Hannah Kimmel Juggles Two Jobs—Nurse and Flight Attendant. Here’s How

Welcome to Club Nurse. I'm Colton Lord, your host. By you being here today, it shows me that you are someone who wants to learn, grow, laugh, connect, and just let your emotions flow. We are here to share real stories and hear real life experiences from real people. You are not alone in this, and Club Nurse is here to show you that. Don't forget to follow the show and share today's episode with someone you love. Now let's dive into today's conversation. Welcome back to Club Nurse, everybody. I have a really cool conversation today that I am excited to share with you. I think that a lot of nurses will find a lot of value in this specifically. One of my biggest messages that I like to convey to the world and to the nursing world is that there are so many other things that we can do, and we don't have to just be in the nursing or healthcare space. And I think my guest today, Hannah, does this perfectly. I don't know if I wanna say, I guess, perfectly, but does this very well. So I'm excited to chat with Hannah. Why don't you just give us a brief introduction of who you are, Um, what you do in healthcare and what your other, uh, big job is.

Yeah. Hi, my name's Hannah. I am a registered nurse and a flight attendant, so I have a lot of different nursing jobs actually. It's kind of funny. At, at some in the hospital, PRN. But yeah, my other big job is being a flight attendant on top of nursing. So.

So kind of bring me back. Did you get first into nursing and then become a flight attendant? Were you already a flight attendant and nursing? Like how, which way did that go for you?

I became a nurse first. I graduated nursing school and it was kind of just like perfect timing. I did nursing like very briefly and then the flight attendant process to become a flight attendant is a long time. It takes a while. I was doing nursing just very briefly after school and then I went to flight attendant training.

Was that always the plan or was this like a, oh, this seems like interesting?

That wasn't always the plan in nursing school. I just like hated nursing school so much. I was like, I don't know if I could be a nurse for the rest of my life. And like, Obviously for like clinicals in nursing school, you go to these med-surg floors and you're just doing like, you know, CNA, which—

Yeah.

So much respect to the PCTs and CNAs, but like, you know, you're not really doing like nursing stuff.

Yeah.

And you don't really— I feel like during my nursing clinicals, I didn't really get to see everything you could do with nursing or realize like the true possibilities. So I mean, I was just like, oh my God, I don't think I can do this for the rest of my life. The whole reason I got into the flight attendant thing is my uncle's a flight attendant.

Okay.

And so he was like, I was calling him on the phone and I was like, I don't know if I could be a nurse. I don't know. And he's like, well, why don't you, um, like apply? We're opening our applications. Like, just see what happens until you figure out maybe what you would want to do. And I was like, okay. And so then it just kind of like worked out perfectly where I was able to incorporate my nursing job and my degree with nursing and then be a flight attendant too. So.

That's amazing. First of all, I love the wherewithal and the awareness in nursing school to be like, yeah, I don't think this is it for me, but I'm gonna finish and at least have that, have that nursing. 'Cause I, I went to school with people who like 4th semester or 3rd semester, like, I'm outta here. This is not for me. And then I knew people who also knew that and just continued to finish the program just to have that in their back pocket. So I love that you did that. So when you first were out of nursing school, what nursing job were you first? Did you first get?

Yeah, I was on like a post-surgical floor, like a med surg. Okay.

And are you still doing that as far as nursing, or are you?

So I work at a hospital. I do work at a hospital at PRN, but I'm kind of all over with everything, kind of just where they need me. And then I also work at a postnatal retreat. This is kind of fun too. It's not a big concept in the United States. It's really big in like, I think, Korea and Japan.

What is that like?

Yeah, so the mom and dad, after they have the baby, they come and stay at this postnatal retreat. So my job as a nurse, I like take vitals, I monitor, we go over like medications, maybe a lot of stuff with, you know, blood pressure education. We do like a CPR class, lots of trainings. So that's really fun. And I call that like my soft nursing job.

Yeah.

So I've never even heard of that.

That's so interesting.

Yeah. And if there's not, there's 2 postnatal retreats in California. The one, there was one in New York City, but it just closed down. And then Chicago, this is very new that she just, the owner brought it here in like last October. So it's really new.

Awesome. So, okay. So you're in Chicago. So is this where you're based as a flight attendant?

