So You Want to Be a Flight Nurse? The No-BS Guide with Janessa Dean

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 the Club Nurse Podcast, everybody. My name is Colton Lord, your host of this podcast. And with me today, I have— this is our first flight nurse on the podcast, so I'm super excited to chat with Janessa. Janessa is on social media. She is a flight nurse coach helping nurses get from the bedside into flight nursing, which I think is a really interesting topic to cover because I don't know a whole lot about flight nursing and kind of how that process works. This is not really something I've ever been like personally interested in pursuing, but I think that a A lot of people kind of are. And I think that it's a very interesting job. So anyway, Janessa, if you could just introduce yourself, tell us a little bit about you, a little bit about your nursing background.

Yeah. I can't believe I'm the first flight nurse that you've had ever on.

You are.

That's kind of crazy. My background is I've always been in critical care. I did— I've been a nurse for, I think, almost 15 years now. And I started out my nursing career in ICU as a medical surgical ICU. I think at the time, I don't even know if we were a level hospital, maybe 3 or 4. But I did that for about 4 years and I knew I always wanted to get into flight nursing. So, at about the 4th year mark, I moved into flight and I did that for about 6 and a half, 7 years. So, that's my career really as a nurse. And now, I actually found the tools of coaching a couple years after being in flight. I was experiencing like a ton of feelings of isolation and patient loss, and I was really having a hard time. So, I hired my own coach. And after I hired my own coach, that's when I realized, Oh, I love the tools that I was taught and I want to help other healthcare workers and first responders. And it took off. People wanted help getting into flight. And now I have a whole program called the Flight Prep Academy that helps nurses and medics, no matter where they are in their journey, get hired into flight and create a plan for it. And I have also opened up— I'm getting ready to start an all healthcare worker and first responder life coaching group.

Oh, cool.

And so I now am going to be doing life coaching portion side for this subset of people as well.

Oh wow. Look at you just like covering everything. That's, that's awesome. Um, did you, so did you say you're not currently, you're not working as a flight nurse right now? You're doing the coaching or are you still doing both?

Yeah. Okay. So I forgot to mention that piece. Um, when I first found coaching, I always thought, oh, this is fun. Like I can run this business kind of part-time and still fly. I loved flying and thought I was going to retire in it. And then it really just took off. And so after 6 months I went down to full-time to part-time and then 3 months later I went to Burdiam and then I had to come to a decision about 2 years into running my business of, do I want to help more people and have this grow, or do I want to just really stick with flight and kind of do both and do it part-time? And I really made the decision at that moment that I really wanted to grow this bigger and help more people in this industry and who are healthcare workers. So, um, 3 years ago I fully retired from nursing in general. And yeah, and—

Good for you.

Running it full-time as a, as a coach.

That's awesome. So kind of explain to us, I guess, give us like a little rundown of what exactly— I mean, it's kind of self-explanatory in the title, flight nursing, but just kind of give us, for anybody listening who maybe doesn't know, like what exactly is flight nursing? What is your role as a nurse? Are there doctors on these flights as well? Kind of just give us the little rundown of what flight nursing really is.

Yeah, I think people don't know. So I think this is a good question to start at. As flight nurses, for most teams anyway in the United States, you run as a team of 3. So you have a pilot, you have a flight And you have a flight nurse. And the flight nurse and the flight medic really do the same job. We're trained in the same way. It just really depends on whatever your state or county regulations are for the medic, but we can all do the same thing. But as flight nurses, there's— you really have 2 subsets of calls. Your one call is like a 911. We call that a scene call. So anywhere you're dispatched out for 911, whether it's a traffic accident, a drowning, a stabbing, a gunshot wound, anything like that, those are your 911 scene calls. And then we run different calls that are called inter-facility calls. So you maybe will take a patient from a rural bed ER ICU, and then you're going to transfer them to a higher level of care or a level 1 trauma or specialty place. And so those are the 2 kinds of calls. And you can run it either out of a helicopter, which is rotor, or you can run it out of a fixed wing, which is an airplane.

Mm-hmm.

