DNP Ep. 6: The Journey of the Nurse Practitioner Career Coach

[00:00:00] Hi welcome Dr. Sampayo. So happy to have you on the Dr. Nurse podcast. Thank you so much for having me. Oh, man. I am so excited about this conversation. So what is your current role? What’s your job title? What do you do for a living? So the CEO and chief and P coach at the clinician life, and what I do is I help nurse practitioners with all the transitions in their career.

Most recently I’ve been helping new graduates with resume development portfolio, building, interview coaching, really getting them from RN, transitioning into NP. And I do still practice part-time as an endocrinology nurse practitioner, too. For your current job role, what kind of nurses and nurse practitioners do you take on.

So really anybody that’s looking to either go back to school. Maybe they’re trying to determine which specialty they’d like to go into as a nurse practitioner, I sit down with them and I help coach them, give them some guidance on what would be the, [00:01:00] you know, what’s their population that they would like to work with.

What’s their interests. And I help develop a plan with them. I’ve also helped nurse practitioners that are graduating and really not knowing exactly where they want to go or how to really set themselves apart in the NP job market. And I’ve also helped nurse practitioners that are. Already experienced nurse practitioners and wanting to go back into getting their doctoral degree and helping them in that transition as well, as far as which school to apply for, you know, helping them decide what kind of project would be of their interests, things like that.

That’s pretty neat. So how did you get here? What was your specific journey to this current job title or role. Yeah. So I’ve always loved mentoring and precepting, even in nursing and even, you know, as a nurse practitioner. But what really set me into this role is I wasn’t app manager ABP stands for advanced practice provider and I used to manage over a hundred ATPs in five different [00:02:00] hospitals.

And in that job, I was able to coach new graduate and experienced nurse practitioners. And that was really my thing. Favorite part of the job. And, you know, as a previous new graduate myself, I began to realize that, look, there’s a gap in knowledge and experience, and also mentorship that really isn’t taught in nurse practitioner school.

And also I, in that job, I learned the behind the scenes conversations that would happen when hiring providers. And I wanted to really support nurse practitioners by sharing that information with them. And I think that there is a lot of information to be shared. That again, we just don’t, we don’t learn that in NP school.

So that’s really how I got into doing what I’m doing now. And I love, love, love what I’m doing now, which is meeting people all over the country. And I get to learn about everybody’s different. Scope of practice and you know what it looks like for them to transition from nursing to nurse practitioner.

How cool. So take us back to when you decided, all right, I’m going to nursing school, you graduate with your [00:03:00] BSN and you decide I’m going to keep going to school. What was your journey from your bachelor’s to your DNP professionally? I always wanted to be a nurse practitioner. And even before I became a nurse, I knew I wanted to be a nurse practitioner. My husband actually was diagnosed with B-cell lymphoma early on in our marriage.

And I got to see firsthand what nurses could do for patients and you know, what kind of impact they had. And it was specifically a oncology nurse practitioner that really. Helped me see what kind of impact nurse practitioners specifically can have. So, you know, when I became an oncology nurse, I loved what I was doing, but then I started to realize, look, I can do so much more.

And, you know, as, even as I started to grow my family you know, I’ve always had really great support around me. So my husband was always like, look, maybe it’s time for you to go back. And we made the decision really together that it was time to go back. Probably, maybe. Five [00:04:00] years into my nursing practice.

I decided, look, you know, I’m, I’ve hit the max of what I can do, and I’m really wanted to just start to venture off, into getting my bachelor’s degree and, and finishing that off so that I can get into the BS to DNP program and the school that I chose. I specifically chose that school because they had a dual concentration in oncology and adult gerontology.

So you know, I did that full time, full force. I, you know, I worked maybe one day a week while I went back to school and, you know, I, I graduated in 2016 and have never looked back. I a hundred percent was meant to be a nurse practitioner. And I really love the impact that I’ve been able to make and that I’ve been able to help others make.

Just hearing you say that makes me smile. And I think it is so interesting that you knew from the start of your career, that you wanted to be a nurse practitioner and yeah, I just think that’s really cool. So that was your [00:05:00] journey to your DNP. So from the DMP, when did you decide. Okay. I need to go and start mentoring. And you stepped back from your full-time job. What gave you the courage to do that? Well, you know, as a app manager, I’m sure you can imagine there was so much responsibility, especially with over a hundred APS.

