Season 2: Episode 3: Alexandria Rosa - Enhancing the Nursing Profession through Diverse Leadership

Thank you for joining me for another episode of the Nursing Strategies for Success podcast with this week's guest, Alexandria Rosa. Alexandria, also known as Alex, has been a nurse for over 18 years with ICU education and holistic health experience, and she has developed a head-to-toe assessment for caring for professionals who are seeking balance in their life. Alexandria also prides herself as being part of the Latina community and enhancing our nursing profession through representation and diverse leadership. So let's welcome Alex 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, so thank you so much, Alex, for joining us on the Nursing Strategies for Success podcast. Why don't you just take a moment and introduce yourself to the listeners? Let them know a little bit about who you are, where you started in nursing, and where you are today.

So yeah, my name is Alex Rosa. I am a registered nurse. I am in Ohio near the Cleveland area, and actually my nursing career began as a college dropout of a nursing program.

How about that?

Yeah, I initially went to, um, to a nursing program, like a 4-year degree for a bachelor's degree. And honey, I got like 6 months into the program and I dropped out. I was failing classes. I just was not doing well. And so I dropped out and it hit me really hard, hit my family hard, you know, the whole disappointment aspect. And, um, it took me about 2 years before I got back into healthcare. And so I graduated high school in 2000.

Okay.

Took me about 2 years to kind of get back into things. Lots of odd jobs here, job there, job, but nothing in healthcare. So finally I decided to take a nurse aide training class at my local community college, and I successfully did that. And so I became a nurse aide, and so I started working as that. And then from there I went and got my LPN, and I did my LPN thing for a while. Then I went and got my associate's degree, and then I got my bachelor's. And so now currently I'm finishing up my doctorate. I'm in my last semester of my doctorate. Yay.

Congratulations.

Yeah. So this May I'll graduate. And the track that I did, I did a BSN to DNP program, and my focus was not being a nurse practitioner. I knew after all the years of working, that, that's not something that I wanted to do. So what I instead focused on was the Health Systems Leadership track, and I have loved it. And so that's what I'm going to be finishing up with. And so that's kind of my journey into healthcare and kind of where I am right now.

Awesome. So you've kind of gone through the whole gambit of nursing, um, from being a nursing assistant all the way through being a doctoral candidate, which is super exciting. You should be very proud of yourself. Um, over— so you said you graduated high school in, in 2000. So did I. So class of 2000, how about that? Um, so how long from high school until you decided to do the nursing route, when you did the nursing assistant?

How many years passed by from when I graduated to when I like went to that nurse aide program? I think probably like about 2 years. Okay, about 2 years passed. And then I finally got into it. And I can't remember, I think I worked maybe like 4 years as a nurse aide. And I think they were all at like one— I think I did mostly assisted living. And then I transitioned into some home care towards the end before I— oh yeah, actually, no, yeah, into some home care. And I've worked inpatient, outpatient, hospital, I've worked all the places, right, um, over the years and done kind of all the different, all the different things. The only things I haven't done are peds. I do not have an interest in peds and labor and delivery. Never did those two areas.

But we're very similar because those are the two areas that I don't have a ton of experience in either. Um, that's so funny you say that. Um, yeah, so you've done everything, which I think is really perfect for where you're winding up in your nursing career, to really do that health systems leadership. Because man, we need a lot of refiguring and, and, you know, putting different systems in place and changing the way in which we deliver healthcare. And we all know that nursing is the foundation of healthcare. Without us, we would have no healthcare. So what an awesome privilege it is for you to be able to move up and then put yourself in this position. You should be very proud.

Oh, thank you. Yeah, I think what I, I love looking at, like, how are we treating our nurses? How are we treating our healthcare? Like, everybody in the organization, like, how are we treating them? And that's why I bring a lot of that holistic wellness, and that's like been such my focus these last couple years. And that's really what I've seen is such a need now and what I've been trying to bring to how we treat each other, right?

So it sounds like you've identified a challenge, a major challenge in nursing. And I understand that the challenges that nursing have aren't necessarily unique, um, or isolated to nursing specifically, but since we do make majority of the healthcare team, um, as far as numbers, and we have our hands in every single aspect of healthcare, all the way from running hospitals to opening new organizations to writing health policy law, all, every single area of healthcare that you can imagine, nurses are there. So what is the challenge or issue that you've identified throughout your nursing career that you've developed strategies for? Let's talk about that for a moment.

