Episode 6 - Lyn McCright & Teresa Walding - Building Resiliency for ALL of humanity through Nurse Coaching!

Thank you for joining us for another episode of the Nursing Strategies for Success podcast. In today's episode, we have two very special guests joining us, Lynn McCright and Theresa Walding, the director and associate director of Advancing Nurse Coaching Program. With a vast history of clinical leadership and education experience, both Lynn and Theresa have the upper hand on building nurse resilience So let's welcome both Lynn and Theresa to the show. Welcome to the Nursing Strategies for Success podcast, brought to you by The Nurse Speak, a show where we rally some of our nation's greatest nurse leaders, educators, experts, and advocates to tackle some of our greatest challenges that the nursing profession faces. My name is Damion Jenkins, and I'm your host for this show. So sit back, relax, and get ready to learn that nurses can do anything. Okay, thank you so much, Lynn and Teresa, for being on today's episode of the Nursing Strategies for Success podcast. Lynn, let's go ahead and start with you. Can you just to introduce yourself to the listeners. Let them know where you've gone throughout your nursing journey and where you are today.

Oh, thank you so much for having us, Damion. It's wonderful to have you in this space where nurses are discovering who they are and bringing their gifts to the world in a new way. I am so privileged to have been in private practice for myself as a nurse in California as long ago as 35 years. So—

Wow.

At that time, I was focused on focusing on what I described as stress resolution and prevention. That was actually the name of my business.

Mm-hmm.

But it has translated now far more clearly into resilience. And resilience, I find, is the most important part of health for all of us. So my background is I'm a nurse practitioner from the University of Minnesota. I have adult and geriatric experience background. Most of my work has been in the community because I saw this coming, the time that we're in now, 30 years ago. And it was so immediate for me. I knew that I had to get the word out for nurses. And we've been very fortunate to have aligned ourselves with the American Holistic Nurses Association, and, um, the Certification Corporation. They are the only— we as nurses— nursing is the only profession that is actually offering a national board certification in coaching.

Wow, wow, that's pretty incredible. So, you know, before we get to Theresa's introduction, I just wanted to clarify, 30 years ago you recognized then, and I want everyone to listen up here, 30 years ago you recognized then that being able to handle the stresses of our duties as nurses is a major barrier for career success, for institutional success, for patient care. You recognized this 30 years ago, right?

This is our time. Yeah. I saw this coming. This is our time now to rewrite the definition of nursing. And what it is that nurses do. And each one of us are bringing our own part of that together to make the whole picture. We're creating it. We're creating it now.

Well, there's so much to discuss about that. So before we get into the, the details of that, um, Teresa, go ahead and take a moment to introduce yourself for the listeners. Also let them know a little bit about your nursing career and where you are today.

Great, thank you. My name is Teresa Walding and I've been a nurse since 1993, so a while. I started out in intensive care, moved on to rehab. I opened a geriatric psych unit and, um, really found holistic nursing very early in my career and really resonated with that whole-bodied experience that people have. And I wrote a goal because I saw so much suffering in people, especially in the middle of the night, because they all come to the emergency room. So I thought, what can we do to help people in the middle of the night when no one's around? I didn't know it's what I'm now doing, is teaching the Resilience Principles, a whole new way of bringing resilience to humanity through nursing. And we're doing that through our coaching program and teaching people that really insight into our circumstances and into the way that we think is creating change. Insight's the outcome. It's the tangible piece of who we are that when we see it, we know it. It's the most important part of a coaching conversation, or even just being a human being, helping each other. And I wish I had known this long before I went into nursing because it would have made the journey so much easier. There would have been a lot less on my mind. And it's an amazing journey when you know that you have the power at any moment to see it for yourself.

Wow. So, you know, Just to piggyback off of that briefly, so you, you mentioned, had you known sooner, how do you think that would have impacted you as a nurse even if you had this insight sooner?

Because I would have not been as reactive in life. I came to a point in my career about 6 years ago where I wanted to quit nursing. I was tired. I was having family issues. And my body hurt, all of it. And when I realized that all of that was created through my thinking about it— and, and we'll talk a little bit about it— but having insight into you as the creator of your world healed me. And it was an amazing vision that I had. I was like, 'Oh my gosh, I'm the one that's been creating this whole chaotic feeling in my life and I didn't even know it.' Imagine that.