You can go bigger distances, but you have a higher skill set. So for most flight nurses, you're doing intubations. You can do surgical crics, you can do chest tubes. You run off of a huge protocol. So just like you have protocols in ICUs and ERs, your protocol book is over 1,000 pages long. So you have a higher skill set, you're able to do things that providers do, and also RSI and give all of those drugs. And you have a medical director that's at your fingertips that you can call and ask any questions that you have.

Okay, so you're not, uh, so you're not having to like phone in a doctor for orders. You have standing protocols that you follow, and that's what you use for, um, like you said, like the, um, The intubation medications and, uh, intubating, it's at the discretion of the nurse and the medic.

Yeah. Yeah. So standing orders, standing protocols, just like you kind of do in an ER ICU for standardized things that are happening with the patient, but you, it's just a bigger protocol book. And then you always have the support. I know a lot of people are like, oh, well, you're going into a team of 3 or a team of 2, just clinically where you have your partner and you, but you really have more availability. You have a medical director that you can call anytime and will always be there for you and help you kind of walk through it. So that's really nice. But most people want to do it for the autonomy. That's why I wanted to get in it. I just love the autonomy of being an ICU nurse, and I wanted a higher level of that. So that part's really special about being a flight nurse or a flight medic.

Yeah, yeah, you wouldn't really find that, uh, really anywhere at the bedside. I mean, unless you went on to become like a CRNA, which is obviously advanced. But yeah, it's interesting to kind of hear you talk about the, uh, you know, going to like a scene or like inter-facility, um, transfers, because at my current job I work for a transfer center. So I kind of have now seen kind of like the behind the scenes, if you will, of that where we're getting calls from, you know, if it's a scene call, uh, we get a, you know, for the flight company and the main one that kind of, um, runs outta Boston will call in and, hey, like, you know, this facility's up next. Um, are we okay to bring to the ED? So is that kind of similar to like most places? Like if you're going to a scene, you kind of rotate the, the, like the local hospitals to see who's next?

Um, not always, but it really just kind of depends on what type of flight nurse job you're working. So they have base hospital flight nurse jobs where you have a, which I'm sure in Boston, I know has one where you have your own flight nurse crew or flight crew and your own helicopter that like basically stays on the pad and then they're dispatched out and brings the people in and out, whether it's a scene call or from another hospital.

Got it.

But if you work for a private air ambulance company, which is more common in the United States, you are based, like we were based out of an airport. So you don't necessarily go to, like we would go to the level trauma, level 1 trauma center for all of our traumas, but then there was one for pediatrics, so we would go there. And depending on where you were distance-wise, you go to the closest trauma center or closest stroke center or closest center where you take your high-risk OB patients, depending on what the need of your patient was. But normally you're gonna go to the highest level trauma center. So if you have a level 1 in the area, you're gonna just always go there.

Just go there.

Yeah.

Okay. Were you ever, were you ever afraid of flying? I mean, I feel like, I don't know if this is just because of media, but I feel like helicopters are so scary. Yeah.

Yeah.

Were you ever, were you ever scared? Were you ever in like situations where you were like, oh my God, like, I know, I know that Again, this is just from my experience of kind of seeing how this, how this plays out, um, with this job that I have is, uh, you know, cause we also deal with the, when you're in the Boston area, you have to also consider Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard. And so if there's weather, they can't, the helicopters aren't flying. So then it becomes a, you know, just a waiting game or if they really have to, they'll send the Coast Guard out by a boat. But were you ever afraid of flying?

Yeah, no, that's a great question. Cause I think that's something that a lot of people tackle. I never actually, was in a helicopter until my day 1 of orientation. And really what I teach inside the Flight Prep Academy is let's get you inside that helicopter seat as quickly as possible, as soon as you want it. So that's really doing ride-alongs and making connections with flight companies. But that's some people's number one, like, thing that they're scared about because most people haven't been in a helicopter.

Yeah.

And it's nothing like being in an airplane. Like when you go from a place to a place, they're smooth because they're smaller and you're really focused on what you're doing with your one patient. It is tight. Most of them are tight spaces. But I find it to be a lot smoother. I do think, with full transparency, I think that there's— you see a lot on television and social media crashes that happen, and usually they're fatal. But we see that because they're less common. It's not like traffic accidents that dozens are happening every second, and so they're showing all of them.