Well, actually, I forgot to mention that in finishing up my, while I'm finishing up my degree, I was working the last 2 years I was doing travel assignments all during COVID And so I just finished up my last travel assignment in October. And even so, I was doing my travel assignment during the week, and on the weekend I teach. I forgot to mention that I teach first-year RN students on the weekends.

So, um, you really have been in every aspect of nursing as far as, you know, the roles of the nurses. Um, and there's so much there's just so much. And a lot of the issues that I know from experience, because I've been in all of those positions that you've just mentioned, I know that a lot of the challenges are across all of those settings. So let's talk about it. Let's get into it. So what's the thing, the challenge that you've identified?

The biggest challenge that I came across was really what kind of led me to this October being like the end of my travel career and Honestly, I think probably the last time that I will be like practicing at the bedside as a nurse, like working for a facility, I think that's probably gonna be the last time. What actually spurred that was a really bad experience that I had as a patient when I gave birth to my son. So my youngest is 4, I've got 3 kids, 17, 14, and 4. And so when I had my youngest 4 years ago, I had a super traumatic birth, and this all happened at the hospital I worked at, which was the thing. Had a really traumatic birth, um, and the whole thing was just really awful. And then I went into heart failure after I had my son, and the way I was treated as a patient— like, the roles had been reversed, and I was treated so terribly as a patient. And ever since that happened to me, I— when I started going back to work it totally changed how I practiced at the bedside and how I treated my patients and how I even just approached their room and took care of them and managed their day and managed my day and how I structured my days. And pretty much all of my career was ICU. And so once I started teaching, I saw that this was such a great need to— because like the biggest thing that students stress out about is, how am I going to manage my day? How am I going to know what to do and when to do it? And all of those things. So helping the students manage their day, manage their time better, but really keeping in mind the patient, because the patient is the focus, right? And we get it so turned around. And I know I had got that way. I had got so into like being in the ICU, you know, I was just going into patients' rooms and I was not like thinking after a while. And I really had to like stop myself. And so that was one of the, the things that really started going around in my brain that, Alex, there's something around this. You know, you're teaching the students this. This is something that's really important. And I just kept thinking about my experience when I was a patient, and it just kept like eating away at me. And I was like, there's something that we're missing when we're taking care of the patients and we're not thinking about the whole picture, because I had my family there and me, and it was just— there was such a big part missing, just like that personal part was missing. And so I started trying to bring that into my everyday practice of being a nurse. I started bringing a more holistic lens to what I was doing day in and day out. And I had fellow co-workers coming up to me and, you know, they would know I was in school and all those things, and they just kept asking me, Alex, how are you going to school? And how are you working? And how are you teaching? And how are you taking care of yourself? Because I had a huge weight loss and my husband did as well. Like, we had a really big health transformation, especially after I had went into heart failure. And people just kept asking me the same questions over and over again, and it started to spark something inside of me. And I had never heard of nurse entrepreneurship ever when I was going through school, and only in the last, I think, like 5 years or so had I really started learning about nurse entrepreneurship. And so I started seeing that my time at the bedside was kind of coming to an end and that there was another place where I would be serving patients better and I would be serving students better, like the healthcare system, in a better way than I was teaching, you know, being at the bedside as a nurse, right? So that's when I really started looking at nurse entrepreneurship and what I could do and what I could bring to it. And one of the big challenges was I didn't even know where to get started. I didn't know about it. I didn't have anybody in my circle around me who knew anything about it, and, and none of my co-workers really knew about it because we were so focused on let's get through the next 12 hours together. That's all we really knew. So one of the biggest things was just really learning more about this whole other side of nursing and what we can really do with our degrees. It's not just you get your your license and you work for another facility or another place for the rest of your career. No, there's so many other things out there that you can do, right?

So, you know, you've identified what I think a lot of us identify as we're going through our nursing career, is that there's a big disconnect in what our goals are for patient care and what the expectations are for patient care, but the actuality of what's being done sometimes is not meeting that standard. And we know there's many reasons why this is the case. Number one is lack of resources, right? So I know for a fact that you're not able sometimes to get into that mindset and that caring part of taking care of patients because we're so pressed to get things done, to draw the blood, to send them for the x-ray, to consult the family and let them know what's going on, to titrate their drips, to report to the physician, right? These are all things that have to be done in order for us to take care of the patients. But the caring part of that is often last on the list of things to do because we're being turned into robots, right? Because there's just so much to do. So what specific piece of the puzzle was missing for you? What was the thing that made you say, I want to use my talents, my degrees, my skills, my nursing process, right? All of the things that we have as nurses, um, to do something differently. What was it that made you decide October was it at the bedside for you?