Yes. And that's the whole reason I moved to Chicago for my flight attendant job. And so a lot of people ask me how I was able to do flight attendant training and be a nurse. I took off like 2 months of being a nurse because I was like, I really want to do this instead. Like, I want to have something else just in case. So I did take off 2 months and then I literally just picked up my life. I literally packed like 2 suitcases and I moved to Chicago.

That was amazing. Yeah.

And then, sorry, go ahead. And then I found a nursing job here and now I do my flight attendant thing. So it was kind of like scary at first.

Mm-hmm.

Because there was just a lot of big changes initially, but I was like, I have to do this.

Yeah. You know, just taking a chance, like taking a chance.

Yeah.

On the whole flight attendant thing. Because I mean, who's to say you would've even liked that as well? And I know that the, there, it's like, I, I don't know if each flight, uh, company does this different, but I know it's almost like flight attendant boot camp. Like you, you're gone for my, um, ex-husband, I guess now is a flight attendant. Uh, oh, right. He's great. I have so much respect for him. Love him. But I, So I know actually kind of a lot, a lot about like the flight attendant life and how that all works. So did you have to go for a month and like do the whole training before you were like out working?

Yeah. Yeah. So it's a whole month of training and other airlines are different. Like it could be longer than a month. Mine was a month. You know, you don't get paid. It's like an unpaid training until you finish. You get like a little stipend at the end. You stay in a hotel, you're away from your family and friends and You're just there for a month, like doing full-on training. So that in itself is really hard. And that's funny that you kind of like know someone in the aviation industry because I feel like it's really hard to understand like scheduling and like the lifestyle. Like it truly is such a unique and different lifestyle and it's really, really hard to understand everything unless you're in it or like, you know, someone that you're really close with, you know?

Yeah. Yeah. And I think people always, you know, have this perspective like, oh, like this seems like such a cool life, cool job. And I I think it is in a lot of ways.

Yeah.

But there it comes with its own set of challenges. Um, you know, depending on if you like that lifestyle of being gone a lot and depending on your seniority or what trips you're getting, you could, you know, you could be gone for 3 or 4 days and just like constantly like coming and going. And it makes, it's challenging, especially if you are by yourself to have things like pets and just take care of like your daily life when you're constantly on the go. Do you do, so are you flight attendant full-time or do you just really do a combo of both?

Yeah, I do a combination of both because I do think like the balance, like I have found a balance to where I'm not like getting burnt out with nursing or my flight attendant job because obviously if you fly too much too, you can, it's very demanding dealing with people all day. Yeah. So I'm technically like a full-time flight attendant, but something I feel like people don't understand is how flexible that schedule is.

Like, it's like so many hours in a year you have to hit, right?

Yeah. And at my airline, this is why I wanted to work for my airline is we don't have a minimum flight requirement.

Nice.

So like, I know someone who hasn't flown in 2 years, but she's still a flight attendant. Wow. You know what I'm saying? It's just like she works her trips that she's awarded and, you know, you trade with people. It's just like the most flexible job ever.

Yeah. Yeah. That's, yeah, that's what I feel like is so enticing to go do something like be a flight attendant because it does offer the, you know, they're like I was saying, like the schedule can be hard, but it also can be a huge benefit because you have that flexibility of being like, I'm going to stack all my trips and just get them over with and then I'm going to be off for some, you know, so many weeks or whatever, whatever you want to do, um, which I think is, is super awesome. And I have something I also didn't realize that I just kind of found out through my ex-husband was that there are so many, there are a lot more nurses who are actually flight attendants than we realize.

Yes, there's so many actually. It's crazy. It's literally actually insane. Like I've run into so many nurses and flight attendants. Yeah.

Yeah. And I think that, I think Because too, like the flexibility of nursing plus flight attendant and it gets you, you're not, you're not burning out in one field or the other. You get to, you know, I mean, if you, I don't know if you're feeling like maybe you're flying too much or you're kind of burnt out, like you're able to hop back into the nursing role if you want.

Right. Mm-hmm. Exactly.

Yeah. And I, I think one of the things that I, one of the biggest benefits that I miss having the most is like the non, the non-rev life.

Like the non-rev life.

Yes. I miss the non-rev life. And it was like, even, even cuz people would always be like, isn't that stressful? Like how do you travel not knowing?

And I'm like, you know what, it's almost, It's like a game.