Right.

But these don't happen very much, and when they do, it often is tragic. So I do think it's something that you have to come to terms with if you go into it, that that's a possibility. For me, myself, I upped my life insurance. I also upped my life insurance with the company I was working with, and it was a conversation that I had fluidly with my husband and my kids. But I do think I was in more danger working as an ICU nurse. I remember being nine months pregnant and people just wanting to kick me in the belly. And you know, we all have those patients where they come in and they're crazy. So I do think people don't know is that there's a huge safety feature that's built in. For every crew and every company you fly with. And that's really the saying, 3 to go and 1 to say no. And so when there's a weather issue or when a call comes out, you all talk about it together. And if one person doesn't feel comfortable with it for any reason, then you don't go. So safety is a huge thing in the world.

Yeah. And that's honestly, that's, you kind of said exactly what I kind of think about it. And my perspective is, of course, there's a risk with anything. If you got into a commercial airplane, you're flying anywhere, there's always risk, but it's the same thing. You have a risk. walking out, going into, into your car and driving to the grocery store, driving to work. You never know what's going to happen. So that's kind of what I wanted to kind of touch on there was, of course, you're in a helicopter.

Right.

We see these things on the media, but at the end of the day, I mean, if, if it's something that you really want to do, your risk is probably not any higher than somebody driving, driving to work in their car. So let's kind of talk about this. So what experience are these companies looking for as far as nursing experience before you kind of get into into a flight program? Like if somebody came to you, a new client, and they're like, hey, I really want to be a flight nurse. Um, what's the first thing you're telling them as far as experience?

Yeah. Okay. Um, yeah, this is a great question because this is a common thing that I get asked. And then I'll tell you what I teach inside of my program that really has created a lot of success, which most people don't think about. So time and experience requirement-wise is 3 years ER or ICU. It doesn't matter if it's a rural ER or ICU or a level 1 trauma. I think in the past people have thought it has to be level 1. So I have to get there. I have to have a high acuity. patients, but that's just not true. It's one of those specialties. So it could be a specialty ER, a pediatric ER, it could be a burn ICU, whatever it is, just critical care, 3 years ER ICU. Because it is a job that a lot of people want to do and it is competitive, what will get you hired is earlier on mapping out your plan. So when you come to work with me, if someone like, for example, says in nursing school they want flight, I help them map out their plan from nursing school all the way to a flight offer. And when you have a mapped out plan, you're going to take less action. What I see a lot of people do who want flight is, okay, they jump around from here, then they work at ER, then they think they need to do ICU, then they go get pediatric experience, then they go get cardiac device experience, and it just prolongs their time. I really teach you how to map out your plan so that you're taking less action and you're not burning out as you're getting there.

Yeah.

And then the other thing that I highly recommend is doing ride-alongs and making connections with these companies. So even as soon as nursing school, I'm teaching the people who come to work with me, do 6 to 8 ride-alongs a year with various different companies. This is so that they get to know you, and this This is how I'm getting people hired before the 3-year mark too, because it's so competitive. It's not enough to wait till your 3-year mark to then start to sit for an interview and try to get hired. There's people for years who've been making connections, and that's ultimately what gets you an invitation to be a part of their team.

I think that's a huge part of honestly nursing is networking and just knowing people. Even in my own personal career, I have found just advantages by just literally just knowing people to get Um, and I think that's, so that's what you're saying is important. If, you know, if you, if you're wanting to be a flight nurse, if this is the path that you're wanting to go down, you know, start making those early connections because once people start seeing your face and they know who you are, they're gonna build trust with you. And then of course they're gonna want you to work for them. Do you lean one way of more like telling them to go work to the ICU or to the ER, or are you kind of just like, whatever, whatever scratches your itch, you should go do that and then go to, you know, the next thing. Um, apply for a flight program.

