Joey Wahler (Host): It's the road to a rewarding healthcare career. So, we're discussing a nurse's journey. Our guests, two registered nurses. We have Lindsay White, a certified diabetes educator, and also joined by Susan Mross. She's a care coordinator in population health. This is the Beebe Healthcare podcast. Thanks so much for joining us. I'm Joey Wahler. Hi there, Lindsay, Susan. Welcome.

Lindsay White, RN: Hello.

Susan Mross, RN: Hi there

Host: Great to have you aboard. So first, I'm wondering what inspired you initially, each of you, to pursue nursing in the first place and choose the Beebe School of Nursing as part of that? How about you, Lindsay?

Lindsay White, RN: Yes. So, I went to Sussex Tech High School, and there they had different tech areas. So, I was in the health pro tech area. And I honestly was not sure what I wanted to do, but then we had a speaker come from the Beebe School of Nursing, which sparked my interest. And then, I went to the open house there, and was very intrigued by the program. And when I graduated, they were just building the new building, so that was also very intriguing that I would be the first graduating class out of the brand-new building.

Host: Interesting. So, someone from Beebe helped to send you down this path.

Lindsay White, RN: Yes, correct.

Host: That's great. And how about you, Susan? What first made you realize this was for you?

Susan Mross, RN: So, I was actually a candy striper. I don't even know that they do that anymore, but I was a candy striper at Beebe. My aunt was also a nurse. She was a nurse manager on the third floor. And my grandmother was a nurse, so I had a lot of influence from that. I think from a young age, I always wanted to either be a nurse or a teacher.

And having Beebe right in Lewes where I grew up, I'm a Beebe baby, have lived here in Lewes my whole life. It just seemed like a good fit for me. And again, like Lindsay said with Sussex Tech, I'm a Cape Henlopen High School graduate, and we had career fairs and nurses came and talked to us about the program. So, it worked for me. It was like a no-brainer, I guess I would say. And that's what I chose to stay close to home and go to a good school.

Host: Right? Well, that's awesome. And we'd be remiss before moving on, Susan, if we didn't just briefly have you tell at least our younger audience what is or was a candy striper. I know, but tell them.

Susan Mross, RN: So as a candy striper, you helped patients. I filled water pitchers. You just answered call bells. Took them reading materials, and just kind of sometimes sat with patients and talked to them, and I feel like that really, Mrs. Woodhall, Edna Woodhall, was like the Director of the Program, and she was a phenomenal person, and I think that really sealed the deal for me that I felt nursing was something that I wanted to do, and I was able to watch the nurses actually care for patients, and it really was a good experience.

Host: Yeah, those early experiences in the field are certainly very influential for sure. And by the way, the term candy striper, the term for it comes from the fact that you and yours would wear multicolored uniforms, right?

Susan Mross, RN: Mine was like a pale red and white striped little smock that I wore. Yeah.

Host: Hence the name Candy Striper. So looking back, what part of your experience at the Beebe School of Nursing would you say best prepared you for real-world nursing work? How about you, Lindsay?

Lindsay White, RN: For sure the clinical experience at Bebe is huge. They really focus on clinical and bedside work, especially when you're in school in both of the years that you go. Specifically for me, I really enjoyed my emergency medicine rotation for clinicals, and that's where I ended up going afterwards, because you really take care of the patient's bedside with the nurses. You're putting in IV catheters, which most schools don't do anymore either, and that really just that hands-on experience is huge. And also for me, because I was so young when I graduated, just really getting the discipline down and, you know, we had to be there at 5:00 in the morning, and you had to make sure you were prepared for all your patients and really just making sure that you were aware of everything that was going on with your patients really was huge. And the instructors were so helpful and so knowledgeable, and they had so much experience. That really helped me for sure.

Host: Right. So, it sounds like a number of things there. How about you, Susan?

Susan Mross, RN: So, I would have to agree with Lindsay that the clinical experience that I had during my three years at Beebe was the foundation for my success as a nurse. And also the, faculty were mentors, people I respected. Some of them are lifelong friends and mentors to me.

So, those two things. Clinical experience, you can't compare it to any other school, I don't feel Beebe School of Nursing's number one in the state. And the faculty, I think they care so much about the students, and you can really tell that they are invested in your success and help you even post-graduation and still remain mentors, like I said, to me. So, I think that was, really, how I was prepared.

Host: Certainly great to hear. And how about a light bulb moment, if you will, when you thought to yourself, "I'm really on the right path." An experience that made you realize this in fact was the right choice for you. Lindsay?