Yeah, imagine that. So, you know, that is so powerful to understand that a lot of what we feel is a lot of times brought on by ourselves, um, although the circumstances may have brought us to feeling those things or thinking in that way, um, at the end of the day, in every moment, we are in full control of how we react. But not everyone knows that, and not everyone has the skill set to be able to think in that manner. And actually, this applies to nursing in so many different ways because we have to be objective in our decision-making. We have to remain in the truth of the situation, to only really focus on what we know to be true and not spend so much time dwelling in the unknown or the what-ifs, right? And so this is exactly what I teach my clients when I'm helping them go through NCLEX prep, right? And how to make decisions about which answer is the best. So many of us spend so much time and energy focusing on the what-ifs, the unknowns, the what should have beens, rather than focusing on the right now. What do we have in front of us that we can leverage and make the best of the situation? So it sounds like both Lynn and Theresa, you realized that having this mindset to be able to— and tools, I'm sure there's lots of additional tools that fall just beyond mindset to leverage resiliency. And so, Theresa, you mentioned you were looking at quitting nursing altogether 6 years ago. Lynn, at any point in your career, did you ever have the same thoughts?

No, I found this so early on that— well, okay, so when I went to graduate school, I was terribly disappointed because when I went to the School of Public Health, all I learned about was diet and exercise. And I knew that there had to be more to health because that was my goal, to find out about health. That was my topic. And when I finally found this, there was no more looking. And I just immediately saw it and knew that it had to come to the health professions, because when people are in trouble, the health professionals are who they turn to every time. And we have to be— I made that sound very like a requirement, but We are, we are the strongest people in, in the world because we are the ones who care for others.

Absolutely. I'm not going to disagree with that at all. I don't think that it sounded like it was a requirement or that you're telling people that that is the only option. Obviously, there's tons of other options, but you're right, healthcare professionals who are dedicating their lives, their time, their energy, their money, their career investments to take care of others. Truly, you know, we are a stronger breed than the average person. Now, moms make up most of the nursing profession, right? We have tons of moms out there. So moms are always the number one hardest working individual on the planet. I will always say that. But nurses, doctors, and everyone who cares for individuals, we are the people that individuals turn to when they're having issues. Whether they're physical issues, psychological issues, even financial issues or socioeconomic issues, healthcare providers are still largely part of the process to get people on their feet, empower them with the education to take care of themselves and put themselves in a better situation. And what better way than to do it through coaching? So, you know, I want to take just a moment and say, what was the turning point? There had to have been one thing that happened in your career that just was the light bulb for you to say, okay, I need to stop everything I'm doing and focus all of my attention and dedication into providing this sense of resiliency so that we can save our profession, so that we can help other nurses, so that can optimize their performance and energy so that they can continue to do the good work and fight the fight. So we'll start with you, Lynn. When, when did that happen for you? What was that spark?

Well, I really wanted to hand it back to Teresa because even though she and I have been working together very closely for the last 5 years, and even over the last 10, she actually made that decision, full-body decision, in April of this year. Awesome. Talk about that, Teresa.

Yeah, Teresa, let's, let's hear from you then.

So just to back up just one tiny bit, I found these principles at one of our conferences that we did for the American Holistic Nurses Association. Our chapter does a conference or a retreat every year except for COVID. But, um, at that conference was a man named Dr. Keith Blevins who brought to my attention— the name of the conference is Why Aren't We Mo— more resilient. And he was talking about the one thing that we all do that we don't pay that much attention to, which is how we think. Not, not what we think, but that we think. And though he— it's a very long conversation, not for here, but what he was talking about was separate realities. And inside-out way of thinking about life versus the outside-in, which is when what we mostly pay attention to is circumstances, situations, other people. When you bring it home to the inside-out, what came crystal clear to me was, oh my gosh, I am creating most of what's happening in my life through the way I think about it.. And I heard that not at the intellectual level, but at that deep, full-bodied experience level as a sensation that I knew was true. And in that instant, the pain left my body. I could not believe it. So that started me on this journey to where Lynn and I started working together 5 years ago, creating our school to teach this, these principles through nurse coaching. And we've been working on it, working on it, teaching people. And in April of this year, as Lynn just alluded to, I released my job so that I could do this full-time, because I know that if these principles that we're talking about can change me, they can change anyone. I am no different than anyone else. Right.