Yeah. That's something that, um, early on people ask me like, what's better, ER, ICU? And I tell them one's not better than the other. When they ask me that, I say, go to the one that you feel most excited about, because the one you feel most excited about, even if it's a specialty of one or the other, that's where your critical thinking skills are going to grow. And that's really what that 3-year time period is all about, is just growing your critical thinking skills, learning to trust yourself, learning to trust your team. That's why they, they want that 3 years. And it doesn't matter whether you get that from ER or ICU. I actually tell people, don't go and get both. That really hurts you because companies aren't looking for time and experience. They're looking for who you are, what you value, and the team player you are. And so you want to stick in one department, one unit, and really, really grow your leadership skills in that department and become that resource to people because that's the candidates that they're going to be picking.

Okay. So if you can, you draw from any of your personal experiences flying, like, were there ever moments where— I mean, I'm sure it's a highly stressful job. But like, do you have any like advice to people who are wanting to do this job? Like, how do you manage that kind of stress when you're up there? And I mean, really, your resources seem pretty limited if there's only, you know, you and the medic and the pilot. What do you tell people on how to manage that, that level of stress?

I really tell people, I think something that has really been beneficial for me is to always have a mentor. So, when I was in nursing school, I had a mentor. When I became an ICU nurse, I had a mentor. When I became a flight nurse, I had a mentor. Have a mentor and a community that can support you because no one else understands what you're going through. Than them because they've been through it and they know exactly how to walk you through it. So I think mentorship is huge, and that's really what I offer inside my program. You stay with me for the longevity of however long you want to fly, and I love that piece of it because we don't— we understand things more than anybody else. And so mentorship, I think, is huge because you can go to them, you can vent to them, you can get support. They can see things that you can't see and also prevent you from not making the same mistakes that people Commonly make and then get you out of that spinning when you're really spinning or you're burning out or you're on the verge of burnout. They can really help you with that. So I think that's really important. And then the other thing that I really recommend that's helped me a lot is just having a coach, going to a coach every week that you can go to, whether it's a group setting or one-on-one where you can process some of these things that you're feeling. That was pivotal for me. Having that and continues to be for me because I think you can experience burnout in this job. We see things, we do things that most people in this world will never ever have to experience. And so I think it's really important to have that modality to express that and also get stronger because of it.

Yeah, yeah, for sure. I think that's a good point you make, and I've said that before in the sense of the things that just as nurses, and that could be flight, ER, ICU, med-surg, whatever kind of specialty you're working in, NICU, really anything. What we're exposed to on just a regular basis is something that like, you know, if you if you meet someone that's not in healthcare, they roll up on a you know a tragic car accident and they help like that will stick with them forever. And it's like when you think about it, like we're seeing that every day, you know maybe not every day but a lot of days of our shifts. I mean we're not we're not like programmed to carry that kind of trauma every day. And when we that becomes you know that's when we start to like disassociate and things can get you know burnout can get really scary if you really let it get away from you. I think that's a really good point to kind of make. To find that mentorship, find that coach, that therapist, and like that community of people who just understand what you're going through because it's really easy to start slipping. And I've noticed that even just in my own career. And if you stay silent, that stuff just starts to build up in your body and come out in just like really, really bad ways. So thank you for kind of pointing that out. What are your shifts like? Kind of to pivot, what are your shifts like? Is it 12 hours? Are they 8 hours? Are you on call? What if like, if you're grounded for weather purposes, are you just kind of hanging out? Like how does that work?

Yeah, it's gonna again look different depending on what kind of company that you work for. So if you're a hospital-based company, typically those are 12-hour shifts. Typically you're an employee of the hospital. So what that looks like if you're hospital-based is you're maybe impacting in some of the critical care units and helping that way until you get a call. Some— I have seen companies that are hospital-based where you're 24-hour shifts. So instead of going from 12 shifts a month, 3 shifts a week, You're going to 24-hour shifts. So that's kind of what a hospital base looks like. For most air ambulance companies that aren't hospital-based, you're doing 24-hour shifts. So then you move to 7 to 8 shifts a month. And for me, that was great because I worked one 24-hour on, had one 24-hour off, worked my second 24-hour on, and then I had 5 days off in a row. So it was really nice for my family life. When I started flight nursing, I had 4 small children, so I felt like I won the lottery with that.

Mm-hmm.