Lindsay White, RN: Really, the first time I put in an IV successfully in my ER clinicals, I would say, was my first experience. And just getting that rush of like, you got it, you know what you're doing. And I remember Dr. Watson, was right there by my side the whole time and was so encouraging. That was fantastic. And then, I also wanted to add, too, with the School of Nursing, my last year when we were in the new building, they had just built the new simulation lab.

And that was also such a huge value to us, just because you were able to make mistakes and learn, and you weren't actually caring for a real patient, but everything was so lifelike with the monitors, and the patient was breathing, and you could hear breath sounds. That was a fantastic experience, and we continue to use that simulation lab now even as nurses just for refreshers and blitzes and those things.

Host: All right. So for Lindsay, it was something as simple as a successful IV insertion. How about you, Susan?

Susan Mross, RN: I'll say that, probably my senior year in nursing school, being the district nurse, you had a multiple, patient assignment. I had a tough instructor, and having a successful day and knowing that I could, you know, give report at the end of the shift, I took great care of my patients, that gave me a sense of pride and made me, you know, really believe in myself and knew that I could do it. And some days were harder than others, right? But I do feel that that experience was one of those things that really clicked for me, that I can do this, I can take care of multiple patients. I can really make a difference.

Host: And picking up on that point of Susan's, Lindsay, leads me nicely into our next question. What do you remember most about transitioning from nursing student to your first paid role, if you will, at Beebe? Because as Susan points out, it is a hard job and it is tough and stressful, I'm sure, in the beginning when you're wondering, "Do I belong here?" That type thing. But you gotta push through, right?

Lindsay White, RN: Absolutely. I would say that Beebe really supports their students. I was able to be a part of the externship program when I was in school. So in between your first and your second year, you're able to actually work at the hospital, and you work as a patient care tech for a day. And then, two of the other days you shadow a nurse, and that's just throughout that whole summer in between the two years.

And I was chosen to go to the ER, and that's what sparked my interest in emergency medicine first. And that really is what sold it for me because I was able to get that real-life experience as a student. And then, even throughout my senior year, I was able to work as a patient care tech in the ER throughout nursing school until I graduated, and then I started in the nurse residency program in the ER as well. So, they really set you up for success and get you ready to become a registered nurse at Beebe.

And then, also, what was so beneficial is that Susan was my manager in the ER, so we've worked together for a long time. And just having that support from her throughout my whole career has been so beneficial and so wonderful for me.

Host: Absolutely. And so, how about from your experience making that transition to that first regular role?

Susan Mross, RN: I would say that, my transition was a little different in that I did go 32 years ago—I'll date myself—my first job was at a nursing home because nursing, there weren't a lot of jobs in nursing when I graduated. So, I had an assignment of probably 20 patients when I first started in that job.

So, time management, I feel like Beebe, your instructors, you had to follow a schedule. And you had to be very organized, and you had to be able to prioritize, you know what you needed to tackle first. So, those things, I think, were embedded in me to always prioritize, be mindful of what needs to happen next and keep your thoughts, moving forward and what needs to come because it is overwhelming as a baby nurse.

Some people will say like, "It's very overwhelming." And there were many days that I would sometimes leave and think, "Wow, maybe what could I have done a little bit better today?" Or, you know, reflect on the next day on your return and what to do better to make the day go smoother.

And then, when I did come back to Beebe, which I did return, one of my old instructors had told me, you know, to let that first job just be a stepping stone, and it was just a stepping stone. So, I returned, to Beebe and, my orientation was great. I oriented on a couple different floors, 3MS, and was one of the places I oriented the most and then on the unit on fifth floor where I worked. But they made it very easy for me in transitioning. And I was nervous because I had worked in the long-term care setting and I hadn't really done acute care since I had been in school. So, I had a lot of support from just the leaders and the nurse managers in the hospital when I returned.

Host: So, you've both touched on this, but I wanted to just go back to it for a moment. The organization's support of both of you along the way, the camaraderie, the mentorship, sometimes just having somebody come over and say, "How's everything going?" I would imagine in the middle of a hectic day, taking the time to wonder if everything's okay.

Lindsay, anything more that you want to add about that, you know, that welcoming, supportive climate that's helped you along the way at Beebe?

Lindsay White, RN: Yes, absolutely. I mean, Beebe really is a community and a family. You know, we're in Sussex County, and it's really small town based. It's changing a lot now, as I'm sure everyone's kind of felt with all the development. But we really do still have that family essence. And I, you know, feel that especially now that I get to work across the hall from Susan. Like, she's been there every step of the way for me, and she's really been a mentor.