It's kind of fun. It's like a little, it's like an adrenaline rush. Like we would be like watching the flight loads, knowing exactly where we wanted to, you know, like, oh, we should do this flight. We have a better chance here. And like, I just got really like well versed on that.

Yeah. It's fun. And then, and then like when you get on a flight that's full, you're like, that's like oversold and you get like great seats, you're like, oh my, it's like exhilarating. It's like adrenaline rush.

It is. Yeah. It, it's funny. I mean, the only time that it's like not fun is when you have to be somewhere. But usually if like, if we had to be somewhere, like no questions asked, and the flights were looking iffy, we would just book, book a ticket. But at that point, when you realize how many flights you've flown for free, you're like, you know, whatever.

Yeah, like one ticket here. I haven't paid for a flight in like 2 years.

Yeah, well, because too, like once you're— I don't know how your airline works, but for the one that he works for, we could also fly other major airlines.

Yes. Yeah, me too.

It really wasn't a big deal. Like you can, you can pretty much find a flight anywhere.

Yeah. And then I'm super lucky because my boyfriend is also works in the aviation industry, but amazing. He put me on his flight benefits too. So I have like all kinds of, yeah, that's, that's like flight benefits.

Yeah. You can't, yeah. You'll never be without, without a flight. No. So were you doing this, how long have you been doing both? Like, were you doing both during the pandemic?

No, no. I was in nursing school during the pandemic. So I mean, I'm like fairly new doing both. Like it's only been 2 years, you know?

Okay. How has it been so much? I'm curious about this though. So as a nurse, When you're working as a flight attendant, how does it work when, if there's like an emergency on the plane, do you have to still just defer to whoever, other healthcare professionals? Like, are you allowed to like be like, oh, I'm a nurse, I can help in this situation? Or is that like kind of like a conflict?

So, I mean, obviously too, like I'm a flight attendant on my flight, right? I'm not a nurse. So like if I were to go help someone and I did something and it was the wrong thing, obviously I have that still potential of like losing my license or something happening. Whenever there is a medical emergency, I offer, I go, I'll be like, oh yeah, actually too, like, I'm a nurse, I can go. Like, before we make an announcement, you know, do like a little assessment, see what's going on. It's happened before, of course. And like, I think people's initial reaction to if there's a medical emergency 30,000 feet up in the air in a metal tube is to freak out.

Yeah.

But like, obviously with my medical background, it's just kind of like, okay, like, what could this be? And then also just as a flight attendant too, we don't go to, you know, training to just like learn how to serve snacks and drinks all day. Like we train for emergencies and, you know, we're—

Yeah, that's why you're there. That's the big reason you're there.

Exactly. Like we're handled to equip that. So like I do, I offer my like medical background. I'm confident in myself and like what I know and what I can do too. And obviously like if I would need like a doctor or something, you can Call.

Yeah.

You can phone them, or we have like a headset too where you can get in contact with a doctor. But, you know, obviously I have to like start an IV or something, like open the emergency medical kit. Like, I feel comfortable doing that.

Okay. So what, so what are you— what I guess, what is— I don't know this answer. What is in— I know that the planes have, like you said, the IVs and things. What else? Are there medications? Are there certain things that we are as nurses allowed to give? Or is it like once you— if there are medications, if you're opening them, do you need to have the doctor on the line in order to start Yeah, you need, you need to have that, like, still that flow of like, oh, you need to do this.

And obviously, like, the end goal is to keep, like, the passengers safe. Like, you never know what's going to happen. But there's, like, AEDs on planes. There's, like, you know, blood pressure cuff, pulse ox, like oxygen. Like, you can do a full thing. You can keep the patient stable, you know, if something were to happen. And then they divert the plane. So.

Have you ever been on one where you've had to, like, emergency land for somebody?

I've never had to, like, emergency land. I know Some of my friends have where they've had to like divert somewhere else to get the passenger off the plane. Um, I've never had, but we've had like where the passenger needs to be taken off with like, and met at the gate with, yeah, EMS or something. So, yeah, not something too scary, you know?

Yeah. Yeah. So what is the, I don't think I actually know. I think I kind of know the answer to this, but so what happens if, if say there, say somebody has a heart attack on the plane and they die, what do you do with them while you're waiting to land? Is there like a protocol or do you guys just like, oh my God, like what do you do?