At the time I had small children, they’re still in elementary school and, you know, I, although I loved what I was doing, I, we were growing so rapidly. I had actually grown it from 70 APS to about over a hundred in, in the matter of a year. So, you know, I started to realize the things that I love to do and the things that I didn’t love to do it was, you know, healthcare administration, which is very different from nursing.

There’s a lot of politics and bureaucracy that is involved in that. And really, I just wanted to. Make a difference in the world. That was really on my terms. So, you know, there was actually a pivotal point. I was really, you know, getting [00:06:00] burned out at the time. I was trying to be everything to everyone, you know, trying to be there for my family, trying to be a good wife, trying to be a good you know, mother trying to be a good manager and really trying to go to all the different hospitals and, and really support my team.

And there was a sudden death in our family, a very close Family member passed away and you know, it just derailed me. It really did. And it was, my family really needed me and I couldn’t be there for everyone. And it really caught me to a point where I had to make a decision. Like, what is most important here?

Is it, you know, working. You know, all of these hours for a job, or is it really taking a step back and doing what you love to do? Full-time and, you know, after lots of discussion with my family and really just wanting to. Take a breath. I, I took the leap out of my manager role and into, you know, part-time as a nurse practitioner and building my business and really, [00:07:00] again, helping people on my own terms so that everything that I do in my business.

Yeah. I love that you made nursing work for your life, which is another thing that is the inspiration for this podcast is realizing that as women, especially women in nursing that. We can tailor the career to fit us where we are and still be very successful. So I think that that is fantastic. And such a, a great example of.

Taking the career and making it what you need for the season. Right? This isn’t mean that it’s going to always look like this for you, but it will look like this for you for right now. And you get to make that life yours. You get to be in control of that. Exactly. Absolutely. Yeah, that’s really cool. So thank you for sharing about your journey with your husband as well.

That is incredibly difficult. And I cannot imagine having to, to step into that and [00:08:00] to, to be brave and to care for him, especially, you said it was pretty early in your marriage. So that was just actually we, we got our, we had gone, he had done his biopsy before we went on our honeymoon. And as we came back from the ship, we had all of these oncologists calling us, getting us scheduled.

So it was like literally honeymoon going through treatment and you know, radiation and things like that. So definitely a challenge, but you know, he’s my high school sweetheart. We’ve been together since I was 15. So you know, we’ve, we’ve gone through a lot of things together and thankfully he’s healthy and, and doing very well.

Good to hear. It’s so funny. I was thinking too, like, as soon as you say your vows, you’re like really you’re going to test them right out the gate.

Exactly. Oh, that’s awesome. All right. So give us an example of something that you throughout your career have identified as a really big success. Something that went really well for you. I would say. Leaving my administrator role and pursuing my [00:09:00] business. This is probably the best decision I’ve ever made in my life.

I am so much more clear about my future. I’m so much more joyful in my life. I’m so much more balanced.

I’m more clear about my future. You know, I really feel like that was the best decision that I could have ever made in. And even though it’s probably the hardest part of my life when it comes to, you know, learning the business aspect of things, but I know 100%, this was the right path for me. So I would say that’s my biggest success so far.

And what would you say would be one of the biggest challenges you had to overcome during this journey? You know another reason that I do what I do is because, you know, as I would say, my first NP job, which is unfortunately the story for many nurse practitioners, you know, my first NP job was really, really difficult.

Because I didn’t have my voice, I didn’t know my value. And I wasn’t prepared and I’ll just share my story real [00:10:00] quick on how that happened. I of course I was a dual certified or a dual concentration nurse practitioner and. I thought I was going to go into oncology. However, at the time there was no position available for as an oncology nurse practitioner.

So I ended up going into primary care because that was my second concentration. And, you know, I found a job, which I thought I was going to love. It was in a healthcare organization that was a managed care organization where they offered value based care and it had a wellness clinic associated with it, which, you know, we would take care of all the patients.

It was a patient centered medical home. And, you know, I, I was so excited to really. Dive into this new specialty and really learn everything. And I’ll tell you, you know, I shared this story with my one-on-one clients and, you know, I did the interview. I did really well on my interviews, but what I, one of my mistakes that I did was I didn’t really get to shadow.