Um, I think it was a combination of COVID that I, I can't even deny that was part of it. And all the stress, being under all that stress was part of it. And I think just this, I don't know, I don't know if I can really describe. It's so weird. But I just kept— I'm a big believer in manifestation and law of attraction and all those things. Without a doubt. And I just kept feeling like there was something pulling me, something calling me that wasn't at the bedside anymore. I felt like I had done all I could do. I had given all I could give in all the years, all the thousands of hours I had given it, and it was it, and that was done. And so I figured when this contract's done, this is it, and you're going to move on to this next phase in your life. You're going to finish your degree, you're going to teach, you're going to work on all the other things that you have going on in your life. And, and it was, um, it was, it was kind of like conflicting. And even sometimes now I see travel— I nag a lot— I see travel contracts pop up and I'm like, oh, maybe. But then I'm like, no, I— no, not anymore. And I have to get out of that. And it's just hard because I think once you've been in the hospital system for so long, you know, you're conditioned. They condition you to think a certain way. And those hours that overtime, and you better come pick up and help your unit out. I mean, they condition the crap out of you.

They guilt you into doing their work. They guilt you into making up for their short staffing. They guilt you into using your time off to cover their shortcomings because their emergencies become our problems because we allow it to happen. And you have— you've identified that. I, and I think many of us who have years of experience in an institutional setting come to learn that that's the reality of our current healthcare system, right? So this is, this is the problem. This is what you identified. This is the challenge, right? One of the biggest challenges that nurses face is that institutionalized healthcare has turned us into these task-oriented, you know, machines, essentially. And if we need a mental break, we are made guilt— we're made to feel guilty. If we are sick, we are penalized, and an occurrence goes against us, and we're only allowed so many occurrences in a year, or else we're fired. Um, you know, during the beginning of the pandemic, they had no PPE, they had no precautions, but yet we were still expected to show up and do the work. And then as soon as a vaccine rolls out, we're mandated to take the vaccine or we're fired. So there's just a lot of disconnect here. And again, you know, it's mostly because non-clinical individuals are making clinical decisions.

Exactly. Yeah. And that's why— and that's one of the reasons why I ended up going for the leadership track was I'm like, we have to change. We have to change how the people who are making the decisions are thinking and who's making those decisions. And I've had people ask me like, well, what made you— after you got your RN, what made you go back to school for your doctorate? And I'm like, well, I said Honestly, it was once I started going to clinicals and seeing like the representation of, you know, the leadership teams and all that, you know, I never saw anybody that I could identify with. I never saw a lot of females. I never saw a lot of Latinas over there. Certainly nobody in my neighboring area was anybody there. And when I started, this even became more apparent when I went for my DNP clinicals. There is nobody, nobody that, you know, and my school had me— oh, God bless my school, so frustrating to deal with. But you know, when you can't find a preceptor and then COVID hits and they don't let you be in the hospital, and then you still have to find a preceptor and they're like, you still need your hours, they're like, well, don't you know any CNOs or don't you know any CFOs? And I'm like No, I don't.

Like, I don't, because how often do the CNOs or CFOs make themselves present to us?

Yeah, I'm like, I don't know any of these people. And so that was another thing that kind of like spurred me on, was like, if I'm in that position, I want people to know who I am and know my face and know they can reach out to me and connect with me in any way for whatever reason, you know, professional boundaries, but know that I'm a real person, like That was my biggest thing, and have representation for females and for Latinas in those leadership roles, because I know I didn't see nobody like me up there. And but I see so many of my nurses that I'm working with are— represent— we represent all the different cultures, all the different languages. But when we get that high up, there's nobody there that relates to us or knows our stories growing up or knows our struggles. And so that's really what pushed me to continue with my DNP.

