Cara Lunsford is the VP of Community at Nurse.com, fostering a community where nurses can find peer support, allies, professional opportunities, resources, and education. She’s also the host of Nurse.com’s NurseDot Podcast and a member of the LGBTQ+ community, highlighting a variety of voices within the nursing industry while also speaking to her personal experiences as an RN and founder of HOLLIBLU, a social networking app exclusively for nurses (acquired by Nurse.com in 2022).
The series highlights healthcare leaders who are prominent figures in their organizations and are making transformational impacts in nursing.
Meet Cara Lunsford, RN, CPHON, VP of Community at Nurse.com.
Talk about your role in nursing.
Beginning my career in pediatric oncology, I witnessed firsthand the effects such a stressful job can have on a nurse. I observed my peers experience burnout and abuse on a daily basis. I heard their stories of adversity, trauma, and hope and joy. With my fellow nurses at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA), we started the first Supportive Care Committee to ensure nurses had an environment available to help cope with job stress. However, there remained a greater need for resources like this committee at every hospital and nurses throughout healthcare sectors to improve retention and recruiting.
Realizing there was a broader need for a safe and supportive community and the potential technology had to solve this issue, I had the idea to found HOLLIBLU, the first social media network for nurses. The app was designed to provide peer support, professional advice, and connections with other nurses. In 2022, HOLLIBLU was acquired by Nurse.com, where I was brought on as vice presidentof community to oversee the Nurse.com app platform.
To continue amplifying voices within the nursing community, we launched the NurseDot Podcast late last year. I sit down with my nursing peers to discuss their stories, industry trends, and professional growth advice.
How long have you worked in the nursing field?
I have been in nursing for over 15 years, working in the acute setting as a pediatric oncology, home health, and home infusion nurse. Throughout the past five years, I have used my clinical knowledge as a registered nurse (RN) to take on an entrepreneurial role delivering technology solutions to my fellow nurses to help with everyday challenges. Most recently, I have been using my voice and platform in the nursing space to elevate other nurses, fostering a supportive community for nurses of all specialties and settings.
Why did you become a nurse?
I started my career as a nurse in pediatric oncology back in 2008 at CHLA. Before that, I worked as an American Sign Language interpreter at Cal State Northridge, where I discovered my interest in oncology. For two consecutive semesters, I interpreted the Biology of Cancer class, and as I was listening and interpreting, I became more interested in oncology and the nursing profession in general. Ultimately, I was so intrigued that I was motivated to embark on a career in nursing. From there, I went to Los Angeles County College of Nursing and Allied Health, where I received an Associate of Science degree and became an RN.
What are the most important attributes of today’s nursing leaders?
Successful nurses and nursing leaders are empathetic, drawing from personal experiences and truly listening to others from different backgrounds. Having navigated the healthcare system as a queer family put me in the patient’s shoes rather than the clinician’s, with which I was very familiar. My wife and I had a child with two HIV+ gay men, and we all continue to co-parent together. To have our son, we had to meet with multiple IVF clinics and experienced professionals who were either unfamiliar with our family situation or had stigmas around HIV and LGBTQIA+ healthcare issues. I understand what it is like to be rejected from care because of the stigma around your sexuality and hurtful preconceived notions. As a queer nurse, it’s important for me to share my experiences with patients and fellow nurses to create a better care environment for everyone and foster the best possible results for all patients, regardless of background.
With this experience as a patient, I can relate to the struggles my patients are going through. Similarly, as a nursing leader, I understand the struggles of my peers. This knowledge allowed me to create an app to best support nurses and care for their needs. To care for patients you do not know, sometimes nurses must put their own mental health and personal life on the back burner, requiring nurses to be extremely caring and understanding. While this means caring for patients of all backgrounds, it also means putting yourself in their shoes.
What does being a nursing leader mean to you, and what are you most proud of?
It’s important to acknowledge that nurse leadership brings a tremendous amount of responsibility. Nurses have faced unprecedented challenges in the past few years, resulting in a staffing crisis. The solutions nurses seek will require that people across healthcare get aligned on the reasons behind this crisis. Nurse leaders are being called to use their voices and platforms to ensure these messages reach the decision-makers within this industry. I had spent most of my career being the squeaky wheel, speaking up even when it was unpopular. I have taken huge personal and professional risks to create a safe space for nurses and bring awareness to their challenges. But with risk came great reward. Nurse.com believed in my mission and vision. In March 2022, they acquired my company, brought our small but mighty team into the Nurse.com family, and are helping us to continue our mission of providing a vibrant community where nurses thrive.
Tell us about your career path and how you ascended to that role.