I didn’t really get to meet the collaborating physician. I didn’t get to meet the other nurse practitioner [00:11:00] that worked in the practice and, I, went into my first day, I learned very quickly, okay. You know, this isn’t going to be the training that I thought it was going to be. And I got maybe three days of orientation before I was on my own as a nurse practitioner in a specialty that I hadn’t really been in before.

And, you know, I, I got very overwhelmed very quickly. There was so many patients that what would happen is when people would get backed up, they would start to put them on my schedule. Whereas they had initially told me, oh, you’re going to get one patient in the morning, one patient in the afternoon.

And we’ll. We’ll just take it slow and we’ll make sure that you’re comfortable with the amount of patients you’re seeing. Well, that wasn’t really the case. When you have patients waiting two hours to be seen. Right? So they were onto my schedule and I found myself working 13 hour days, five days a week, and really staying, you know, till eight, 9:00 PM, trying to finish charts, trying to do labs and really just

overdoing it. And, you know, I [00:12:00] would say that that’s probably my biggest failure. I, I, I gave my notice maybe after three months of working there and I gave him a three month notice. So I worked there for six months and, you know, I wished that I would have had somebody there to help guide me on making that decision beforehand so that I would have been able to see those red flags.

And although it was my, I would say that that’s my biggest failure. I would also say it’s my biggest. Lesson. I learned so much about myself in that job, on my voice as a nurse practitioner, my voice as a leader, my voice as, you know, what I will and will not accept and what’s safe and not safe. You know, I had to learn that by, you know, trial by fire kind of thing.

And, you know, although. I felt at the time that it was me, that I couldn’t cut it looking back, it was just really the structure and the way that everything was set up for a new graduate, it wasn’t conducive for a new graduate nurse practitioner. So but yeah, that’s, that’s really how I looking [00:13:00] back. It was a learning, a learning opportunity for me, but probably my biggest failure.

Yeah. And again, I think it’s interesting when you spin it as a failure, because you’re right. It’s not a failure. It was a challenge you had to overcome. And by overcoming it, you became stronger . And so one thing that you said I’d like to add too, I also did something similarly with my career.

And I remember during my DNP, you had to do more clinical hours that were not. In your current practice, which I was like, I had to go work for as a nurse practitioner for free. I am a nurse practitioner. Like what the heck? So I said, okay, well, you gotta do what you gotta do for your doctorate. I spent more time, but what I got smart was I had taken, I had taken a job as a neurosurgery, a first assist in the operating room, and I was super amped about this job.

It was going to be a really big step up in pay. And I was excited about being in the operating room. I think I thought about my career that I had missed that opportunity when I was a nurse to be an or nurse. And I felt like it was giving me a second [00:14:00] chance at a dream that I really wanted to fulfill.

So I took the job signed all the paperwork and because they needed to do clinical hours, I said, Hey, listen, I got to do clinical hours for my DNP. So before I start with you guys, can I just come and shadow? And I can get my clinical hours and also learn how to do the job. Yeah, and they agreed. They agreed.

They said, sure. Between you and me, Veronica. It was a mess. I watched nurse practitioners, so stressed out, unable to keep up with the work. And it was kind of nice and something that I thought I would like to do this in every job, because I got to see, it’s almost like whenever people come over to your house for, and your mom is like clean up everything, guests are coming.

If you stay a couple more days, then all of a sudden it, you start to see how people really are. That’s kind of what I ended up getting to see it. It was so helpful. So that might be some advice, you know, to a new nurse out there. That’s [00:15:00] like, I don’t know, like see if you can get in there before you get all the paperwork signed and you’re committed.

Try to see what you’re dealing with before, because it starts to fall apart after a little bit of time, you know, and you start to see like, Whoa. My, my supervising physician is not supporting me is not you know, protecting or making sure that the things that he said to me he’s holding true to Because again, you didn’t negotiate that into your salary a 13 hour, day, or X amount of RV use for patients that you see over, you know, the, the, the slotted amount.

And so yeah, it’s just kinda like, that’s not what I agreed to when I signed on the dotted line. All right. So did you have any mentors along the way, did anyone help you or give you advice along the way of your journey? I think that for me, I don’t have any family in healthcare and I don’t really ha I didn’t have a lot of friends in healthcare or even as nurse practitioners. So, you know, my sister has always been my mentor, my [00:16:00] career mentor, and she has really been the one that’s helped guide all of my steps, my sister, Sandra, by the way.

