Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Every nursing student and new nurse. Don't let one hard season convince you to give up. Keep showing up, deciding to trust God to direct your path. Did you know that first year nurses experience the highest turnover of any group?
[00:00:19] That reality is staggering, but it also tells us something important.
[00:00:24] You are not alone and your growth matters.
[00:00:30] Welcome to the All One Nurse Podcast, where we are bridging the gap between the stethoscope and the soul through real nursing stories and nursing conversations.
[00:00:41] Here, our mission is simple, to get back to the human side of healthcare.
[00:00:46] I'm your host, nurse Chanel Tompkins, and I'm also your mentor and nurse educator. And this space was created just for you to breathe, to learn, to grow, and most importantly, feel supported no matter where you are in your nursing journey.
[00:01:09] So take a deep breath and let's step into your next breakthrough. Hey friend. Welcome back to the AWA Nurse Podcast. I'm your host, Chanel Tompkins, and I am so glad that you tuned into another wonderful conversation with with just me and you. In this solo episode, we are going to be talking about failing forward. Have you ever found yourself in the same situation, facing the same mountain that you climbed this time last year and you're like, how did I get here? Well, I'm pursuing some opportunities for all one nurse personally. And if I'm honest, I'm wrestling with some of the same fears that I faced this time last year.
[00:01:53] And there's thoughts that come to mind, like, am I enough? Who do I think I am? What if this doesn't work? And what if I'm not ready? Even though I've been doing this for a while and I know that God has put this on my heart. But do those thoughts, those questions sound familiar to you too? Now, while part of me wishes I could tell you that I've conquered those fears, those self doubts, the truth is something totally different.
[00:02:23] I'm learning that courage isn't the absence of fear, but moving forward while fear is sitting, like right next to you. Or you're right there in the presence of that set setback or that letdown, that challenge, that obstacle. But yet today I want to talk to you about four things that I've been reminding myself of, of lately.
[00:02:50] And maybe you need to remind you, and maybe you need this reminder too. Sorry, can't get my words out. But these four reminders are reasons to keep moving forward, even when you've experienced a setback or you're dealing with this sense of self doubt imposter syndrome or sense of fear. Because we do also have a fear of success. And so number one, I want you to know even in our failures, that failure is not your identity. Number two, we're going to talk about faith and how faith works best when the path ahead isn't clear. If we knew what was ahead, we wouldn't need faith, right? Faith is actually an action word now. Thirdly, I want to remind you that we can keep showing up for the right reasons and even when the results aren't immediate. And lastly, move forward with humility, knowing there's always something to learn along the way. If you've been encouraged by the All One Nurse podcast, be sure to click that plus sign to follow the show and share this episode with another nurse, nursing student, new nurse, or someone who could just use this conversation today. You never know who might need the reminder that a setback isn't the end of their story. Last week's episode with Devin Patterson Igwe, who is the co founder of Surtracker. She's our ER nurse. She provided some great advice and insights for those seeking emergency nursing, entrepreneurship and a practical way a tool surt tracker that you can use to manage those requirements needed As a healthcare professional, you can keep track of things like your nursing license, certifications like ACLs, BLS, pals, and then your vaccinations. Keep your vaccination records in the app as well and it's called Surtracker. And one feature that I really appreciate is the reminder system within it. Because as nurses we juggle so much and it's easy to lose track of renewal dates. Let's just be honest. And before we go super deep into today's topic, Dr. Devin Owens, our breast cancer survivor, family member and advocate, has booked our conversation, so I'm looking forward to meeting with her. She aligns with our mission to get back to the human side of healthcare. I also have some other wonderful guest speakers joining us here on All One Nurse. And be sure to stick around to the very end of this episode to learn how to help me help you again. I mentioned opportunities and I would like to know more about you and in doing so you have an opportunity to win a little blessing before Thanksgiving via email. And the link is down in the show notes below, but I'll tell you more at the very end, so let's dive in.
[00:06:08] Main My first reminder number one when it comes to failing forward, failure is simply feedback is not identity. I believe as humans it's easy to tie our own worth to outcomes. Didn't get accepted into nursing school. Failure didn't pass Boards on the first try. Failure. Didn't get the job that you wanted. Failure. And don't even talk about failure. Life, the breakup, failure. Right? The friendship, failure. But those experiences are events. Say it with me. Those experiences are events. They're not identities, okay? So it can teach you, it can redirect you, it can refine you, but it does not get to define you you. Because we are not our disappointments or our mistakes, okay? That is an event that happened in time. And Psalms 55, verse 22 reminds us to cast our cares on the Lord and he will sustain us. He will never let the righteous be shaken or be removed. Many new nurses feel pressure to prove themselves nursing students. Especially if you're going back, back into a second career and you chose to do nursing and your classmates are not your age and they may be a little. A lot younger than you, it's okay. You don't have to prove anything to anyone. Because I believe one of our. One of the greatest strengths that we can carry into nursing alone, whether you're in school or into your career, is humility. Because humility says that I don't know everything, I'm willing to learn, and I care more about getting it right than appearing perfect or performing. And then Psalms 25:9 tells us the humble he guides in what is right and teaches them his way. I love that verse because it reminds us that God honors teachability. So you don't have to know everything. You don't have to be the youngest person in the room. You don't have to be the loudest person in the room. You simply have to stay willing to learn in the program and intentional about your education and learning nursing. And when fear and self doubt, when it shows up, I want you to remember Psalm 27 that says, the Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? Whom shall I be afraid? So courage isn't always loud.