Um, so that's typically what that looks like, and you live there. So So you have a base, like a firefighter. You live there, you have your own room, you have showers, you have laundry, you have a living room, you have a kitchen. And the company I worked for, the base was on the airport. So you would just be walking distance to your helicopter or to whatever airplane we— I, I worked at a base where we had 2 helicopters and an airplane. So we ran a ton, a ton of calls. And the way that scene calls are dispatched out is that you have 10 minutes to take off from the time that you get dispatched to the time that you leave. So it's really pivotal for you to be living With your crew, with your team, and near your helicopter before you go out. And so if there is weather, then you are practicing intubations in your sim lab with your mannequins. You're going over your protocols, you're going over your meds. You are also in charge of stocking all your meds and your blood. We carried blood. So what does that look like? Do we need to change it out? Do we need to call the blood bank? So all of those things you're kind of doing behind the scenes, 'cause you're everything, you're running everything for your base. So you're taking responsibility for a lot of that. There's cleaning, you know, You now have this aspect of you're living 24 hours with someone. So we got to clean the bathrooms, we got to clean the kitchen, and then we got to stay up on all of our training and stuff too. So that's what it looked like when weather did come in.

Okay. And that's, yeah, that's interesting. I guess I didn't realize that. So at the, at this base that you're staying at, is the sim lab there? Like you guys can, you can just keep practicing your skills. I'm assuming that there's, you guys probably do just as, just as like a hospital bedside nurse would do. Like you probably have skill checkoffs. And, you know, continuing education and things like that. But are you— you have access to practicing whatever you want, like whenever?

For every flight base, usually they have mannequins. So you're practicing infant, pediatric, adult intubations. You can be practicing chest tubes. You can— we also initiate ventilators, putting a patient on a ventilator. So you're messing with your ventilator and the settings. We would run a lot, especially with the teams when I was working. We would do a lot of case scenarios and you're responsible for staying up on those. Usually case scenarios, you're, you're You run quarterly with a higher up, either it was like your base lead or a chief flight nurse or a chief flight medic, you would get passed off with that and your medical director on a quarterly basis. And then on an annual basis, you usually go somewhere where there is like a big simulation lab and you're running with mannequins that bleed and are severed and are vomiting and are delivering babies. And once a year, you're checked off on running case scenarios for pediatric, high-risk OB, adult, and Wow. This is a lot being tested for sure.

Yeah, that, that's a lot. I mean, my— I feel like my nervous system already is like on like level 10 when I'm working in an ER, so I can't— this flight nursing, I don't think would be for me. This sounds, this sounds like a lot. So really kudos to you. That's, that's, that's hard work, but I love that people do it. We obviously need people to do it, uh, so that's great. I'm sure that there's so many people out there who have thought about this and considered it, so So what a great way for, you know, you to kind of give back to the nursing community, mentor, coach, help people get to where they want to be. I'm sure it's so fulfilling to like, you know, take somebody from nursing school, watch them kind of progress through your program and then get that dream job. That's probably so fulfilling for you. And you've really made like an impact in their life. Like they'll never forget you or, you know, I don't know if you have people that kind of work for you that help to mentor people as well, but like what a huge thing to be able to do. So let's kind of go. If I was a nursing student or if I was a nurse that was wanting to go to be a flight nurse and I came to you, uh, we already kind of touched on the experience of ER critical care. What are you gonna tell me? Like, uh, gimme just like a little like SparkNotes, Cliff Notes version of this is what you need to have done. Are there references you need to have? Are there like certain like physicals you need to have? Like what exactly has to be done in order for you to just like pick, okay, I'm ready to now go apply to these places? Like I said, we kind of covered the critical care experience, but what else?

Yeah, it's super, super simplified. It's just that, and people overcomplicate it by saying, oh, I gotta go get certs. 10 years ago when I got into flight, you needed your CCRN or CEN, and they've really moved away from certifications. You don't even need a certification anymore. The simplified version, even as a nursing student, is get into a critical care unit now as a student Because the biggest mistake that I see nursing students make is wait until after they graduate to start planning what their future is. And that's how they end up in med-surg units and not critical care units as a new grad.

And you don't have to start there.

You don't have to start there if you want.