Yeah, I think we like talked about that. I think Probably just like make them comfortable. Like do what you can. Yeah.

You know, my question is like what with like the body, I guess. Like are you is there like a place you guys move it to or is it just like let's just let's just land this thing?

I think if they just said like put it in the seat, you know, just try to yeah until you land. Like I don't know. I don't know. Yeah. Obviously, I feel like I wouldn't actually know what I would do like until that would happen.

Yeah. And there's like there's plenty of you to kind of collaborate. I'm sure on that. Yeah. And somebody probably to be like who do we contact to like figure out what to do?

And I feel like by that point too.

Most, 9 times outta 10, I'm sure that the captain's already like trying to land the plane. So it's not—

Yes, exactly.

Yeah. I've been on, I've been on a couple flights where they've called for medical professionals and I remember one specifically I was flying to, I was, I don't remember if I was flying to or back from Paris. I know it was Europe and I remember they called for medical professional. I could not believe how many people stood up. Seriously. There was like, and I'm not, I'm not exaggerating. There was probably like, and this is a bigger flight cuz we're going to Europe, but there was probably like 15 people like going to the back in this poor person just had like, I don't know, they were feeling faint and they had— they were like vomiting and had like some diarrhea or something. So everybody just like turned around like, yeah, we're good, we're not, you know, they're fine.

Yeah.

Um, but other than that, I've never had like a crazy experience. I was, I was a server, I worked in restaurants before, and I had to do the Heimlich a couple of times doing that job. But because I worked in a steakhouse, you know, people just—

Oh yeah.

Inhale their food and choke on steak. But I don't know, I just find like emergencies in— it's, it's amazing how different an emergency is out in like public versus in the hospital because you don't have all the resources and you're— if You're the only one, you're like, oh my God, what do I do?

Yeah, truly. And honestly though, I feel like you're right. Like literally there always is so many medical professionals on board, whether they're like EMS or like a doctor or a nurse, you know, there is always someone, someone else.

Yeah. Like there's almost like a team. I also was just, I was just on a flight. I just flew in. I'm like still jet lagged today because I flew a red-eye from Phoenix to Boston. I didn't get home this morning, but I got home yesterday morning. And someone on the flight was, I was right by the bathroom. This was actually on my flight to Phoenix, but the person was like inside, like banging on the door. hit the emergency light and I'm just thinking like, oh no, like what is gonna, what is about to happen? The poor guy was just like locked, locked in, in the bathroom.

Oh, in the bathroom.

And he was like extremely claustrophobic and could knock it out. And so, you know, once he got out, he was, I was like, what was about to be happening? Like, is somebody like dying on the toilet? And they're like, I don't even know. But all was fine. Um, so, okay. So kind of take me through, talk to me about your schedule. So what are you on a typical month? What is your schedule looking like? Or like week, I guess.

My schedule is crazy and I do a lot of like TikToks and stuff too to explain this. But obviously my schedule is completely different every single month and I tailor it to whatever I need. So first I, I, you bid for your flight attendant schedule.

Mm-hmm.

So every month I bid and one month I might get reserve, which is where I don't know where I'm going. It's just like I'm on call. So I might get paid to stay at home or I might end up in like Arizona or like Hawaii, or you have no idea where you're going.

Yeah.

So that like changes every other month and then you get 3 days flying a week. Like it's a block of 3 and then you can pick up more or get rid of stuff. So, um, and then I just kind of tailor in all my nursing stuff in between that. Yeah. But if I wanna like nurse more, like I'll try to get rid of some of my trips and then fill it in with nursing. Just depends on What I have going on. Like next month in August, I have some trips planned for the weekend. So like I'll make sure I'm off then and like working other days. I do work a lot though. I would say I work probably, and I don't have to work because like you don't have to work both my jobs like PRN.

Right.

I don't have to work, but I like choose to work because I love going to work. I like just doing it. So it just honestly, it's, it just depends. I, I've been doing like 3 days of flying. Sometimes I'll block like 3 days of nursing and 3 days of flying together and do like 6 in a row, which, that is a lot. That's crazy. But then usually I take like 6 days off. You know what I'm saying?

Yeah.

Lately I've been doing 2 nursing shifts and then 3 days of flying.