And she has really helped. Believe in me and really been my cheerleader as well. So for me, when I wanted to go back and get my nurse practitioner, she was the one that was like, go for it, go full force, go for a full time so that you can get there faster and get your results, you know, and I know that you can do the DNP and this is, and I’ll help you.

And so for me, that has been such a. Benefit of my life, having her as my mentor and really she’s the one that I go to for advice. And I’m like, what should I do about this? And even though she’s not in healthcare, somehow, she just helps me come up with the answer, which is, you know, really, really neat to have also somebody that’s maybe not in healthcare that has a different perspective.

But yeah, she’s always been the one that’s been giving me advice. It’s there’s a scripture that says in a multitude of counselors, there is wisdom and any time you’re getting a [00:17:00] counselor, it doesn’t have to be in . Nursing, but just wisdom parents, you know, sometimes my mom will say something and my mom is a teacher she’s she doesn’t know anything about half the time.

She doesn’t even know what I do. It’s really funny. She’s like, yeah. Yeah. Aren’t you like? She’s Puerto Rican. So she’s like, yeah. Aren’t you like a, like a PA I’m like, mom, I’m not a PA like, and so it’s actually really funny, but she she’ll give me advice about something and I’m like, it’s just because you’re a counselor.

Like you’re my parent, like you’re. You love me and you want to see me do well. And so that’s really all you need and it’s sometimes. Someone that just cares about you and wants to see you succeed and just rallies behind you. It doesn’t have to be a healthcare professional. So that’s really cool. I like that.

I like Sandra. I don’t even know her and I like her. So what advice would you be able to give or would you give to a new nurse? Because you just got her a bachelor’s degree. She just finished her master’s degree, either one. And she wants your best beefiest piece of advice. You know, I would [00:18:00] say anytime you want to venture off into a new specialty, and I think we kind of touched on this already is spend as much time in there as you can.

So shadowing or even just reaching out to build your network. Right. I think networking is. So huge and nursing and as a nurse practitioner altogether, I think that if you continue to build those relationships early in your career you can find so much wisdom. You can find mentors, you can find just information of all of those people that have all these amazing experiences in their own backgrounds.

So, yeah. Networking is number one, to start your network early and shadow. Whenever you want to move on into a different specialty, 100% get as much information as you can, and really spend some time there so that you can really get a good understanding of what you’re getting yourself into. I think that’s great advice.

 If you could just give a [00:19:00] shameless plug for your business because what you do is you help nurse practitioners. So if they do just have their diploma and they don’t know what to do, you’re the person that they go to, right?

 You’re the person that they can reach out to, to get that advice and that mentorship. So yeah. Give us a shameless plug. Yeah. So you can find me on my website@wwwdottheclinicianlife.com. I’m also on Instagram at the clinician life and Facebook at the clinician life.

Great. So that’s all the places they can find you. So, so the last part of our podcast is the rapid fire questions. And so these are just fun, flying by the seat of your pants. Quick answer, just to kind of lighten up the conversation and then we’ll end it . Okay. So the first question I have for you is what is your hidden talent?

What’s something about you that nobody knows that you do. Like I could eat 50 hot dogs or something funny or strange. It’s so weird. I can shake my eyes like [00:20:00] on command

to wiggle my eyes really fast. What’s a book that you’re currently reading. I forgot the title. It’s by Dr. Amen. It is. Change your brain. Change your life. Ooh, that sounds deep. It’s good. I love that. That’s a mindset change stuff. I liked that stuff.

And what was your favorite subject in school? Science a hundred percent, a hundred percent started off with the science. Yeah. Excellent. So thank you so much for Monica for coming on to the doctor nurse podcast. It was so nice to have you to chat with you. I think it’s incredible what you’re doing with your career and how you’re pursuing excellence.

And that’s what we’re really big here at the doctor nurse podcast is just. We’re not going to be perfect, but we can be excellent. And so I think that’s just, it’s got its fingerprints all along your career, so that’s really cool. Thank you, Sandra. Thank you so much for having me. It was a blast.