After years of nursing and founding HOLLIBLU, I was drawn to Nurse.com given its 30+ year legacy. The biggest thing that pushed me to collaborate with the company was its mission, which completely aligned with mine. Nurse.com aims to improve the lives of the most vulnerable members of society and those who care for them. As a nurse, this resonated with me deeply. It is a company I wanted to associate myself with and help build toward this mission by including the app I was so passionate about creating.
What is the most significant challenge facing nursing today?
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the broader public became abruptly aware of nurses’ important role in the healthcare system and their daily challenges. In this post-pandemic world, with severe nursing shortages putting increased pressure on healthcare staff, nurse burnout, and professional stress are incredibly high, not to mention the grief and trauma that comes from caring for patients.
As a nursing leader, how are you working to overcome this challenge?
Nurses need resources and support to equip them with the skills to deliver better care. The last few years have proven that nursing is one of our society’s most demanding and crucial jobs, so we must do something about it. It is vital to provide nurses with adequate resources and a supportive community to deal with burnout and improve their mental health. Nurses need accessible and effective training to help them advance in their careers and targeted job postings to help them find the best roles that fit their interests and experience. At Nurse.com, we put nurses’ needs first, providing them with a community of peers, reading materials, continuing education courses, and the ability to take control of their career paths.
What nursing leader inspires you the most and why?
A few nurse leaders come to mind, but I would start with Rebecca Love. Rebecca has been working to empower and elevate the nurse profession, whether it’s through grassroots initiatives, like founding the non-profit SONSIEL (Society of Nurse Scientists, Innovators, Educators, and Leaders) or giving TedTalks about how nurses can drive healthcare innovation. Most recently, Rebecca has set her sights on a significant issue, the insurance reimbursement of nursing services. The Commission for Nurse Reimbursement explores the history of how the rates of nursing services were once set by the nurses themselves and how changes made over 100 years ago has resulted in nurses now being a cost instead of a benefit to hospitals. I just interviewed her on the NurseDot Podcast, and you can listen to that episode here.
What inspirational message would you like to share with the next generation of nurses?
Nursing is a marathon and not a sprint. If you want to work in this profession for decades, it is important to prioritize your personal needs, practice professional boundaries, and know when to say “no” or “not right now.” Remember that you are human first. Practicing awareness will help you identify when it’s time to make a change, so don’t be afraid to leave your comfort zone and try something new.
For the second year in North America, WaterWipes has awarded a Pure Foundation Fund, which awards the department of the winning healthcare provider $9,000, as well as a 6-month supply of WaterWipes.
According to a statement from WaterWipes, the Pure Foundation Fund “recognizes the outstanding work of healthcare heroes who have made a difference in the lives of parents and babies in their pregnancy, birth, and postnatal journey.
Out of the 266 healthcare providers nominated, Alessandra Chung, a nurse for the Southcentral Foundation as a home-visiting nurse with the Nutaqusiivik program (part of the Nurse Family Partnership) in Anchorage, Alaska, won. She and the program serve Alaska Native and American Indian families living in Anchorage and the surrounding communities. In addition to an award plaque, Chung receives a $100 Visa gift card and flowers.
Chung took time to answer Daily Nurse’s questions about being this year’s award winner and how the money and wipes will help her work.
What did it feel like when you learned you won the WaterWipes Pure Foundation Award? Did you expect it?
It was a complete surprise; I had no idea my coworker, Sarah Swanland had nominated me! I was finishing my maternity leave, so it was terrific news to share with my colleagues once I returned to work. After learning more about this incredible program, I felt excited and honored to be selected.
I’m incredibly grateful and honored to be recognized by the Pure Foundation Fund. I love the team of nurses I work with and hold them in such high regard. I think any of them could have been the winner, so I am honored that Sarah thought of me.
What type of work do you do? How long have you been doing it? For what community? Why do you enjoy it?
I have been a nurse for 15 years and have been a part of Southcentral Foundation’s Nutaqsiivik Nurse Family Partnership for the last four. The Nutaqusiivik program is a voluntary nurse home-visiting program working with Alaska Native and American Indian families from pregnancy until the child is two-years-old.
The program’s overall goals are to improve pregnancy outcomes and child health and development. Still, what I love most is uncovering each mom’s heart’s desire for their children and encouraging them to become the parents they want to be. Of course, every new mom’s situation and needs are unique, so we never want them to feel pressured to approach the program in a specific way
My position is the perfect mix between maternal health nursing and psychosocial nursing. I love how holistic my role is and advocating for my patients while teaching them how to advocate for themselves and their families.
Winning $9,000 for your department, plus a six-month supply of WaterWipes, is amazing. But do you know yet how the Southcentral Foundation’s Nutaqsiivik Nurse Family Partnership will use the money?
We’re still discussing where the funds will be used to support the moms and babies in our community. This will positively impact the families we serve by allowing us to continue advocating for and empowering moms on their journeys to be the parents they want to be.