[00:08:56] So failure is feedback, not identity. When you feel like you're between a rock and a hard place, no matter where you are in school or in clinicals or your first year of nursing, or maybe you're in your first year, you're transitioning from one specialty to another, guess what? You're a new learner all over again. You're a novice nurse. If you go from CVICU to labor and delivery, two total different specialties. So give yourself grace. Give yourself grace. Start to become comfortable with the discomfort, because that's when you know you are growing. And I honestly believe that with failing, in order to fail, you have to show up, you gotta be doing something. So the failure is an indicator that you're actually moving. So don't let it disrupt your overall goal. Just keep moving forward, one step at a time. And one thing we need, we have to remember about faith is faith works best in the unknown. Faith works best in uncertainty. Or else it's not faith at all. I mean, if we could see every step ahead, we wouldn't need faith. Faith shows up when things don't make sense. Literally. You're like, I don't know how I'm going to pay for this. I don't know how I'm going to get through this program. I don't know what I'm going to do. No, you just keep walking by faith and not by sight. Because faith shows up when no one around you seems to understand what you're experiencing or why you're pursuing said goal. Which may be nursing, right? Nobody understand nursing school like nursing students like a nurse. And you seem to be sacrificing way more than you than ever without seeing the fruit. So faith shows up when your hard work hasn't produced any visible results yet. And you seem to be sacrificing more than ever without seeing the fruits, the fruit of your labor. And sometimes in. And with that, it's like people say, well, I don't understand why you got to study so much. Ain't that much studying in the world. Yes, it is. You're telling me a person who has non medical background most of the time that I got into a program to take care of people, and now I have to learn every organ of the body, how it functions on top of different signs and symptoms of conditions and medications that help. And not only the action of that medication, but also the side effects of that medication, right? It's so much because the body is so complex. And that's why I cannot believe when people do not believe there is a God. Look at the body and how it works together.
[00:11:49] But that's another topic for another day. Here we're talking about faith right now as you're sacrificing more than seeing the fruit of your labor. Just know that God asks us sometimes to plant seeds long before we're allowed to to see the harvest. And that's why failing forward is so important. It may feel like we're juggling a hundred different responsibilities and somehow still wondering if we've done enough. In those moments, we have to remember Psalms 46. God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble or time of need, depending on when you're listening to. I mean, depending on the scripture that you're reading. So he's not a distant help or an occasional help. God says that he's a very present help and he meets us in real time so we can continue to be confident in what we hope for and have assurance for what we do not see, which is what? Faith. Faith. And you know, faith again, is an action step. But in addition to our faith. You're like, chanel, I'm still not feeling it. I've heard that before.
[00:13:03] Well, my third reminder for you is to keep doing the work for the right reasons. One of the things that helped me move forward when I'm discouraged is not only remembering the why behind what I do, but also remembering who I'm really working for. Galatians 3:23 says, Whatever you do, work heartedly as for the Lord and not for men.
[00:13:30] And when we make people or performance, our measure of success will always be disappointed. But when we do our work as an act of worship unto God, we can remain faithful even when the setbacks, failures, or validation from others cease. Because one thing about doing what you do for the right reasons, for the right reason person who is God, is that we don't have to worry about our impact being measured by visibility. Just like on social media. Your impact, my impact is not measured by how many likes or views I get. Now I would love for you to follow follow me on those awesome platforms like TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and even YouTube. I'm still working on the YouTube, getting the episodes loaded, but that comes with seeking opportunities for my all one nurse community. So again, we gonna fail forward. Keep failing forward, Chanel, you gonna keep failing forward too. Okay? This next moment is very important for you, especially as a new nurse or a nursing student. Impact comes from humility. It could be showing up committed to learning, to serving and growing. Comforting a scared patient at 2am in the morning.
[00:14:51] That is impact. Or as a nursing student who studies when nobody is watching, nobody is validating you.
[00:15:01] That is making an impact.