We really have two goals for our business, which— the first of which is to bring new life to ourselves and our profession. And secondly, through that, to bring resilience to all of humanity through nursing.

Wow.

And so we're the largest profession worldwide.

We are. We make up the entire healthcare system worldwide. Um, and so, I mean, that that just seems so naturally aligned with the mission of nurses anyhow. Right. So I don't know why anyone wouldn't want to be on board with this. And actually, I'm so glad that I have you on the show and that the listeners are getting an opportunity to hear the work that you're doing. Because again, you know, I coach individuals as well, and I help them pass the NCLEX, and I help them transition into care. And sometimes my clients come back to me years later with crisis saying, I'm a manager of a unit now and my whole world is falling apart. What am I supposed to do in this situation? And a lot of the things that you're talking about, I also kind of give them. I don't have any formal training in resiliency. I haven't been through any kind of coaching programs to learn the strategies that you offer. And I may just do that because I feel like it could really help me. But I'm fortunate enough to be a wise soul. I feel like I've lived a thousand lives, and some of the stuff just comes naturally to me. Um, but it makes so much sense that the moment when you consider how you're thinking about things, um, and the perceptions that you're allowing yourself to have based on what's happening around us can really change the narrative. Um, you know, we all go through traumas in life, and there have been some traumas of my own where, because I had this deep knowing that I can change the way I'm perceiving the situation, I was able to completely change the outcome, you know, calm myself, focus on what I needed to do to protect myself, to get out of that situation, to help others. And not everyone has those skill sets naturally, and sometimes they have to be taught those. So I'm very glad that we have you here.

Oh, Damion, it's such a beautiful thing because what we've discovered is that there, there are no tools or techniques that are needed. That what we present as the principles is through, through logic. It is presented through logic, but it can only be understood through insight. And the goal of all coaching is insight. We want people to be able to see for themselves why they might want to make a change. It could be career, it could be health, it could be relationships, any, any number of life challenges. But we have, have realized that all of these tools and techniques are saying that we're not already there. What we are saying, and which is Why I describe it as the revolution in nursing. I wrote an article with that title in 2017 for the Holistic Nurses. The revolution in nursing begins, and it begins because we are already there. There is no struggle. All that is required now is to recognize that each of us for ourselves in our own time with the framework that we provide, you will learn, we will each learn, we all are learning every day in our lives and in our careers.

Mm-hmm. Awesome. So let's talk a little bit about how, you know, someone can take some of what you're teaching, this framework, if you will, just a snippet, something that our listeners can maybe walk away with today that can help them immediately in their practice, career trajectory, relationships, whatever the situation may be, just something that they can do to focus and start changing the way that they're feeling, how things are happening around them.

Theresa, you're writing a welcome packet for our students. Maybe we could begin there.

Well, I was actually thinking, You know, the best way to describe what we do is through metaphor or story. And I have a great story called It's Not About the Fish. And I think it applies to every single thing that we do in life. So the scene opens where I'm at work, I'm in the break room, and one of my colleagues is very upset because she and her husband had had an argument the night before. I was like, oh, so tell me what that was about. She said, well, I was in my happy place. I was going to cook fish for dinner, and I'd gone to the store and I picked out all these, you know, wonderful healthy things for us. And I'm in the kitchen cooking the fish, and he walks in the door and he goes, oh, what are you doing? And he's like, why are you cooking fish? It smells horrible. And she goes, tried to explain to him what was happening, and he couldn't hear her. He'd had a bad day at work. He didn't like the smell. He— I could guess he probably wasn't even hungry. And they had an argument over it. Fish goes in the trash. They go to bed frustrated, and they kind of make peace before they go to sleep, but she was still upset about it the next day. And I said, Julie, it's not about the fish. It's about each person's separate reality of what's happening in their world, and neither the two shall mix. We can't— we cannot have someone else's thoughts. They can't have ours. As much as we would like that to happen, it's not possible. And she was like, oh my God, I feel so sorry for him. He had a really bad day. And it was no longer about the circumstance. It was about the compassion that she could see that she didn't see herself in that situation. And for days afterwards, she would— something would be happening at work where it would be a little bit hard, or someone wasn't communicating well, and she'd walk by and she'd whisper, "It's not about the fish." And I was like, You're right. It's about how we are each coming with our thoughts to wherever we're at.