How do you make a difference in the communities you serve? What are the biggest challenges in the communities?
Every mom is different, and every situation is unique. Just being there for each mom, meeting them where they are in their journeys, and encouraging them to be the parents they want to be is how we make a difference every day in our community. When moms are supported and empowered, they are, in turn, able to support and empower their children, and that is where generational growth and change can happen. So it’s long-term change and prevention that is our goal.
What are the most significant rewards you experience by working with the people you serve?
First, serving the Alaska Native/American Indian community is an honor. I love to be able to come alongside and partner with families on their journeys. It is always a privilege to be invited into a family’s home and trusted with their stories and dreams. I’ve encountered all sorts of challenges new and expecting mothers face, and through it all, it’s always worthwhile to see them understand that they can do this.
And even when things don’t turn out as we hope, I am honored to support them through maybe that grief and loss too. At the end of the program, we host a graduation ceremony where the moms are given a chance to celebrate their growth and achievements alongside their children, and the smiles and gratitude I receive are their rewards.
What was your favorite part about this whole experience? Why are you proud of the work you do?
There were many great things about this experience, the first being that Sarah called me and told me she nominated me, and I won. I remember being in the parking lot of my PT’s office feeling torn about leaving my baby to go back to work, and it was so encouraging for her to tell me this.
My second favorite part was making the video; one of the moms I worked with was willing to participate. That was special. I’m proud of my work because it’s what holistic nursing is all about–truly meeting the patient where they are and educating and advocating for what they want for themselves and their families.
Being a nurse in Alaska, working with the Alaska Native population is the best. I wouldn’t want to be a nurse anywhere else.
This year’s celebration of Neonatal Nurses Week continues a tradition that began 21 years ago. In 2000, the National Association of Neonatal Nurses (NANN) launched a day to honor neonatal nurses and expanded that time to a week two years ago to commemorate nurses in this distinct nursing specialty.
Neonatal nurses care for the smallest patients and work closely with a larger team of specialists as they advocate for babies in their care. Nurses care for babies who are often critically ill and are born with various health issues ranging from low birth weight, heart problems, birth defects, infections, and possible drug dependence or exposure. Neonatal babies may need care for recovery from surgery or may have been born prematurely.
Generally, the newborn age is considered neonatal, but neonatal nurses care for these babies until they leave the hospital. Some nurses may continue to care for babies with particular health issues until they are toddlers, although this is less frequent. As a neonatal nurse, you can expect to care for this age range as part of your specialty.
Nurses in this role support and advocate for the families of babies in their care. Families of infants in intensive care are frequently scared, exhausted, and need information on their baby’s health. Keeping them in the loop by giving them information in a way they can understand and take action on is especially important.
As your tiny patients leave your care, families depend on neonatal nurses to help them transition to the next phase where families assume a larger role of the care or care coordination of their baby. As you work with the families and caregivers of these special babies, healthcare education becomes a top task. You’ll help pass along often-complicated information on how to care for an infant who may need various equipment, special medications, or specialized feeding plans that even experienced parents may not know anything about.
As a neonatal nurse, improving your skills and continuous learning must be a professional and personal commitment. Treating and advocating for the tiniest patients who are not able to advocate for themselves makes your knowledge essential.
Becoming certified as a RNC Certification for Neonatal Intensive Care Nursing (RNC-NIC®) confirms your commitment to the best patient care and gives you invaluable expertise. As with other certification paths, nurses who want to achieve certification should plan to have at least two years of work in a specialty area like a NICU so they are able to gain hands-on, real-world skills. Once you have your certification, you’ll need to renew your credentials every three years.
Student nurses who are considering neonatal nursing as a career path can look into a student membership of NANN, which will give them the tools they need and help them establish a network of nurses in similar paths. Professional organizations are excellent resources for nurses who want to stay current on the latest evidence-based practices, recent developments in treating neonatal patients, and exciting research that may lead to improved care.
Neonatal nursing is a rewarding and challenging career path. Self-care for nurses is important as the intensity of the NICU includes elation and grief and every emotion in between. If you are a neonatal nurse, try to find some activities that help you manage the intensity of your work and give you a balance with your work and home life. Some days it will be impossible as it’s all too easy to bring your worries about your patients with you when you leave work. It’s important to recognize when that happens, honor the critical work you are doing, and have some plans to get back on track.
As medical technology continues to advance, in some areas with rapid speed, the babies in NICU have an increasingly better outlook. And for neonatal nurses, the small victories make the biggest differences.
If you consider yourself highly empathetic, adaptable, and patient, crisis nursing might be the right field for you. This ever-growing nursing niche involves administering care to patients experiencing issues with mental health, substance abuse, trauma and co-occurring disorders. Each day, crisis nurses hop into action to help de-escalate and diffuse crisis situations while providing essential medical care, proving that some heroes wear scrubs, not capes. But we already knew that!