And then, also just to add onto that, I would say the residency program for new graduates is amazing because you really are still taking some courses. They're making sure that you're supported. You have a mentor that you can go to and, you know, your preceptor when you're training. And you have that touchpoint that if you do need to go over something or if you're feeling overwhelmed, there's always someone that you can talk to that will, you know, help you work out whatever issues it was, or if you just need to, you know, vent about something, there's always somebody. And that's the great thing with Beebe is that it is still very family-oriented and based.

Host: And Susan, I would imagine that when you've been well-mentored and that's been an important part of your experience, naturally it makes you want to pay it back to the next crew, right?

Susan Mross, RN: Yeah, exactly. And it's very important to mentor and guide young nurses, right? Because it is scary when you first start. I can remember some of those first days being on the floor. So, it's very important to be a mentor, to guide, to give that same feedback and support that I received when I was a young nurse.

I do feel strongly that it's very important. Lindsay talked about the family feel. I think that's really important. Caring for our community is really important to me. My family lives here. We take care of, friends, family members, our own family members sometimes come in. It's really important to be a support to young nurses as they learn their way.

Host: Absolutely. How about as you walk us through each of your respective career journeys here at Beebe, what motivates you over the years here to keep growing professionally? What excites you when you get up to go to work in the morning, Lindsay?

Lindsay White, RN: It's definitely been a journey. So as I've mentioned a lot, I worked in the ER for about 10 years. And that was just the initial part of my career. And then, I had my daughter, and some of my priorities changed, and she was born a Beebe too. She's a Beebe baby. And then I was just searching for more consistent hours. I necessarily didn't want to work on Christmas anymore. So, I was searching for something different, and I wanted to learn a new side of nursing. So, I did try a couple different things, which is the other great thing about this profession, is that you can always try different things and see what sticks and see what you like.

So, I was in labor and delivery for a little bit. I worked in radiology. And then, this job popped up as a diabetes educator. And I even remember when I was in nursing school, I shadowed the diabetes educator, and I remember thinking, "Wow, I would never do that," because I just thought I would be in the ER forever.

And now, here I am, and I love my job, and I'm very passionate about it, and I'm learning a whole new side of things. And it really goes full circle now. Because in the ER, we would see the acute patients and what was happening right then and see how we can, you know, just patch them up. But now, we're really able to see the outpatient side of it and the population health side and why these patients are returning to the ER and what other things we can do to prevent them from going into the ER and, you know, getting admitted. So, we're able to see that other side of it, which has really been eye-opening, at least for me, and I think for Susan too, as we're, like, really able to see full circle now.

Host: Well, let's ask Susan. Susan, how about you? When you head to Beebe on a daily basis, what are you most looking forward to at this point in your career?

Susan Mross, RN: So at this point in my career, I think, helping patients, meeting patients where they're at, and supporting them is really important to me. And I feel that our department, all of us together, makes such an impact on these patients' lives. Sometimes, patients that we call or I call every week, all they have—the only phone call they're getting is from us. They might not have any family here, or maybe their family lives far away. So, I think that hits home for me. And I'm a caregiver by nature and certainly feel as though I picked the right profession.

But now, in this role as a care coordinator, I think this role really was meant for me or meant for me to do it. I too have many years, over twenty years of experience in the emergency department. And I'll say getting out of school, I never thought I would work in the emergency department. But when I was working upstairs on a small unit, I too was off on maternity leave with my son, and my unit closed. And I had a choice to make, either work on the cardiac floor or go down to the emergency room. And I was like, "Oh, wow, emergency medicine. I don't know about that." It's not really anything I ever thought that I would enjoy, but I stayed over 20 and loved it.

But, you know, I think your life changes. My son was leaving to go away to college, and I thought, "You know, maybe it's time for me to make a change." I had worked my way up, after being a staff nurse upstairs on a small unit. I did some relief supervision for the whole house. And then, after Mitchell was born, I went back to the emergency room, and that's where I started. And I worked my way from a staff nurse to a charge nurse. I was then team leader and then became the nurse manager, and was with the nurse manager for the last couple years before I made the transition out here to population health.

And as Lindsay said, we now understand why patients return or get readmitted because they don't have what they need at home. So, our goal, I tell a patient when I call them for the first time, is, "My goal is to help keep you healthy and at home and make sure that you have what you need, and that you're safe."

So, it's really important, like, to be able to see that full circle in my career. And I think, with Lindsay's experience in the emergency room as well as mine, it helps us triage patients because sometimes we're just talking to them on the phone, right? We're not seeing them. So, our experience as ER nurses helps us be able to triage what's really going on with them and get them what they need.

