Julie Barnes for Nurse Life Coach Academy Video Testimonials

Speaker: Julie Barnes, RN Case Manager

Julie Barnes: by the idea of it. Listen to that, honor that.

Julie Barnes: Mm When I stumbled on the nurse Life Coach Academy initially, I was exploring options to help me find more fulfillment in my Nurse career, um. I was searching for anything. Uh, I was experiencing an extreme level of burnout. I was considering leaving the nursing profession altogether. I didn't. I have reached a point where. I didn't know that I had any desire left in me to be a nurse despite trying different um genres of nursing. I've, I've done everything from med surge, labor and delivery to correctional nursing and um working in a prison. So I, I've, I've done several different things trying to find a place where I felt like I was doing good work and work that mattered. Um, I have reached a point in my life where I feel like. I need to honor the things that I have learned that are outside of conventional medicine. And, but I also loved being a nurse at one point and I wanted to get back to doing that. And nursing has been a part of my life, my entire life. My mom's a nurse. Um, I've been a nurse for 23 years. So leaving that behind was very scary, but when I found Nurse Life Coach Academy, I've realize that maybe there is another way. Maybe there is a way that I can use my nursing and continue to grow and make a difference. I did not feel like I was fulfilling my purpose with what I was doing. I wanted to be able to see people and treat people in a more holistic way. I wanted to be able to cut through that immediate need of whatever we were putting the band-aid on and, and go deeper with people to be able to help them heal whatever capacity that was, whether that was a physical need or emotional need. Um. As most nurses do, I, I frequently saw a lot of the same patients. They would come back for the same reasons. And all I was doing was taking care of them in that moment. And while that moment was important, I just never felt like it was enough. Um, I left work exhausted and did not feel like I had made a difference in any, in any major way. There's always the, the code or the code blue or the, um, you know, the, some septic and you get the antibiotics, all those things are matter. They're all important, but on a deep down level. I have grown to a point where. I've looked outside of conventional medicine for ways to have a better lifestyle and, and I firmly believe that while conventional medicine has its place, there are other ways and I wanted a way to be able to Use that and encourage that for people so that they could find a path that works for them. And when I stumbled on Nurse Life Coach Academy, um, You know, normally this is completely out of character for me to jump into a program and jump into something and. I had one, not even 15 minute conversation and after doing all the research and looking at everything available online and listening to the podcast, I knew that this was the right move for me and there's not been one time that I have doubted that this is the right thing for me. Am I still nervous of what the future holds? Absolutely, but there's never been a moment of doubt that this is the right path.

Julie Barnes: Being able to balance my life and the coursework has been super easy, um. Initially when the program first started, uh, there was a whole lot of information at once and there were moments that that felt overwhelming, but. Uh, other than that, um, it, I have a full-time job. I have to take call night once a week. I have 4 teenage boys at home and 3 adult children, 2 grandchildren, um, and a husband and a house to maintain, and I have not had any issues integrating, um, the coursework in with my day to day life. Um, I am fortunate in that I have a job where I'm able to Um, move patients around so that if I have a lab during the day that I can attend those at times. Um, there's times that I haven't been able to, but there's always another option to attend in the evening. That has been super helpful, giving you that autonomy to choose times for the coaching labs. Um. Overall, I feel like that this couldn't have been. Made any simpler, um, is different from any kind of online program that I've ever done where I felt the intensity of a deadline and I had to do this by this time. And, and while there is guidance given on suggestions as to when to complete certain parts of the program. There's also that freedom for you to do it in your own time. So balancing coursework in my life as busy and um functional, chaotic as it is, uh, I've not had any trouble. It's been, it's been quite simple.

Julie Barnes: With my future as a nurse life coach, I kinda have two paths. I don't know which way that I am going to go, um, full on, but One of those passes private practice for myself, which would integrate into the other idea that I have. I know that nurse life coach is opening up a lot of uh possibilities and, and ways for me to be able to do the things that I want to do in life, including working from home, working for myself, um, being able to travel, um, also being able to Um, relocate in the future. My husband and I would like to move. We just haven't decided on where and I firmly believe that nurse life coaching will allow me to be able to do that in whatever capacity I want. I also have this, um, Thought or vision of a collaboration between myself and other nurses who are also branching out of conventional medicine into things that interest them from massage to um trauma release therapies, um, multiple different capacities. And we have kind of toyed with the idea of, you know, opening a, or renting a building and having all these modalities there and refer to each other and Um, use each other in ways that we can, would only benefit each other, so. I, I'm not sure what path I'm gonna take. I know that I have options and I'm confident in the fact that I have options and can. Move from one Idea to the next and I feel like that while there may be some hiccups, I mean, it's life, life happens, but I feel like that this is a profession that I can make it my own. I can make it whatever works for me in that moment and. All will be well.

Julie Barnes: Since starting the Nurse Life Coach Academy program, I have come away in so many ways of feeling like I'm growing myself. I feel like the work that I'm doing just with the clients that I've had so far, the pro bonos and my peer coach, I feel like I have um Grown along with them. I know that's strange maybe to say, but um, I have found a. Passion within myself that. Excites me and encourages me, and with each client and with each session that I do, my confidence is growing. And I just, I know that I'm on the right path and I have been in a position in the last few years, last 3 to 4 years, honestly, of Growing myself personally and self developing and and. Learning to accept myself for who I am and where I'm going in life and that it's OK for me to live my life. And I don't have to live within the constraints of what somebody else uh envisions for my life or for me. And This is only amplifying that. This is, um, I feel like I am. Growing into the person that I wanna be. And this is, this is a catalyst. This is helping me get there and feel confident in who I'm becoming because a lot of the times, the material that I use with my uh clients, I can apply it directly to myself too. And so a lot of times I feel like I'm coaching myself along with other people. So definitely some changes for me personally.

Julie Barnes: For anyone who is considering joining the Nurse Life Coach Academy, I would have to say that if you find yourself. Pulled back to the idea of it and intrigued by the idea of it. Listen to that, honor that. It's, it's something that's calling you to this and do your research, uh, you know, nurse life coaching isn't for everybody and that's OK. Um, but for Someone who feels that and feels that that interest and, and the thought keeps coming to you that this is something I could do. This is something that I would enjoy. Is this really possible? Um, I say, say jump on it, honor that and, and follow that because even if you chose not to be a nurse life coach. You're still gonna learn tools that you will be able to use in nursing profession in general. I have used some of the things that I have learned with hospice patients who are grappling with their own mortality. Um, I've, I've found tools to use this with my teenage children. Uh, you know, just the things that I've learned in doing this program to this point, I would be able to carry on with me even if I didn't choose to be a nurse life coach. I'm absolutely gonna be a nurse life coach. I'm absolutely gonna follow that path. But it's only because I honored that pool and I listened to it and, and respected my intuition and, and said, There's something about this. I feel it, I know it, and I jumped on it. And so if you're feeling that same pull or that nudge, listen to it.