Okay. So it's kind of just all over the place. Sounds like you tailor it to kind of what best meets your needs. What has been, what have you found to be the biggest benefit in doing this? Do you feel like you really have been able to avoid burnout in nursing because you've been able, because you did this? Are you happy with your decision to become a flight attendant and keep that balance? Or like, what's been your biggest benefit?

Yeah, I think the balancing is just something I'm so grateful for that I learned early on with nursing and just finding that because like, I get excited to go back to work even at the hospital. Like, I'm like, I'm excited and I love the people I work with too. Obviously that always makes like a huge difference. But I don't feel like dread going to work. But I think it's because I take time off and I go do something else. And like, my layovers are so fun. Like, you fly and then you get to explore a city. And obviously it's not always glamorous, but for the most part, for the most part, it's kind of like a little vacation almost.

Are you flying international too from Chicago?

No. So I mean, I work for Southwest, so we don't do— we don't fly a lot of international stuff, but like Of course, like I've done like Cancun layovers or like Punta Cana or, you know, and you just stay there for like 24 hours and you hang out with the crew, you go to the beach.

Yeah.

And then you go home like the next day.

Yeah.

So it's honestly just like a little vacation. And I take that time, like I'll go out to eat, you know, to explore so many places.

Like, and you're like on, you know, the company's dime in the sense of you're not having to pay for it.

Right. Like I'm getting paid. It's my job. Yeah, exactly.

Yeah. That's if you, I mean, if you ever do decide that you wanna like work somewhere that flies internationally, I recommend it just based on my ex-husband's experience because that's like all he loves to do. We live in Boston, so he's constantly in Europe and it's, you can be in Europe quicker than you can be on the West Coast, you know? Just, yeah. Like just, I just, just through seeing, I would get so like, when we were together, I'd always be like, not annoyed, but be like jealous. Like, oh my God, you know, I'm stuck here doing all these hospital shifts and he's just like exploring the world. Like it really is such a cool experience.

It is a cool experience for sure.

Yeah. I mean, even if, even if you're flying domestically still, I mean, who gets to say that they've been to all the places you've been just within the United States and exploring these cities?

Yeah. And it's so funny because I feel like I've turned into a little bit of a travel snob, a little bit. Of course. Whereas like my friends will be like, oh, do you wanna go to like Nashville? Or do you wanna go here? And I've been like, I'll be like, no, I've been there like a million times. I don't, I wanna go somewhere else. Yeah. Yeah. But it is also nice. I mean, I don't do like obviously work, but I travel like internationally a lot for leisure, like when my time off. Mm-hmm. benefit is like with the airlines, you only pay for taxes if you work, you know? So it's so cheap.

And you start to realize which countries have more expensive, like London, flying back from London is like so expensive.

Yes. And, but it's so funny too, because I was, oh my God, this is so funny because I was planning a trip to London with my friend and we were just sitting on the plane because we were just going somewhere. And we were like, oh my God, it's so expensive to go to London. It's like $200. And that's like a first class ticket. And the person sitting next to us was like, come on, $200 to go to London? Like, that's expensive. And we're like, oh yeah, but it is if you're non-revving, that's expensive.

It is. Yeah. And since, you know, since my ex and I had separated, like when I had to start, I had like got myself like a Delta credit card and all the things. 'Cause I'm like, oh my God, I need points now. I have to start like actually paying for these flights. This is so ridiculous. But because, I mean, he's, he's from, you know, Hawaii and I'm from Arizona. We lived in Boston. So we were constantly just like going, you know, flying to Hawaii for free and just like, it's like you, I never took that for granted ever.

Right.

But when you start having to actually pay for it, you're like, wow, this You know, traveling is a lot more expensive when you're paying for it.

It's a lot more expensive. And obviously too, it's nice, like, you know, I feel like a lot of nurses work so hard to just like save up for trips. You know, I work like, you know, you pick up extra shifts, but like obviously with this it's like, okay, you could work a little bit less because it's not as expensive to go. Yeah, you know. Yeah, kind of just like compensates a little bit.

Yeah, yeah, no, for sure. I totally, I totally hear what you're saying. So if somebody kind of like switch this around. If somebody out there was listening and they were, they're a nurse or even if they're not and they are thinking about becoming a flight attendant, what are, are there requirements that you have like, like to apply for the job that you need, like qualifications? Do you need a degree? Do they really just kind of, how does the interview process work? And then how does the training process work?

