𝕂𝕖𝕖𝕡 𝕘𝕣𝕠𝕨𝕚𝕟𝕘. 𝕂𝕖𝕖𝕡 𝕥𝕙𝕣𝕚𝕧𝕚𝕟𝕘. 𝕂𝕖𝕖𝕡 𝕔𝕝𝕚𝕞𝕓𝕚𝕟𝕘.

𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚕 𝙽𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝙽𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎 𝙿𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚛

It’s hard to believe that my journey to becoming an advanced practice registered nurse is over. I am officially a licensed Board Certified Family Nurse Practitioner and I am now working! My journey as an APRN has only just begun. I believe that we all have that hunger within us. A need to do more, be more, and feel that we are fulfilling our destiny with the limited time we have here on earth. Too deep?!? Haha.

As I have said in previous blogs, I never knew my journey would lead me to this moment in my nursing career and I'm telling the world about it. I was never a writer, but I love to share my thoughts, experiences, and advice about this crazy journey called, “Started from the bottom now I’m here”, LOL. It is hard to believe how far I've come: CNA, LPN, RN, and now APRN. I feel that the journey is far from over and that it is just beginning because I have found a new sense of determination. I now have the capability to do so much more and that is why I share my journey with you. To inspire, motivate, and tell you the things no one else will because some of you do not have the mentorship I did. I want to mentor whoever is willing to take their nursing career to the top. Excuses are not allowed here. I only accept pure determination to be the very best you can be and more. There will be setbacks, those are expected. You can not allow those setbacks to be your permanent excuse to stay behind when so many of us are pushing forward. DO know, you can be your best at the level in which you feel you are most fulfilled. That can be as a CNA, LPN, RN, APRN, or any job. The level of success I want you to feel is the internal sense that you are completely content with where you are in your journey.

ℍ𝕠𝕨 𝕞𝕒𝕟𝕪 𝕠𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕤𝕒𝕪 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕗𝕖𝕖𝕝 𝕥𝕣𝕦𝕝𝕪 𝕗𝕦𝕝𝕗𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕕, 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕝𝕠𝕧𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕔𝕦𝕣𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕔𝕒𝕣𝕖𝕖𝕣, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕟𝕠 𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕣 𝕟𝕖𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕡𝕦𝕤𝕙 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕨𝕒𝕣𝕕?

Where are all my nurses at? What is your goal in nursing? Are you a CNA because you knew you’d always have a stable job in healthcare or because you wanted to help people? Are you wanting to continue your education to become a licensed practical nurse, LPN, or registered nurse, RN? Maybe even APRN? Whatever your reason may be, think of what impact you can have and will have on other people’s lives.

EVERYONE can do ANYTHING with their license. By anything, I mean work anywhere. You can work with any patient population, children, teens, pregnant women, or adults of all ages. You can change your environment as well, you can work in a school clinic, hospital, cruise ship, airplane, or for yourself. Nursing has an endless amount of avenues you can take, it is a matter of you finding what you're passionate about.

ℙ𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕚𝕤 𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕕𝕣𝕚𝕧𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕔𝕖. 𝕀𝕥 𝕚𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕗𝕦𝕖𝕝 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕙𝕖𝕝𝕡𝕤 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕔𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕘𝕠𝕒𝕝𝕤 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕟𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕖. 𝕀𝕥 𝕚𝕤 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕞𝕠𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕤 𝕦𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕕𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤 𝕨𝕖 𝕟𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕚𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕚𝕟𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕔𝕒𝕦𝕤𝕖 𝕨𝕖 𝕕𝕦𝕘 𝕕𝕖𝕖𝕡 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟 𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕤𝕖𝕝𝕧𝕖𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕦𝕔𝕔𝕖𝕖𝕕 - Travel Nurse Missa

As for my current situation, it’s officially official. I am the Clinic Director of a Medical Clinic that offers unique laser cosmetic services to the Tampa Bay and surrounding areas. I perform:

• Botox

• Body sculpting

• Laser skin rejuvenation with platelet-rich plasma (PRP)

• Laser hair removal

• Laser tattoo removal

Finding a job as a new grad was not easy, but I stayed determined to find the right position for me. I love that I no longer work 12-16 hour long hospital shifts. I am no longer working major holidays and begging for time off. I no longer have to care for patients that are sick and dying. No more high levels of emotional, physical, and mental hospital stress where I am not appreciated and working with minimal staff. No more worry about what my day will be like and what will come through the door. What I can say is that my journey as an ER nurse over many years has given me a feeling of dread, because when I thought of work, I never knew what would happen that day. For some, that is very exciting and I loved it for a while but 17+ years later, I was ready for change, stability, a calm work environment, and to just be happy.

Now that I have a clinic to oversee, I feel empowered and excited to be in a new role that I have control of. I feel internally awakened by this new adventure and not at all dreading the clinic life. My patients are scheduled and I can plan my day in advance. I feel excited to come to work, and what’s best is that it doesn’t feel like work, isn't this what we all want? As we individually venture down different paths, it will be interesting to see where you find your place of content and how long you’ll stay there. This is a place to speak up, ask for advice, vent, discuss, and agree to disagree. My forum is open to all who want to chat about any topic including nursing, healthcare, careers, education, and everything in between.

No matter where there this journey in nursing leads me, I will forever be Travel Nurse Missa. Being a travel nurse made me stronger than I ever thought imaginable and I thank travel nursing to my success because it pushed me to chase my dreams and make me who I am today.

“𝕊𝕥𝕒𝕪 𝕙𝕦𝕟𝕘𝕣𝕪. 𝕊𝕥𝕒𝕪 𝕞𝕠𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕕. 𝕊𝕥𝕒𝕪 𝕕𝕖𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕕.” - Travel Nurse Missa

Stay tuned for what's to come! If you have similar goals to follow the path I have taken, just know that you CAN do it!