of my life, I figured I'd tell you a little about the person behind it.
I'm a lifelong learner with a tendency to become deeply invested in things that were supposed to be casual interests. Thanks, ADHD! I like learning, creating, and generally keeping my brain busy. I also have a habit of picking up new hobbies with considerably more enthusiasm than skill, which has resulted in a rotating collection of craft supplies and several projects that I am absolutely going to finish one day.
I love to read, paint, sing, travel, and spend entirely too much money at HomeGoods. We won't even talk about Barnes & Noble.
I live on the East Coast with my husband, Sam, two English Springer Spaniels, Echo and Ivy (subtle nursing puns there), two cats, Tortellini and Macaroni, six chickens—Dorothy, Blanche, Sophia, Maleficent, Ralph, and Cassandra—and an unreasonable number of fish for someone who hates doing tank and pond maintenance.I'm also a rabid Philadelphia sports fan, which means I yell entirely too loudly at professional athletes who cannot hear me through a television screen. I love traveling pretty much anywhere, spending time with my family, and finding literally any excuse to hang out with my sister over chips and guac.
and then there's nursing...
I started my career in cardiac stepdown, where I spent three years before COVID-19 hit and I transitioned into ICU nursing. Somewhere in the middle of all that, I started teaching clinical—and discovered that I really enjoyed it. I made it about 18 months in the ICU before I burned myself to an absolute crisp and decided I needed to get the hell out for my own sanity.
My next stop was a Level I Trauma ER, which I loved. The ER is my home. My inner chaos gremlin thrives on the uncertainty, the problem-solving, and, admittedly, a healthy dose of drama. After the ER, I tried travel nursing for a bit, decided it wasn't for me, and somehow wound up in hospice. I liked that, too. But after another 18 months, I was ready to get back to the action of the hospital.
By then, I was almost finished with my MSN in Nursing Education, and I was thrilled to land a clinical nurse educator position on an incredibly busy, high-acuity medical-surgical telemetry floor.
I've been incredibly lucky to build a career that lets me combine a lot of the things I naturally enjoy: learning, problem-solving, teaching, and talking way more than is probably necessary.
These days, I get to work with nursing students, new graduate nurses, and experienced nurses alike. I help my staff stay current with evidence-based practice, work through challenging situations, and figure out what they need to be successful. Basically, I get to teach, troubleshoot, and occasionally make everyone's life a little easier.
And I really like that.
So how did I get into tutoring?
Honestly? Frustration.
I get incredibly frustrated when I see people in positions to teach who aren't doing it particularly well. I believe we're simultaneously making nursing education more watered down while failing to teach it particularly well—and cutting back on valuable clinical learning opportunities in the process.
The result is a whole lot of stressed, anxious, underprepared nursing students who struggle to transition into the workforce and don't feel nearly as confident or capable as they should.
I have a lot of feelings about this and the overall future of nursing. But that's a conversation for another time.
I should also say that I probably wouldn't have found my way here if it weren't for the phenomenal Janna Holterman of Janna Holterman Coaching LLC. Janna helped me reclaim my energy, figure out who I actually am outside of my job, and—perhaps most importantly—reignite my desire to help other people who have found themselves in places I've been before.
That eventually led me here, to the intersection of tutor, mentor, educator, and friend. I don't just want to help you learn, I truly want to see you succeed. I want to celebrate with you for all of your wins - whether that is passing an exam, making a personal breakthrough, or rocking the NCLEX.
So that's me—at least the nutshell version. ;)
Thanks for being here. I'm glad you stopped by.
