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Hiiiii! I'm Nell McCord!
Owner and founder of Be Well with Nell! I am a board certified Health and Wellness Nurse Coach. I’ve spent the last two years honing my coaching skills by working one on one with new graduate nurses and established nurses.
I’m ready to bring these skills to YOU so we can utilize the transformative nurse coaching process to move you from nervous new graduate to thriving, confident RN without losing sight of why you went into nursing in the first place.
Barely surviving your first year of nursing
-vs-
Managing your first year of nursing with a robust support system and positive mindset
I recommend the latter and I'm here to help you create it!
My Unique Approach
My approach for supporting you and helping you thrive during your first year of nursing, looks a little different than what you'll get from nursing managers, new grad program directors, etc.
Thriving during your first year of nursing is NOT→
about getting everything perfect, having all the answers and being a super nurse.
Finding the support you need is NOT →
about leaning into managers who give you a pat on the shoulder and "get back out there" or attending required seminars for new grads that no one pays attention to and simply leaves you feeling more isolated than before.
My approach is NOT →
a quick fix with a supplement recommendation to reduce anxiety or improve sleep.
These methods will set you on a fast track for burnout, feeling pressure from yourself and management to perform well, and grasping for solutions that always leave you hanging.
My Bedside Journey
As a New Graduate Nurse in my first year at the bedside, I felt a whole mix of emotions! The unit I worked on had 43 beds and specialized in epilepsy, neurosurgery, cystic fibrosis, peritoneal dialysis, neonatal abstinence syndrome, and then all the other general medicine patients who came through the doors.
There was a wide ranges of diseases to learn and doctors orders to get familiar with -- I bounced back and forth between loving the new things I was learning everyday and then being fearful and full of overwhelm. There was seemingly a never ending amount of new skills, meds, and order sets to understand.
Not to mention...I had to learn how to confidently speak with patients and families about the complex medical conditions they were encountering for the first time (while secretly, I was encountering them for the first time too!!!)
Ask me what else I was feeling during my first year...
Accomplished
I did it! 4 years of school later and I'm officially a registered nurse with a bachelor's of science in nursing!!!
Curious
Hmmmm, I wonder what new, rare diagnosis I will learn about today
Compassion Fatigue
I just can't muster up the energy to care or take extra time to bathe this patient today. I'm on shift 3/3 and the first two were rough, it's time to do that bare minimum to survive.
Excited
OMG, I have a big girl job that pays big girl money, with big girl benefits. I am so independent! Ugh, and 4 weeks of PTO?! Heck yeah!
Fearful
What if I'm assigned a patient that is more sick than I am comfortable managing? I'm scared I'll miss something important because I'm inexperienced.
Frustrated
Even when I tell management about my concerns, their hands are tied because of the policies they have in place.
Lonely
Nightshift is a different beast. Even on my days off I don't get to interact with many friends or the general public.
Nervous
This is my first time {insert procedure here} I hope the patient doesn't notice. I'm nervous I'll mess up and make this patient upset.
Grief
I moved to a new city, left my family and friends, it's the middle of the pandemic, college is over, I feel like I've lost everything even though this new life is what I've been working toward. Nursing looks very different than I imagined and I'm grieving my idea of what I thought nursing would look like right out of school.
Self-Doubt
I checked the 5 rights of medication administrations... I even called the pharmacy for help, but did I give that new medication correctly??
Stressed
Oooof, I hope pharmacy delivers my medication on time, the mom for this patient will throw if fit if I come in late with it.
Overwhelm
I'm working shift 3/3, its the end of the day and I still have a central line dressing to change and TPN and lipids to hang in one room and my patient in another room is in respiratory distress and the other nurses are too busy with their final tasks to help. I'm not gonna make it to shift change in one piece. I think I'm gonna have to call a rapid response team on my respiratory distress kiddo.
As my first year progressed, it became clear I needed more support. Everything felt chaotic and unpredictable. I longed for a sense of routine and yet struggled to create one I could thrive with.
Put that on top of moving to a brand new city without any community or friends and I was overwhelmed to say the least. I was desperate for support. My hospital had some resources I leaned into such as a mentor/mentee program, employee assistance program, and the nurse residency program, but something was still missing.