Awesome. So, I mean, representation is so important. And, you know, I am a white male, but I'm also a little bit of a minority in that group being openly gay. And I've had my own fair share of discrimination for promotional opportunities, management opportunities, things like that. But, you know, it's just like everything. No judge a book by its cover. You're going to have your own story. But once you start to read the story, then you realize Oh, the story's pretty good, right? So once people get to know me, all of a sudden they want to offer me everything. But because people are judging, you know, based on how I present or whatever, you know, everyone's entitled to their position. But you're right, there's not a lot of representation in nursing leadership that goes beyond, you know, a white woman or white man. Um, and I've seen that a lot. Working in Baltimore, Maryland for most of my nursing career, I did see more Black men and women in leadership positions, and it could just be because of the demographics of the area. But yeah, I've still worked so many other places where that wasn't the case. And so, yet changing the system really does start with us putting ourselves in the position to make a change. And that's exactly how I got into nursing education, because while I was in school, I was seeing disconnects. And who am I to challenge my instructors because I'm just a nursing student, right? But then I became a new grad, and then my preceptor, who was no more experienced than I was, was, you know, trying to tell me what to do and show me things that were incorrect. But who was I to correct them. And then when I would bring, you know, solutions, recommendations and solutions to some of the issues we were having to my nurse educator or my director of nursing— who am I? I'm just a new grad nurse. I'm a baby nurse. I don't know anything. And so about, you know, the years of nursing school plus another 6 months of working as a nurse, having this constant rejection, this constant, you don't know what you're talking about, I was like, okay, clearly I have to put myself in a position where people are gonna listen to me. And so I went right back into school 6 months into working as a registered nurse and went for my master's degree in nursing education because I saw much of where the issues were was education. You know, leadership, yes, we have to get you know, a more diverse workforce and get the leadership more diverse so that we can actually take care of our workforce appropriately. Um, but really much of the disconnect was education. Um, so what I started even back in nursing school was the whole concept of streamlining things because we just do things so differently from one place to the next. And even in the same institution, one nurse does things different than the other. Why is that the case? We are a— we work based on science. There are certain things that we can't deviate from the standard, but we do offer individualized care. We do have, you know, individualized approaches, and that's fine. That's the art of nursing because we do have to be flexible and meet individualized needs. But there's no reason why we can't have standardized processes so that everyone's getting the same information, the same training, the same, you know, evaluations, the same everything, especially when we're trying to elevate our standards, right? So that's where I got into nursing education, so that I can position myself to start being able to create some of these solutions. Because until I gained the experience, the additional knowledge, the additional skill set through my master's program, I wasn't in a position to do the appropriate pushback that I needed to do to get people to listen to me. And these are skills that we have to learn. It's just like in life, you know, when we're young and we're teenagers, we just want to fight and claw our way to the top and tell people how it is. But then we learn that doesn't always work, and oftentimes it gets you in trouble, right? So we have to learn tact, and we have to learn patience, and we have to learn when is the right time, um, to pick our fights, right? So this is awesome, this is great. So let's talk about now that you are in your last semester of your doctorate program and you see that healthcare leadership is— or health systems leadership is where we're having a lot of the disconnect. Let's talk about some of the strategies other than positioning yourself to become an expert or more educated or have more skills so that you can better handle these complexities? What are some additional strategies that you've done to try to manage this?

I think the biggest thing that anybody can work on is their personal development. And especially with what we have going on now, everybody is so— stress to the max. And I think we forget that people have lives outside of the hospital or outside of the facility, wherever you're at. We're all basically— well, we all are, you know, either you have a family, you have a husband, you have a wife, you have other people in your lives, you have a life outside of the hospital. And that life definitely impacts how you're showing up at work.

Yes.

And I think that leadership sometimes— I think it goes both ways. I think sometimes leadership feels like they have to enforce the rules no matter what, and it is what it is, and this is how it has to be. And then they forget that people have real lives and we get sick and we have to call off and things happen, right? And I think too that, uh, that employees— and if you're a nurse on the floor, you're a manager, whatever— you sometimes forget that these higher leadership people are people too, and they make bad decisions and they make bad choices, probably because they have something going on at home that's bothering them.

Yes.

So I feel like personal development on all levels really helps to help you to show up and allow you to really just go full on in all those— in whatever career that you want to take on or whatever role that you're wanting to go to. And just help you perform better in your day-to-day. And I think it helps you perform at the workplace, but then I also know for sure it helps you perform better at home where it really matters.

Right.