Right. So you don't need a degree or anything. There's not really any requirements. The thing about becoming a flight attendant is the application for flight attendants. It's not always open. Okay. It's not like a, like, You have to follow it and you have to like be aware and listen to whatever everyone else is saying when the application's open. So like our application opened literally like a month ago for like 2 hours.

Wow.

And when I applied, it had opened for 4 hours and like 20,000 people applied in a span of 4 hours. So like the site crashes. So it's even hard to just even get your application submitted. So even just getting your foot in the door to like get your application in to get hired is really complicated.

Was it helpful that you had— like, was your uncle— was it your uncle? He's like a reference?

Yes. Yeah. And he was, he was definitely a really good resource for me because he was obviously able to like, oh, the application is opening. He helped me submit my application. We were both on the computer like, you know, going crazy.

Yeah.

And so I always like tell people I recommend like going on any, any airline's website and just signing up to receive notifications. For when they are opening application, along with following people on like social media, you know, flight attendants, because they're always like, oh, our applications are opening. Yeah, you know, so that's helpful. And then once you get your application in, if you get an interview— mine, they did like a phone interview, and then after I did the phone interview, they flew me out to their headquarters.

Which is where?

Mine is in Dallas. Mine was in Dallas, and that's where I went, flew for a month too to do the entire training.

Isn't that where— isn't American there too?

American. Yeah. They have a big base at like DFW.

Okay.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And then I went to training for a month and then after training you're set loose to be a flight attendant.

So, uh, tell the audience exactly, 'cause I mean, obviously I know how, how this kind of works. Um, but I wanna hear it from you. How does it work once you, once you pass your training and get hired? How does it work with what cities? Like, do you have certain cities you can choose from? Uh, and this may be different, uh, from Company to company, but I think I would assume it's pretty similar across the board. For us, it was where the operational needs were. And then kind of, he kind of ranked where the cities that he was willing to go to and then that's where he was based. Is that how it worked for you?

Yeah. Yeah. So the thing about the airline industry is everything is seniority based. So it matters how long you're at the company for. So obviously like right fresh out of training, I had like put my top priority to be based in Chicago because that's where I wanted to go out of all the bases. But I wasn't based in Chicago for the first 2 months. I was based in Denver for my first month.

Oh, cool.

And I was living in this thing called a crash pad flight attendants have, which it was a house with like 20 other flight attendants. And I slept in a bunk bed and everyone's just like in and out going on trips and you make friends. So that was a really fun experience. And then after the second month, I was in Baltimore. Based there for a month. And then finally my third month out, I got based in Chicago because my seniority was like, yeah, you know, increasing. And obviously after like 2 years, you get better trips, you get better days off, you don't have to work on the weekends, like you might be able to hold holidays off.

Yeah, you're like off the reserve knee or the list.

You're off the reserve. Like if you get in the— so like me, if I like stick with a flight attendant, my flight attendant job, like I want to be here for a long time because obviously the longer you're in it The better your life, your quality of life is.

Yeah, for sure. Yeah, once you get through those, it's like any job that you need seniority, the beginning always kind of sucks. Like you get, you kind of get what you get. And then once you kind of get in that sweet spot where you kind of can start tailoring your schedule, I feel like it's kind of like the best, really the best place to be because then that's where you, that's where you get that freedom from.

Exactly. And I think the first 6 months too were the hardest balancing both because I was on probation. I was on probation for the first 6 months, so like you can't, you know, miss any trips. It was a little bit harder to do your schedule. Like the first month out, you can't do anything to your schedule. You have to work what they give you. So it was just kind of about figuring all that out. But after the first 6 months, like I got like the hang of things and scheduling and whatnot. So that was definitely like the hardest part was just learning how to do everything. But if you stick with it, it really does. Work out. Yeah. Like I think in, in the long run.

Okay. So, yeah, so, so really what I'm hearing you say, and this goes for really, I think anyone in, I'm, I'm, I'm huge on people not being so stuck in just healthcare. Like if you're feeling like, I think really you having that, that self-awareness of yourself as, as a nursing student to just at least know, hey, I don't know if I want to do this full-time even or forever. I need, I need something else. And I think what a lot of people do is they wait till they've been doing it for 5, 10 years before they're like, okay, that feeling that I had in nursing school is right. I think I'm gonna believe that now that I've done this for 10 years. So my message to people is to try, you know, not to wait that long. And if you, if you're just willing to have a little bit of that, like that go-for-it mentality and not be so afraid, 'cause I'm sure that you, you know, I think you even said you had a little bit of fear around it. You weren't sure how it was gonna go.