That's an old thing.

Yeah, if you want.

Yeah, yeah, wait.

But I really teach that whatever specialty you want to start in, start in it. And that requires you as a nursing student to be thinking ahead, um, so that you aren't in those When you graduate. And thinking ahead means get a student externship job in the department that you want. So if it's ER, it's ICU, start doing that. I did that at the start of my nursing school. So for 2 years I was an extern. That's just basically a 2-year interview so that you can work for them, and most likely they're gonna give you a job offer. So I got a job offer 6 months before I graduated, and as soon as I graduated, I could seamlessly go into that with my interim permit.

Yeah.

So that's really what I recommend as a nursing student, but also So the part of your plan is just start doing ride-alongs and making connections.

Okay.

Get in that helicopter seat. You can do that even before you're in nursing school, as soon as you want it. That's what will get you hired. So simple requirement is just 3 years ER/ICU, but you wanna be that person who's networking and getting to know the team.

Yeah.

'Cause they're gonna remember you. And I've helped an ER nurse get hired with just 1 year experience. She did med surg prior to that, but just 1 year experience of ER because she started doing ride-alongs and the team started noticing her and they really wanted her. So they gave her a position. Wow.

That's amazing. So it's, so it's networking, get that critical care experience and kind of touch on what you said about starting where you want to is, I think a lot, I think even now, I mean, people like that, these schools are just, you hear these things of like, oh, start med-surg, or maybe you're in clinical and a nurse tells you you should start in med-surg. And like you said, there's nothing wrong with that. I did. And I, I mean, I'm thankful that I did. I think that you learn a lot. Med-surg, to me, med-surg is its own specialty. It's not a starting ground for anybody. It's, it's its own specialty. It's hard work. And yes, like there, there are benefits to it to where depending on where you work, you do kind of have sometimes kind of more time to like, you know, learn things. But really it depends cuz if you're working somewhere where your ratios are 6 to 6 or 7, you're, you don't have more time. Yeah, that's a, a great point to make it. And what I, what I'm thinking, and I think this is coming from even my own just like mis— uh, misconception of it, is I think that a lot of us kind of just understand like, like for CRNA school that you have to have all these things. Like you have, like it's very hard. Like you need specifically ICU, like they want you to be We want certifications. And so I think maybe that's why, like, even my own brain's like, oh, for flight, you probably need like all these specific things too. But really, it sounds like you have this kind of like simple framework, like, get your ride-along, start networking, and get that critical care experience.

Well, and I think that people just make up in their mind, this is the best of the best. So because of that, I have to do all the things. And as doers and overachievers, we want to check off this huge long list. Whereas like, really, to get into flight, it's going to require you to slow down and really focus in on the simple things. And I created that simple process. So I teach you how to network. I teach you how to do ride-alongs. Mm-hmm. I teach you how to make all of these connections in a simple way so that you are not burning out as you get there. Because what I saw as a flight nurse, when I precepted new flight nurses and flight medics, is that they worked all their life, 2, 3 jobs doing all these things, getting all these certs. Mm-hmm. Then they finally got in a flight and they were already burnt out and they quit. Mm-hmm. They couldn't even pass orientation. So what I really wanna create in my space is how do we get to our goals goals by making it simple and not burning out. Because how we are when we get there is how we'll be when we get there. And that makes so much sense, like the longevity of however, whatever nursing career you get in to be something that you enjoy and to continue on doing it without the burnout factor.

What do you miss most about flying, working as a flight nurse? Now that you're kind of removed from that, Coach?

It's just so fun. You know how it is where you have so much camaraderie with the people that you work with, you develop special relationships with them. And then you have the aspect of you live with them. So you were living with your coworkers. Now, we just had such a good time working with the best of the best and going out there with people who really cared about critical patients and did such a good job. That's the thing that I miss the most is the teamwork, the team, and just the aspect of like having a good time with the people you like to hang out with and then also doing what was best for the patient in those critical moments. I miss the team the most.