Wow, that's so powerful. And that resonates with me very much so. And I say it all the time. I wish I could be a mind reader, but that's a skill set that I've never been able to attain. And so I've learned a long time ago that it's not fair to assume assume anything about anyone or to assume that someone's reaction or actions is because of you. You know, we need to really understand that things that are happening might not have anything to do with us. But again, we are in full control of how we respond. And so that's a really great story to emphasize that. So, you know, thank you so much for sharing that with us.

So, you know, Teresa just had a huge insight a couple of days ago. It's very brief, and if you could share that, Teresa, about what you and Jennifer experienced, that would be awesome.

So there's a— I, I was looking through some old materials, and my daughter had picked up on something that I had said, and it said that allow others to have their own experience. It's not yours. To take. And so here we go to get some lunch together. And she has a moment in the car, you know, things are falling and the seatbelt's locking. And she's very upset. And I just sat there. And she goes, you're using what you said, aren't you? And I said, this is your moment, you get to have it. I'm, I'm not in that moment with you. I'm witnessing your moment. But I'm not in it with you. And she, she's like, I'm over it now. Thanks for letting me have it. Absolutely. And those are, those are very small insights, but in those moments of stress and frustration, anger, tearfulness, just being there and being a witness to mirror for that person themselves. That's what a coach does, is holds that space for someone to be their mirror so they can see themselves, maybe even for the very first time.

Awesome, that's really great. And, um, yeah, this is amazing stuff, and I can see how your program would be very helpful for anyone who goes through it. I know your focus is on nurses because they can get the certification to become a certified nurse coach, but really, I think you guys have something here that can for everyone.

Yes.

So that's maybe some future planning to branch out and offer courses for anyone who is interested in learning how to leverage their own resiliency to manage the variety of complications and challenges that we face in today's world because we have plenty of things to deal with, right? So awesome. So if individuals wanted to learn more about either one of you or about the course that you offer, the certified, uh, the certification to get board certified, um, to be a nurse coach. Um, and I just wanted to piggyback on a conversation that we had before we started recording. There was a mention that anyone can start the course and take the course, but in order for you to get certified as a nurse coach, you have to have how many years of nursing experience?

It's 2 years of experience.

Okay, perfect.

And I, I just am really wanting to say that we are totally leading edge in the profession. Um, the certification only came about in 2013, so it's 7 years new. And what, what we have, uh, right now there are only 5 private schools of nurse coaching and 3 doctoral programs for nurse practitioners that include nurse coaching. So a very small group Right now, I think the number of people that are certified nationally is somewhere in, in the range under 750, but it's growing exponentially as, as nurses recognize the, the potential here and the opportunities that they have, um, to be entrepreneurs. The National Institutes of Health came out with a study, a research study, and it shows that 25% of nurse coaches work in the hospital. So you don't have to leave the hospital to be a nurse coach. And in fact, because you can become nationally board certified, if you're working for an institution that wants Magnet status or Pathways to Excellence, this qualifies as, as a certification for you. Absolutely. Yeah. And your institution may be able to pay for that for you. In fact, there is a separate testing fee for the exam, but We have our program entirely online. It always has been. When we actually opened, we did open on 3 continents. So we were in Asia, we were in Europe, all across the US. We have students in Canada now because the world of nursing is experiencing the same issues worldwide. We are not separate. We are together. The pandemic has simply proven that in, in a much more direct way than we've ever been able to say it. Yeah, um, I, I think that there were 3 major— well, so 25% work in hospitals, 25% are self-employed, and then the other 50%, which is the largest number, work in the community. And nurses are going back into the community. That's where we started, that's where we're going, we are going back to. And the Gallup poll tells us every year for ever since 9/11 that We are the most trusted profession. We're the most ethical and the most honest, and therefore considered to be the most trusted. Well, let us be in contact with our public. Let us be the nurse for that public because they trust us. And we know, um, that, that nursing has no ceiling now. Our, our possibilities are absolutely unlimited, and there could not be a better time to be a nurse.