Host: So, you've both clearly been able to roll with the punches, make some big changes in your career, and just keep moving along. That's awesome. Couple other questions for you two. First, how about one, I'm sure there are many, but nurses of course sometimes become close with patients on a professional level where you get to know these people and sometimes you see them multiple times and going through various experiences in the hospital.

So, how about, Lindsay, that one patient or at least one patient interaction or experience that stayed with you and reminds you of why you chose nursing in the first place?

Lindsay White, RN: Oh, wow. That's such a big question. There's so many patients. I'll use one from recent, especially with this new career. What I love about it is that I'm able to get the follow-up. So in the ER, we would treat them and then, you know, just send them to the floor, or we would discharge them, and we never knew what happened after that.

This job, I get the follow-up. So, I get to see their lab values getting better. I get to see them physically getting better, and that's what I love. And I can just, you know, say one patient example. Like, you know, I had a patient with an A1c of 16%, which is very high. Their glucose was very out of control. And then, we've gotten them off their insulin, their labs come back down to normal, and their A1c has been 6%, and it's been, you know, sustained. So, just seeing that progress with my patients, I feel like their biggest cheerleader, and that's my favorite part of my job is just seeing that progress.

Host: That's great. So, how about you, Susan? What would you point to as at least one of, again, I'm sure countless examples over the years?

Susan Mross, RN: Yeah, countless examples. But I would say too, in my role now, sometimes like Lindsay said in the ER, we didn't get a lot of follow-up or know how patients did, right? We treated them, got them where they needed to go. Here in my role, you know, if we discharge a patient from the program, we always say to them, "Hey, listen, if you have a question in the future, please don't hesitate to call us."

I have patients call me back all the time that say, "Hey, Susan, I don't know if you remember me, but you took care of me when I first got out of the hospital. I have a question. Could you help me with this?" And I've had that happen multiple times, and I think that just speaks to the connection that I'm able to make with these patients and, you know, they trust me and reach out to me. They keep my number. We tell our patients to put our numbers in their phone so that if they see that it's us calling, they'll answer, right? That gives me a lot of sense of pride when they call me back and they say, "Can you help me with this?" Even if it's just something little, it's really important to me.

Host: I'm sure it is. And you mentioned pride there, Susan. Speaking of pride, last question for the two of you, kind of a two-parter in summary here. What does being a Beebe nurse mean to you today when we talk about that pride factor, et cetera? And what advice would you give someone considering the Beebe School of Nursing today or just a career in nursing in general?

Lindsay White, RN: And I think of a couple words to describe the Beebe nurses that I know. I would think compassion, think integrity, knowledgeable, and excellence would probably be just a couple of the adjectives. All of us are really trying to learn and grow as much as we can, and I think there's a lot of support from our organization to grow.

I mean, I've had a lot of different roles here, and I've always felt supported in my transitions. And I think my best advice to somebody that is considering nursing would be just to always keep an open mind. I think we're really great examples of that, you know, just with Susan and I, because we were in the ER for so long, had these different careers, and then have transitioned to something you would think from the outside is completely different. But really, we've brought a lot of our skills with us, and they've really helped us along the way.

Host: Susan?

Susan Mross, RN: I have some great leaders and support system throughout my career, and they have supported me. Nursing is a challenge on most days, right? but really you can do anything in this profession. There's so many things you can do now, right? And never say never, because I can tell you graduating from nursing school, I never envisioned that I would work in the ER ever, and I spent 20 years there, over 20 years there.

And it's just what you envision yourself doing as a 20, 21-year-old, now in my 50s, to stay in something for 20 years, like the ER setting. I think having a great support system is what makes people stay, right? Because the turnover rate in the ER is, you know, pretty high because it's a stressful job. But I feel really strongly that all the support that I've had from my mentors and my leaders over the years have made made such a difference.

Host: Well, folks, we trust you are now more familiar with a nurse's journey. As Susan points out, never say never. These two women, certainly prime examples of that. Lindsay, Susan, congrats on a great career to this point. Certainly best of luck with what I'm sure is still a bright future ahead, and thanks so much again.

Lindsay White, RN: Thank you so much.

Susan Mross, RN: Thank you.

Host: Absolutely. And for more information, please do visit beebehealthcare.org. If you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social media. I'm Joey Wahler. And be sure to check out the entire podcast library for topics of interest to you. Thanks again for being part of the Beebe Healthcare podcast.