Yeah, that's actually, that's a common answer that I get from guests that I have on who have kind of removed themselves from the bedside. I like to ask that question and it's very common that people say it's the camaraderie, it's the people. And even, like I said, even for, I'm working remotely right now and that's something that when I think about it, like that's also something that I miss is just that, yeah, that camaraderie. 'Cause they really do become like, you know, another family to you and you are, You know, as they say, all trauma bonded together because you're just seeing crazy things together that no one else would understand. I'm sure that— I don't know if you're— you said you're married, right? I don't know if your partner's in the medical field. Not at all. It's hard to go home. Yeah. So when you go home and try to talk to them, they're like, oh my God, you are scaring me to go talk to somebody else.

Yes. Yeah. They don't get it. They don't get it at all.

Yeah. And how can you expect them to, right? Like, it's, it's all that they know is like what they see on maybe like movies or, and then what you're telling them, which is probably scaring them. Yeah.

And then we're thinking the whole time as we're watching the movies or the TV shows, oh, that's not what happens. That's not what's really going on. I like refuse to watch anything medical with him because that's not gonna happen.

I don't, yeah, I really don't want, I don't watch anything medical and it's not for the sense that like, I mean, some of it does annoy me like when they, it's not accurate, but then also like, I my reasoning is is I don't when I'm off work, I don't want to sit on a couch and then watch that. Like it that's not relaxing to me. I know a lot of people have said that I haven't watched it, but that the pit is like very accurate to like how an actual ER is. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, my cousin's like let's watch it. I'm like no, it's not.

I just don't want to. Yeah, I just I just and it's and I I'm thankful for those kinds of shows, especially if it's if the pit is like really that accurate. and that great and people are responding well to it. Like, I think that's good for the public to see, but I just don't— I don't want to spend my off time, you know, getting into that world again.

So yeah, they need a flight nursing show though. I am— yeah, that would be so awesome to watch because Boston Med actually, they had that show. It was like a reality show of the Boston Med team. That's what made me want to get into flight. I was in nursing school and I remember watching that. But I think like it would be really cool. They need a reality show for flight nurses.

That's a great idea. Yeah, this is a great idea. Like those 911 shows, but they could be like, yeah, like flight, like to focus on like the flight team. And they, yeah, that could be some really good TV.

I think you're on to something. I think it could be really good TV. And then they live together, so you could bring in the drama of that. I don't know.

Wow. Yes, that's, this is a great idea. We need to call up NBC.

They would have to make it really accurate though. They would have to hire flight clinicians who could help them make it accurate.

Well, there you go. They would be like calling Janessa up like, hey, we need you to be one of our writers on the show, and there's your next, there's your next career move. I know there's this question probably everybody's gonna have, um, as it's, you know, it's important. What is the, and you don't have to give me like numbers, but like, what's, what is the, like the comparison of pay of like working bedside flight? Is it comparable? Is it more? Is it less? Um, how did you kind of see in, in your experience?

Yeah, that's a really good question. I think it just depends. It's just like nursing, right? Whatever state you live in, where you live in that state, what hospital you work for, if that hospital makes more, just like how Kaiser tends to make more, those nurses make more. It all depends on that. But for me, I doubled my pay from the hospital. And so you typically do make more because you're working 24-hour shifts. So for every shift that I worked, I got time and a half and double time.

Like differentials.

Yeah. Any like 24-hour shift or 12-hour shift of that 24 that I picked up, that was double time. Also with like companies, if you, you're working for a company that's nationwide, you can work And any base anywhere if you're licensed in it.

Oh, wow.

And they'll pay for you to do that. So you get double time from the time you leave your current base to the time you come home. So there's lots of opportunity, I think, as a flight nurse to create more money and make more money than you do as a staff nurse. But again, it depends on, on where you live. And that's really questions that I really have my clients delve in and ask as they're doing these ride-alongs and making connections in their radius of what companies they're looking for. Hey, what's your pay? How do you feel about it? Is there opportunity to pick up overtime? So that way, you're sitting in that interview, they give you an offer, you already know all of that stuff and you're not having to decide that right on the spot because it does matter. We put a lot of time and energy into what we're doing as nurses. And so, you know, pay does matter to us.

