Bianca Rodriguez

The best career advice I've ever received came from my training in emergency situations: you can't help others if you can't help yourself. They teach you that you have to make sure your gear and the stuff you need to go out and save other people isn't compromised, so that you can continue to carry out the essential roles of that job. It's just like on a plane when they tell you to put the mask on yourself first, then get the person next to you. That lesson has stayed with me throughout my career. I've learned that I have to be honest with myself when something is not aligning, when something is getting to the point where I need to have an honest conversation with myself. Burnout in this field is very real and very tangible. I was one of those nurses that came out hot, I joined hazmat teams and all these things, and then four years in, it was like boom, all cylinders fired. Throughout your career, you have to face that, and you have to readjust. The pandemic taught me something that left a hole in a place that you only read about in books, and I think that's why it's so important to always check in with yourself and stay true to your values.

Nursing is very intricate and has a multitude of pieces to it. You have to have a deep ability to empathize with each part that is the whole nursing profession. There are ethical matters, emotional matters, pathological aspects of illness, and you're going to be challenged with ethical dilemmas. Nursing holds some of the highest ethical and moral questions when it comes to healthcare, whether you're delivering care at the bedside of an ER, in a hospice center when people are at the end of life, or even in pediatrics. You are going to be challenged from an empathetical standpoint, and how those values align to how you deliver that care. So you have to be very in tune with who you are as an individual, because who you are as an individual is going to mold your success in nursing. We can all have the educational background, we can all read the books and do the math and take a test, but it takes a very, very unique individual to be able to embody the true parts that come to human suffering. Nursing can be beautiful, and it can be heart-wrenching at times, and you're gonna be faced with both. I think that if you let it show you all of its parts, the pretty, the messy, the ones that make you question your existence sometimes, that's part of the profession and that's how you start really molding into it. Once you are a nurse, you're seeing different scenarios for as long as you are a nurse. We will always be learning, and I think that that is a lifelong commitment. You have to have a level of self-awareness and keep asking yourself the deep and meaningful questions, because that's where true honesty lies.

I'm a firm believer that our healthcare systems are changing. It started taking a toll around the tail end of the pandemic, and we started seeing a shift where two poles are happening: either people are wanting to be healthier and live healthier lives, or we have people that are very, very sick. There's a gap in the middle, this gray area that's being identified, and the question is how do we bridge this gap? About 5 years ago, predominantly after the pandemic, we saw a shift in healthcare where providers weren't as accessible and health became much more detrimental in the ERs. A lot of ailments are now much more mental health related, and people are coming in for things that were really not things you would see typically outside of general practices. People are tired of feeling sick and not having a lot of answers. The biggest opportunity I see is in preventative care and functional medicine, where we focus on how we can be better, how we're improving, and how we're preventing people from ending up in the ER. We need to look at the contributing factors from a social and economic standpoint and understand how it's impacting major systems across our nation. People want to take hold of their care, they want to see change, they want to get better, and they want to live longer. That's where the real opportunity lies in healthcare right now.

To me, it's very important that I understand first and foremost what I'm translating for individuals. Anyone can read text, but it's how you deliver that. I have very deep core values in remaining in a very neutral and honest space so that people can unobjectively understand exactly where the data's coming from. If you try to influence things in a manner that takes away from others, it diminishes the relationship. I believe that every individual has their own autonomy, and if you meet them where they're at, they would meet you halfway. That creates the most active, most comprehensive, and most beautiful relationship that a person can develop with any other individual, whether in a healthcare setting or a social setting. I believe in having a deep moral compass and understanding what your morals are and staying true to that. I believe that no matter where you take that, if you understand what your moral compass is and what your goal is, whether it relates to society, taking care of individuals, friendships, or relationships, if you stay true to your values, the rest will come with it. So long as you stay within yourself and be okay questioning yourself and adjusting your sails as life goes on, you're able to pivot and learn from experiences. Sometimes the experiences are there teaching you something and preparing you for something bigger as they come along.