And I think that's been one of the biggest strategies just to get through all of this pandemic stress and all this drama and all the burnout and all the overwhelm is really to learn some strategies to take care of yourself. And I'm not talking about going and taking the hot bath. I'm not talking about any of that stuff, right? I'm talking about managing your time better, managing your energy better, really taking that time when you get off of work to sit and just— like, one, one tip that I always share that I always did after I got off of a shift was I just went to my car and I would sit there for like a good 5 minutes at least and just sit in silence and just separate myself from the workday before I would go and drive home and go home. Because if I just got in my car and started up and went home, I haven't had time to process all the stuff that went on during the day. I don't have time to get rid of that, right? And all the noise and all the ding-dings and all the alarms, I didn't get time to separate myself from that. So taking time after work to just sit in some silence and then go home, that really allowed me to create some space, like a barrier between That was work, now it's time for home. You know, I've worked all the shifts, nights, days, you know, 3 to 11. You know, I've worked all the different shifts. So each one takes a little bit of getting used to, but there's things that you can do before and after your shifts that really can help you get ready for your shift or come down from your shift. And 'cause you're on high, you're running on fumes sometimes, you're running on chemicals, on all of that. Like you're running hard. And then once you kind of stop, it's like, And you need to spend time to decompress a little bit afterwards. So that's been one of the ways that I have learned to get over, you know, those long shifts and really help myself work through it. But yeah, I think really personal development, working on your mindset, working on how you are managing your days and your times and you're not overwhelming yourself, those are all really good personal development strategies that you can use. To make it not so overwhelming and not so crazy and not so stressful at work and at home.

Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, this is really helpful advice for those who are listening. You know, if you're a relatively new nurse or maybe you've just transitioned into a new role and you still haven't been able to do this, this is something that you should start doing immediately. Because if you take all of the stresses of work home with you, then it's going to disrupt your personal life outside of work. Something that a colleague of mine used to say all the time, I love her dearly, shout out to Michelle if she's listening. She was, she's a travel nurse, she goes all over the country, but I had the pleasure of working with her for several months many years ago, and she used to always say, I am not my profession. Because she had a clear identity beyond being a nurse, right? So she was allowed to be, you know, a human being and eat what she wants and not exercise and, you know, not put sunscreen on or all of these things that we're trying to preach to our patients about, you know, maintaining health because she's allowed to do things that aren't in the perfect ideal, you know, lens of what a nurse should be because that is not real. It doesn't exist. We are raw. We are real. Some of us are poor. Some of us go hungry some nights. Some of us have 25 kids. Some of us can't have kids. Some of us are short. We're fat. We're boys. We're girls. We're everything in between. Like, nurses are everyone. And so it's so important to be able to separate yourself from your work. And you know, sometimes we get into positions where 18 of the hours in a day become work-related, especially if you're running a business, kind of maybe starting up, if you're involved in a lot of organizations, if you sit on a lot of committees, if you're lobbying for healthcare reform, whatever the case may be, you might spend a good chunk of your time working and being in nurse mode, but Even those people who do all of that still have clear, defined roles where they separate and they take dedicated time off. They ensure that they have time off so they can do those things, so they can decompress, or they position themselves in a place where even though they might be working 18 hours a day, they might be on a beach with a margarita. Working. They might be on, you know, a tropical island somewhere. They might be in a different state every few days, you know, exploring a new city, because we have that potential to position ourselves into those different types of positions. Awesome. So it sounds like you are definitely on, um, a pathway for this holistic kind of balance. This is what we're really looking for. So you know, have you created any kind of systems or programs? You did talk about entrepreneurship, so I'm, I'm taking a wild guess here and saying that you're in entrepreneurship, right? And that you're developing something that is going to be helping many, many people. So let's talk a little bit about that.

Um, yeah, so I, yeah, I do. I, I created a— so you know how nursing, we have a head-to-toe assessment. So I, I put together this SPICE program, and I really call it my head to soul assessment.

Nice.

And it looks at things in a holistic way, and it just really touches on all the years of experience that I had from being a nurse aide all the way to where I am now and raising a family and having health challenges and rising above that, having family members die, you know, having all the things that life throws at you. Bringing that all to all skills that nurses have, like we have the ability to teach others and we know about sociology and psychology, like we learn all of those things, right? So I really created a program that touches on all of those things. And one thing that I always really excelled at was managing my time and balancing my schedule with all the things that I had going on. So, um, time management, productivity, Managing your energy, your focus, the stress, the overwhelm, getting rid of all of that and just living a more harmonious life. So I really created a program around that. And I mean, it's been a couple of years in the making and only really like within the last year have I really got more out there, like on social media and talking to people about it because it's definitely been in the works, right? Like business don't happen overnight, right?

No, it takes lots of work. Yeah.