Yeah.

But you were willing to at least try. And then just like the end product of that is that you get to live this life now that while it may not be perfect and and there's obviously cons to anything you do, you really have set yourself up, at least at this point in your life, for just like having that freedom, that flexibility, and the option to do other things. And I think the biggest thing about it is you're not burning yourself out like so many of us do. And I think that that's really important. And that was one of the big reasons why I wanted to talk to you, because I think people need to hear that. I think sometimes we even just as, not even just as nurses, but as humans need that permission almost from somebody else to be like, oh, okay, like Hannah's doing this, Hannah's out there being a, you know, flight attendant. a nurse, like I can, even if I don't want to be a flight attendant, I, I, it gives me the permission to now go do something else that I was thinking about, you know? So I think that's, it's great to hear that.

Yeah. And I think too, the hard part with nursing burnout is like, you know, as nurses, obviously you really only have to work like 3 days a week, you know, if you're in the hospital, that's 12. But I think like if you get burnt out, I know so many of my friends, like they just don't even want to do anything on their days off because they're so like just mentally drained. And it is draining. It's really demanding to like see sick people all day and deal with people all day and hospital administration on top of everything, right? Just like being so against you. So like, of course, like you totally understand that they don't wanna do anything off. But I think if you like give yourself that flexibility to like, you know, take, not work 3 days a week, like take, I wanna take 2 weeks off from nursing and then I'll come back to it.

Yeah.

Like I just feel so much more energized like on my days off. Like I've been off for 4 days and I've just been going crazy, you know?

Yeah, yeah. You probably, you probably show up so much better for your patients too.

For my patients, truly, truly.

Yeah, yeah. I love that. I, I think we— I was, whenever I was planning this podcast, I was like, how did I meet Hannah? I was like, oh yeah, it was— we met on NurseCon, right? That's, yeah, that's where we met. Yeah. Uh, I guess just like sidebar, talk to us about your experience. How was NurseCon? Was that your first one? Would you go again? How was it for you?

That was my first NurseCon, and honestly, that was my first cruise actually too.

Yeah.

And Nurse Blake said that this is like an extreme crazy cruise. Like, not everything, not all cruises are like that.

Yeah.

But I had so much fun and I met so many amazing people. And, um, I'm actually planning something in October with one of the girls I met there. So, I mean, it was such a fun experience. I hope to go back probably next year. So, yeah.

Yeah.

Um, although they did say they might make it like 7 days. Did you hear that? Sure, why not? I don't know, but like after the 4— I think we were there for 4 days and I was like, oh my God, like I need to go home.

Like done. Yeah, yeah. It's all— I think, I think cruises are one of those things that you, especially if it's 7 days, you have to pace yourself. You know, if you're indulging in alcohol or the sun, I mean, you just have to really pace yourself, especially if it's going to be 7 days. There's definitely got to be a couple days in there where I'm like, I'm not speaking to anybody. I'm going to go just relax, go to do the spa or something. But yes, very fun. A great, great way for like community building, being around. I mean, on a ship full of people who all get what you're going through. Is amazing. And I think you kind of touched on this earlier too, even just being a flight attendant, just that, that feeling of just community, the people you meet. And when you're, when you're a flight attendant and you're traveling, I mean, you're all away from your friends and family in a, you know, new city. And even if it's just one person who wants to go out and like explore the city, like you're just constantly meeting new people and getting to do new things. And then once you're there for a while, based on the things I know, you start to build friends and fly with your friends. And, and I don't know, it's just, it's fun.

Yeah. And I always say it's all about who you know, you know, like all your connections you can make. And too, I always encourage like nurses to do the whole social media thing too. Like, yes. Yeah, obviously like the social media thing has become a third income, a third job really too for myself. But it has opened so many doors for myself and like things have happened that I'm like, oh my gosh, that never would've happened for me if I didn't do it, you know? So I always encourage nurses too to like Post about your life, post about your nursing experience. Like just talk or just do anything, you know, just get over that fear too.