[00:15:03] Just doing what you are supposed to do, even when nobody is watching, which is also called integrity. Doing the right thing when nobody is watching. But I want you to think about Kingdom purpose versus worldly purpose. When we talk about doing the right things for the right reasons, doing the work for the right reasons. Sorry, Kingdom purpose is not validated by popularity. Think of it like this. You know, saying the streets doesn't love anybody. Well, the streets don't love nobody. They'll celebrate you one day and counsel you the next. Right. That's why your worth has to come from something deeper.
[00:15:44] The streets will applaud the results. But God, and only God, honors your faithfulness, honors my faithfulness. And so lastly, number four, you may have to learn the same lesson more than once. And you're like, Chanel, I don't know about that. I get it. I get it now. Some lessons aren't worth repeating. Let me just be. Let me just put that out there. But if you're having to repeat the same lesson more than once, it's okay. Because sometimes the lesson returns not because God is punishing us, but because he's preparing us. Just like Israel in the wilderness, God often gives us repeated opportunities to learn trust, humility, and dependence on him. And Deuteronomy 8:2 reminds us, Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart. And so the Israelites kept facing situations that required trust in God because trust was the God was developing trust in them. So whatever the setback is that you're facing, you was expected to graduate. It didn't happen as expected.
[00:17:04] You was expecting to pass nclex on your first try. It didn't happen. But guess what? Failure doesn't disqualify you in hindsight. Most times we realize it was actually to build us, to equip us even more for what was to come. Because if you don't pass nclex the first time, you guess what, you're going to have to study a little more or extra or become more strategic in how you understand how to take care of patients and pass this license exam. Because on the other side of passing NCLEX is going to be a lot more responsibility.
[00:17:44] So thank God for the experience if that is your experience.
[00:17:49] But don't stay stuck in the event you failed. If you fail, okay, right now you have to wait 45 days before you can retest. But don't stay there. Feel what you feel. I even have a counselor say, even Jesus died and he stayed in the grave three days, but he rose on that third day. So you cannot stay stuck in that setback, in that failure, whatever it may be, because of how it made you feel. It's not who you are. Are is something that you experienced. But I'm not a counselor, so let's keep going. So just like the Israelites, God teaching them how to trust him, we also got Peter. Peter repeatedly struggled with self confidence. Before learning complete dependence on Christ, Peter had to learn some lessons more than Once his failures didn't disqualify him, they developed him. He denied Jesus three times. He still went on to be a disciple for the Lord. Right? And maybe that's what failing forward really looks like. Not avoiding the struggle or never feeling afraid again, but recognizing the patterns and deciding to approach the situation differently by seeking God in it, seeking God beforehand, and trusting God to. To bring you through it. So I believe that's why it's important to keep failing for it, because it's actually an indication that we are growing. So again, a person that does not do anything don't have to worry about failing because they're not doing anything to fail. So as I wrap up, if you're listening today and you're on the verge of quitting, applying, starting over, asking for help, trying again, or stepping into something that scares you, let me remind you, you don't need the absence of fear. I don't need the absence of fear or challenges or uncertainty or blank. Fill in the blank. We don't need it. And one day we will both realize that the thing we thought was disqualifying us is actually developing us. Am I enough? Who do I think I am? Will this even work? What if it doesn't work? Self doubts. Thinking. Thinking. Right. We gotta let those thoughts go. Put them in their rightful place. So to every nursing student and new nurse, don't let one hard season convince you to give up. Keep showing up, deciding to trust God to direct your path. And for those of us building something bigger than ourselves, let's remember that our assignment is isn't to control the outcome. Ooh, I felt that. I felt that in my spirit. The results will come in their season. God is always on time because he's not confined by it. We have to trust God that He knows what's going on right now and ahead of us. And he's already there, waiting on us to get there. Because he's not confined by time. Now I love to hear from you and connect on a deeper level. Deeper level by having you join our private all one nurse community on Facebook. I prayed over this space. I look forward to building a community of nurses who are wanting to support one another.
[00:21:21] Keep God first and go out and make health care better because you're there, but also to sustain you. Because healthcare takes a lot from us, especially when you do it for the right reasons. So don't forget, subscribe if you haven't already. Go ahead and rate this episode. Rate the podcast. A raving five star review would be lovely.
[00:21:48] And of course share this episode with someone who could use these same reminders.
[00:21:55] So failure is feedback, not identity. 2. Faith works best in uncertainty or in the unknown. It is an action. Step 3 Keep doing the work for the right reasons, for the right person. Work as if we're working unto God. Simple.
[00:22:18] And then lastly, you may have to experience the same lesson more than once. I pray God uses every part of your journey for his glory and your growth. We are all one nurse, growing both professionally and personally. Until next time, let your light shine. Bye.