Lots of work, but it's so, so rewarding. It is so rewarding. And that's like what we were talking about before, like, just because you get, you know, you have your degree, there's so much you can do with it. There's so much you can do with it without working at the bedside. You can take that degree and apply it to anything you want. And so that's really what I did. I tapped into all the things that, that I love, and I love learning about. I'm always learning. And I tapped into all of that, and I just saw how I could really serve other nurses, other educators, other professionals with managing their stress and their time and really helping them live more holistic, balanced lives.

Awesome. That sounds like you took what you're passionate about, which is what we all eventually wind up doing, hopefully, right? We get to that point, taking the lessons we've learned along the way and then packaging them quite nicely so that other people can benefit from all of our hard work, sacrifice, sweat, blood, and tears, right? So it sounds like the SPICE program that you've created is a tremendous asset to individuals. So you've already shared one of, I'm sure, many strategies, which is that disconnecting from work. So make sure, guys, if you're stressed out at the end of your day— some days we have good days, right? Some days are good. So we're not necessarily feeling so stressed. We had a rockstar our day, so we leave kind of happy, and that's cool that you ride with that. But if you're overwhelmed and stressed out, you should definitely take the time to disconnect because that right there is gonna hit the reset button. So when you go home, you can actually greet your friends and family or pets or, you know, even yourself. You can greet yourself with being home, right? You're not at work. Like, work is work, home is home.

Yep, no bad. You're not Nurse So-and-so.

It's exactly, exactly. So awesome. So Alex, how can people get in touch with you, learn more about your program, um, connect with you on social media? This is your time to let others know how they can connect with you.

Oh sure, yeah, I am on all the socials. I'm on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram. You can just look me up by my name, Alexandria Rosa, RN. I have it, so you could check me out there. Um, I have a YouTube channel that I just started, which is my other new adventure that I'm going down, and it's simply Alexandria Rosa. And on that I talk about— it's more of like my personal life and more personal stories. But, um, I have a daily show that I stream to there called Daily Dose of Spice. And so every day I share a little bit of positivity, just a tip to spice up your life and add something to it every single day. So you can check me out there. I have a website where you can learn more about me and my programs. Um, it's called getyourspice.net. You can definitely head over there. You can sign up for my newsletter and get emails from me, or just send me a message. Honestly, I really love connecting with new people and seeing what nurses are out there doing. And I'm always— I love being a mentor. So don't feel like if you're going to contact me, I'm gonna try to sell you anything, because no, that's never the case. Absolutely. I have nurses message me all the time about jobs and career and just frustration. You can always call me and message me. I'm always more than willing to talk.

Awesome. That's amazing. So for all of you listening, I will have all of the ways that you can connect with Alex in the show notes of this episode. I just want to, you know, ask you real quick, Alex, are you connected with the National Nurses in Business Association?

No, but I probably should be, right?

Should be. So, been a member for several years now. It is the premier nursing entrepreneurship organization. They have the best resources, the best advisory board. They have real amazing tips on how you can start from zero to million-dollar corporation if that's what you're going for. Um, they have some very, very successful nurse entrepreneurs who govern that organization and then help mentor people like you and me. They've done tons of mentorship for me, have helped me really understand a lot about business. And my goals often conflict with the big money-making piece of business, which is my own struggle, right? We all have our own struggle. But I've learned so much and it's really taken my business to many different levels, and I have lots of opportunities now because of it. And when I take a job for an organization, it's because I want to, which is so nice. That's because I want to. It's not because I have to.

Exactly.

So National Nurses in Business Association, for anyone interested in entrepreneurship, I've been a member for several years. I've spoken at their conferences. This year's conference is going to be in July in Vegas. So definitely check that out. So awesome. Thank you so much, Alex, for being on the Nursing Strategies for Success podcast. Thank you for sharing your story. Um, we really appreciate all of the work that you're doing to advance the nursing profession and help us solve some of these complexities that we are facing. And we have to band together. That's why I'm here to help bring nurses together so we can make some magic happen.

Awesome. You have a great podcast. I love it. Thank you so much.

Thank you so much. We'll talk soon. Take care. And that concludes episode 3 of season 2 of the Nursing Strategies for Success podcast with this week's guest, Alexandria Rosa. All of the ways to connect with Alexandria will be in the show notes of this episode. And as always, if you have any questions about anything covered in today's episode, you can visit thenursespeak.com/contact and get in touch with me. I would love to have a conversation with you. So until next episode, take care, be well, and remember that nurses can do anything.