Yeah. Yeah. Because there's not, I mean, what people don't realize about it is yes, there may be, especially now, there may be a lot more nurses out there making content, but nobody's you. Nobody has the same experience or has the same things to say. You just have to, you know, just find that uniqueness about yourself. And for you, I mean, you know, you're able to bring in your flight attendant, your nursing, your aviation experience, and that's what's you know, one of the things that's so unique about you and everybody has that if they're willing to just find it and then talk about it.

Yeah. And then post about it and your life.

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Everybody's always scared. I mean, it is scary when you, the first time you start making videos, it's so cringey. You're like, oh my God.

Like, what am I doing? Oh my gosh. I know. I look back at some of my old videos and I was like, wow. But, and the more you do it though too, you get good. You know, you get good at it. 'Cause I was like looking at my videos now and I'm like, oh, this is good. And then I look at old videos and I'm like, oh.

Yeah. You find, you know, you find your groove, you find your, you know, what your audience or who's consuming your content kind of what they wanna see. And that's, yeah, it's the best part. It's, it's, it's just like another form of expression. And I always, I always tell people who ask like, how do we start doing this? Or what do I do? Is like, if you are willing, if you have something to talk about and you have something to say, and as long as you just stay true to yourself, then the right people will be there and it won't become as scary or exhausting. If you feel like you're having to like be this character or like if you, you know, if you're only posting to get likes and views about something.

Yeah.

And it's not true to who you are, then that's where it it's— that's where I have felt burnout from it. Because we've all— I mean, I don't know if you have, but I feel like most people, like, we've all been in that space of like, okay, I'm, I'm chasing something. Like, I want more views, I want more likes or whatever. Uh, and if I find if I do that, it's harder to stay authentic and to feel like I'm not gonna burn out from that as well. Because then I'm like, oh, I have to keep up this, like, you know, this trend of like—

You don't want this fake persona. Yeah. And like, it's the creative flow too. Like, some days, like, if I am, like you just said, like, trying trying to chase after something, like, I just can't. I get like a creative block. Like, I don't want to make anything or do anything, you know?

Yes, I've been there more times than I would like to admit, but the awareness is at least there. So, yes. Yeah. So speaking of social media, I mean, how do people find you? What is, uh, what, what is your, what is your page about? What is your hopes whenever you're posting on social media?

So you can find me, uh, I had a TikTok page, but that actually got hacked, so I had to start a whole new TikTok page.

Oh no.

Um, but it's going good. So Scrubs and Hubs is that. So it was like, people are like Scrubs and Hubs, but it's like Scrubs nursing and then Hubs for like flying.

Love it. I love it. Yeah.

And then I'm on Instagram too, Han Kimmel. And then I've started doing some YouTube stuff too, but that's a lot of work. So yes, there's little— that's like Han Kimmel too. So basically mainly like TikTok and Instagram.

Okay. Love it. We'll definitely put those in the, in the show notes and in the article that we publish so people can find you. Uh, are there any, any parting words? Anything that you, any words of encouragement, words of advice that you would give for anybody in aviation, anybody in nursing, or just any general message that you would want to give to the audience?

Um, I would say just go for it, you know, just do it. Like choose your own adventure. You know, you don't have to stick to the beaten path. I also know so many flight attendants that are going back to nursing school too, you know, and doing that whole thing after a long career of flying. So it could go either way. And like, if you're burnt out, if you are like miserable, you know, don't be Don't be scared to go do something else. Switch it up, shake it up, you know?

Yeah. Yeah. I love it. Really. I really, really do. Um, I was super excited for this conversation. I really think people will find value in that. And again, even if they're not looking to be a flight attendant or get into aviation, it'll maybe give them an idea or spark something in them to be like, okay, I, I'm ready to take this leap into whatever the hell that it might be. So thank you for sharing, sharing with us. This has been awesome talking to you. Yeah.

Thank you for having me.

Of course. From the bottom of my heart, I wanted to thank you for being here at Club Nurse. I hope you gained something valuable from today's episode, and if you did, remember to share this episode with someone that you love. Follow me on socials at Nurse Daddies or Colton Lord 17, and be sure to follow nurse.org to stay informed with all of the hottest healthcare topics. Until next time, take care of yourself the way you take care of everyone else. Love ya. Bye.