Nurses are the foundation of Binto's "why." Nurses carry us through so much of our lives with so little recognition—at every appointment, emergency, vaccine, they are holding our hands. We thank our nurses for their strength, compassion, charisma and sacrifices in taking care of patients. So what better way to honor National Nurses Week than with a daily feature of some of our favorites? Read on.
Amanda Laird, RN @ Binto
What are some of the most challenging situations you have faced as a nurse and how did you overcome them? Some doctors are extremely tough to work with. Navigating how to work with difficult personalities is definitely something that comes with time!
Can you share a story about a patient you helped to make a significant improvement in their health? Something that will always stick with me! When working in a local fertility clinic, I had a patient send me an email to announce the birth of her daughter, who they named Allison Amanda. At the end of the e-mail, she signed “In case you were wondering, she is named after you, the nurse who made this all possible!” By far one of my proudest moments.
How do you balance the emotional demands of nursing with your own well-being and self-care? My stress right now comes from school more than anything! It is hard to balance being a full-time mom, full-time employee, and full-time student! There are days when I could totally give up, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel and I am so close. I try to make self-care a priority and take time for myself, even if it's something as small as watching an episode of one of my shows on Netflix and not feeling guilty that I am not doing something productive. There are also days where I totally need a huge break, and take a mental health day to literally do NOTHING! After that, I always feel recharged.
What advice would you give to someone who is considering becoming a nurse? Nursing school is hard! But totally worth it in the end. Being crazy enough to go through this twice (I have been an LPN since 2011, and will finish my RN in May) my best advice is find what works for you to study early on in your program! Also, don't ever compare yourself to others, we have all been there, and it's tough!!
What do you love about Binto? As chaotic as my life can be, I LOVE the ease of Binto. I used to be like a little old lady with my weekly pill box between my vitamins and allergy medicine. I would dread the time that it took to refill every other week. Now with Binto I can just open a daily packet each night, grab my allergy medicine, and I am good to go for the night :)