It wasn't until I hired a life coach (Hi Amy) to work with me one-on-one that I was able to make the mental shifts and reframes necessary to help me succeed during my first year of nursing. I learned quickly that prioritizing my self-care and reframing my negative, stressed out work thoughts were the only ways I would start making progress and feel confident as a bedside nurse. My life coach offered me a safe place to process the absolute whirlwind of growth happening in my first year as a nurse.
Once I realized nurses aren’t taught to prioritize themselves, I started to notice it every shift where nurses weren’t taking lunch until 4pm, they said “yes” to everything asked of them even if it was more than they could handle. I knew I wanted to bridge the gap between self care and patient care. Especially when it feels like management keeps piling on the tasks and charting is never ending, it’s hard to advocate for yourself and remember that your needs are important too.
How was I going to bridge the gap? The universe must have felt me stewing on my calling and the answer landed in my lap via instagram advertisment. Nurse Coaching. I spent the next 2 years coaching pro bono clients, studying, and taking exams to become a board certified health and wellness nurse coach. Since then I’ve been building this business from the ground up to help Nurses just like you tap into your “why” for nursing and learn how to prioritize self care, so that you can keep showing up well for your patients and thrive during your first year of nursing.
My "Why"
The short story? My why is "the human connection"
How it started
I used to say my “why I went into nursing” was because of my little brother. Well, let’s be real, I still do tell people that because it’s true. The difference between my past “why I went into nursing” and my present “why I went into nursing” is how I related to and understand it.
Yes, it started with my little brother. Nicholas was my best friend and a huge light in my life. Picture us at 4 and 7 years old playing with barbies, throwing a tea party at our mini picnic table, tossing water balloons, or racing down the upstairs hallway in my parents’ house
Sprinkled between all the fun were a lot of hospital and clinic visits for Nick during his 3 year battle with neuroblastoma…cancer. A battle he lost in May 2007 at 5 years old. I was 9.
For YEARS after Nick passed, I witnessed my mom maintain relationships with the nurses and doctors who cared for Nick, visiting them year after year on the anniversary of Nick's death.
I always thought to myself, "I want to be a nurse who can connect with a family like that, to build a relationship that lasts for years. I want to be someone who can make their journey a little bit brighter and feel more supported during their darkest hours. I want to be a space of safety for all that comes with challenging times
I related to this “why” with the mindset of spending day after day in the hospital setting with the same patient and same families and building rapport and relationship with them. That was before I started my first job at the bedside...
I never worked in the hematology/oncology unit in the hospital... it hit too close to home. I started and ended in the acute care hospital setting which means patients didn’t stay long, before going home. But that didn't mean I couldn't create connection and support for these families.
So with my “why” guiding my learning, I fostered connection with the kids and parents and go the extra step to support them as they navigated the intimidating hospital setting. Oftentimes it was as simple as explaining what everything on my monitor means or consulting a child life specialist to help the child cope while we placed an IV or a nasogastric tube.
How it evolved
Finally, nurse coaching fell into my lap and "my why" suddenly came into focus. I started to relate to my "why I went into nursing..." by seeing it through a much broader lens than building a relationship with cancer patient families. My "why" boils down to utilizing the human connection as a tool to help individuals lead a life they feel is healthy and whole.
As my career has evolved and I felt established at the bedside, my “why” felt a little muddled. I wasn’t working with cancer patients and the patients I did see had an average stay of 2-3 days. I didn't feel like I was making an impact in the way I hoped. I was yearning for something more aligned with "my why" or maybe I just needed to get some perspective and reframe my why.
From cancer patient to acute care patient to coaching client, my “why” allows me to connect and promote individual wellness in any setting. Connection and vulnerability lead to growth, healing, and wholeness. Wholeness leads to a life well lived.
Nurse Coaching is the avenue to create exactly that and chase "my why" to my heart's content.
How does this relate to YOU?
Now it's time to apply "My Why" to coaching YOU. I work with New Grad Nurses to help them thrive during their first year of nursing because coaching is exactly what I needed to thrive during my first year.
I do this work because I understand exactly how hard you work at the bedside and how many times you feel unsupported and undervalued. I do this work because I KNOW you deserve to feel safe and supported and seen and heard. I believe you have everything in you that you need to transform from a nervous new grad nurse to a thriving established nurse.
Together we will utilize the transformative nurse coaching process to co-create a safe space for connection and vulnerability which will then lead to growth, healing, and wholeness.
Get ready, because this is where the work and magic collide