Absolutely. Despite all of the challenges that our profession is facing at the moment, you're right, we have so many opportunities to change the face of our healthcare system, our profession, and the way that the general public views nursing as a profession. We have lots of opportunity to really make a big impact here. And I think that the work that both you, Lynn, and Theresa are doing is very much commendable. It's something that's needed. And just to piggyback a little bit about what you mentioned with 50% of the nurse coaches still being, or being in the community and then 25% being in the hospital, I think this is a major opportunity for healthcare organizations specifically healthcare organizations to invest in their nursing staff and provide at a minimum the leaders and the preceptors and the educators and everyone who shapes and molds their nursing staff with this type of training. Because this is not something that is taught in nursing school. This is not something that onboarding in healthcare institutions teaches their providers. This is something that is needed for us to to face the challenges of the increasing demands on our healthcare system, to balance the budget, to deal with the legal things that are happening, um, to really save our healthcare industry as a whole. I think this is a major opportunity for some reinvestment and some basic foundations to make sure that the nursing staff and the nursing profession is kept healthy and safe, because If we go away, our healthcare system is over.

I, you know, and, and really we are the healthcare system, as, as you have said, Damion Jenkins Jenkins. And I, I love it when they surveyed the certified nurse coaches, 70% of them said that they had improved job satisfaction and 80% said that they had improved interpersonal relationships. 85% said that they had improved personal health. How about we have to take care of ourselves first? It, it doesn't work any other way. And that's one of the things that the American Holistic Nurses has always been the strongest about— taking care of the nurse first.

Absolutely. Um, so essential. Any leaders out there listening to this, anyone with bargaining power, anyone who balances the budget for your organization, I think it would be very important for you to reach out to Lynn and Theresa and see if how you might be able to partner with them to get their training for your nursing staff. Because I think this is a great place where we can start with saving our healthcare system because it's so needed. Our healthcare institutions are overwhelmed. The nurses are leaving like crazy, most likely because they are overwhelmed, stressed out, burned out. Falling apart mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. And I think that this training and insight will help them tremendously. So Lynn and Theresa, if the listeners want to get in touch with you or learn more about your program, where can they go to learn more?

Well, our website is the best place. We're putting up a new website any day now. But it's a very simple two-word website. It's Nurse nursecoaching.com.

Nursecoaching.com for all of you listening. And where else can individuals find you if they want to connect with you individually? We'll start with you, Lynn.

Well, we, we're on all of the social media, so, so you can find us there. Um, our name is actually Advancing Nurse Coaching, so that's how you'll find us on social media.

Awesome, very good. How about you, Theresa? Any additional ways people can find you?

No, just through, through our website. One easy place to connect with us and get directly to us.

Awesome, very good. And so for all of you listening, I will have the website and how you can get in touch with Lynn and Teresa in the show notes of this podcast, in addition to any other social media links that they may provide. So I want to thank you, Lynn and Teresa, so much for being with me on today's show. I really appreciate the work that you're doing. I know you're making amazing progress in improving the profession. I am honored to have had you here, and I look forward to collaborating with you and maybe even boosting my own resiliency so that I can continue to help individuals as well. I want to thank you so much for being on the show, and we'll be talking soon.

Thank you so much.

Thank you. Thank you.

Take care. Take— Take care. We'll talk soon.

Alright, bye.

And that concludes episode 6 of the Nursing Strategies for Success podcast with guests Lynn McCright and Theresa Walding. We hope that all of the strategies we've shared for you in today's episode will help you to develop nursing strategies for success. If you have any questions about this podcast, you can always visit me at thenursespeak.com. I would love to have a conversation with you. You can find all of the ways to get in touch with Lynn and Theresa in the show notes of this podcast. And if you're ready to get started in your nurse coaching career pathway, you can start by visiting nursecoaching.com. So until next time, be well, take care, And remember that nurses can do anything.