Yeah, 100%. It matters. Yeah. And I think that, that, that kind of transparency is, it's important and it's, you know, of course people are gonna consider that when they're thinking about a career move. And, you know, I think it's just natural for all of us to always be kind of thinking like, how can I make a little bit more? Or, you know, if it's obviously, I don't think money's always like the, you know, the one thing to follow, like passion, if it's something that you really, really love. Um, but that's good to hear that you can, there's definitely potential to make more money as well.

Right.

Depending on kind of where you live. That's so, that's great. That's awesome. Thank you so much for sharing that. Um, do you have, is there anything else that we did not cover that you feel like is important for people to know? Or any like parting words that you wanna give to the audience about flight nursing or just following that path and And, you know, if you have this dream, this vision, or this thing that you wanna do, like what, what parting words would you have for them?

Well, probably 2 things. One thing is, as a nurse, I wanna offer everybody, if you don't like the unit or department you're working in, make a change. Because we've all worked with the nurses that have just been there for a long time and are jaded and feel like they can't be anywhere else. And what's great about this career is we can do anything with it, anything that we want. And so like, that's something that I've always been really big at. This is my 4th career change in general. Like, nursing wasn't even my first career. It's my second degree. So I really believe it's not that risky. Do what you're meant to do on this earth and what you're meant to do in this life. And maybe that doesn't mean— maybe you started out as an OB nurse, but now you want to be a NICU nurse, or now you want to go somewhere else and go to a transfer center like you do. Like, keep moving until you find the thing that you deeply desire. Because we spend so much time working and pouring ourselves into what we do. We're service-oriented people. That you want to be doing a job and work in a department that's meaningful to you. So make that change.

I'll touch on that. I think that that's so, so right. And I like to tell people like this, this license is a tool. Like you, you have this license to use, you've worked so hard for it. And also you don't have to— if your passion lies even outside of nursing and you have this other thing that you, you want to do so badly, don't— you know, you can use nursing as like a way for you to make some income on the side while you go chase this other thing. And I think that's just like so important for people to know because I think a lot of us, we, you know, almost feel like guilty if we maybe don't wanna do bedside nursing full-time or we thought, you know, we made a huge deal about what a dream we had of being this, you know, CVICU nurse. And then we get there and we're like, maybe this is actually not what I wanted to do. But then you feel like, oh, I don't, how can I leave now? I made such a big deal about it. But yeah, like you're saying at the end of the day, like, you know, you have this one life and if you get to the, If you just do it because you think that's what you're supposed to do, you're gonna feel, you know, so resentful, have so much regret towards the end. So I think that's so, so, so great to hear people just kind of, you know, say that, like, do, do what feels right for you and use that nursing license as, as a tool because it really is.

And you reminded me what my second part is. Be an entrepreneur as a nurse. We are the best entrepreneurs because we are capable of doing multiple things at one time. We're confident in it. We know how to be calm in the chaos. Like, I just think people like rack their brain around my identity is so much being a nurse, but it's like, do the other. We're giving people. We we love to serve our community. Do the thing that's that that is burning inside of you to do. And for me, that was coaching. For me, it was that piece. And I just think more nurses need to be doing it because we are a subset of people that can handle that. So that was my other piece of advice. Like your identity, don't let your whole identity be nursing. Do the thing that you really want to do and you can have both.

Yeah. Yeah. Let it be part of your identity, not your whole identity. And use those, those, our skills are so transferable into so many different things from the things that we do physically with our hands as nurses to just like you're saying, being able to be calm in the chaos and like think critically. Like those are skills that people don't understand that you are getting through being a nurse that you can use in so many other things in your life. So yes, that's so great. So thank you very much. How do people find you?

How do people find your, They can find me on Instagram. It's Janessa Dean Coaching. I'm also on TikTok under the same Janessa Dean Coaching. And if you guys DM me, I answer every single DM back myself. Or you can email me as well. I think my email is attached in there as well.

Perfect. And we'll put all that as well in the, in the notes and in the article that we publish. So thank you so much, Janessa. I appreciate you so much. I think this is really going to help a lot of people, and especially those people who are wanting to be flight This is— you're such a great resource. So thank you so much.

Thanks for having me on, Colton. It was fun.

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 @NurseDaddies or @ColtonLord17, 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.