Before you determine whether this is the right nursing job for you, you want to figure out what crisis nursing is all about and do a deep dive into some of the things these patient professionals do daily. Read information on crisis nursing and discover some of the key skills, traits, and qualifications below to help you determine if you should become a crisis nurse.
What Is a Crisis Nurse?
To put it simply, crisis nurses work in situations of emotional turbulence and disturbance, such as when a person is depressed, suicidal, grieving, or displaced from their home. Additionally, crisis nurses are often asked to travel to provide care after natural disasters and health care emergencies, such as during a particularly destructive hurricane or during the COVID-19 pandemic.
These nurses are adaptable enough to fit in where needed and can help address some of the unique challenges of patients suffering through a crisis, from grief and suicidal thoughts to traumas such as job loss and homelessness. Like standard travel nursing assignments, crisis nursing jobs typically last for 13 weeks, but they can be anywhere from eight and 26 weeks long, depending on the specific needs of the area.
Yes, It Pays More
So does crisis nursing come with a monetary incentive? Yep! Because of their willingness to adapt, travel, and work in turbulent situations, crisis nurses earn a higher salary than nurses who work in non-crisis environments. In fact, many nurses in these roles earn something called a “crisis rate” or “crisis pay” which can be up to $20 more per hour than the standard rate for the hospital.
This makes crisis nurses among the highest-paid nurses. But higher pay doesn’t automatically mean a better situation. As we learned from the measurable spike in nurse burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic, crisis environments can take a serious toll on health care professionals. It’s not for everyone, but if you’re willing to hop in where needed and know how to manage feelings of burnout, the additional pay may be worthwhile.
How Do You Become a Crisis Nurse?
The required qualifications of crisis nursing vary widely from one system to the next, but all employers require you to start out by obtaining your registered nurse (RN) degree and license through an accredited nursing program. From there, you may be required to complete at least a year of related work experience in a role within psychiatric, addiction, or mental health. You’ll also want to prepare yourself for the potential of periodically relocating and how that could affect your personal life and housing.
Qualities Required of a Crisis Nurse
All RNs know that even non-crisis nurses occasionally face crises in virtually every health care environment. It just comes with the territory of working in medicine and no one should become a nurse without understanding that. With that being said, crisis nurses are specially trained in things such as de-escalation, passive non-compliance, and trauma-informed care. Some of the key personality traits required for these skill sets include:
The willingness to be ready for anything. Because of the aforementioned crisis pay, these kinds of nursing positions are highly competitive and get snatched up quickly. One of the key characteristics of a successful crisis nurse is his or her ability to drop everything and spring into action to fill a vacancy.
Empathy. Crisis nurses can’t just be in it for the money. They have to be willing to relate to what patients and their families are going through in order to provide adequate care. Empathy is key for nurses because it helps them build trust with patients and in turn strengthens communication, which is extremely critical during those essential crisis moments.
Interpersonal skills. Knowing how to communicate with others—especially those who are in states of crises—is crucial to helping people in these scenarios because it helps with de-escalation, motivation, and understanding key indicators of broader issues. Plus, like having empathy, it helps patients and their family members trust you so that you can provide adequate care.
Physical fortitude. All nurses need to be able stay on their feet—and their toes—for long shifts, but a good pair of comfortable nursing clogs are designed to help those working in crisis scenarios. This field puts nurses in the most demanding and busy workplaces, so physical endurance is key.
Adaptability. One of the many things we learned during the COVID-19 pandemic is that health care systems require extremely flexible and adaptable staff during crisis situations. For example, as many individuals opted out of elective surgery, the demand for critical care nursing grew and nurses had to hop into the chaos wherever they were needed.
Good judgment. Things move fast in crisis scenarios, and providing successful patient care requires nurses who are able to think critically on their toes, making good decisions along the way. They need to know how to respond and when to bring in additional resources.
The willingness to support your coworkers. Being a team player is absolutely essential in crisis nursing when things are changing rapidly and there isn’t always enough support. The willingness to dive right in and assist where needed is especially important in situations where you’re brand-new to the environment and your coworkers may not automatically be comfortable leaning on you.
A Rewarding Nursing Niche
You already know that our communities are facing a large, looming nursing shortage, and it’s likely that the shortage will involve a lack of nurses trained in crisis and trauma. For nurses who want to work directly with the community and make a measurable difference in their patients’ lives each day, crisis nursing is a fantastic opportunity!
Almost any nurse knows 2020 can’t be compared to any other point of time they have lived through. And 2021’s progress is in sight, but it’s slow going getting there. Vaccines are on the horizon and some nurses have even completed both doses, but hospitals are still seeing more patients than they can sometimes handle and the new strains of COVID-19 bring the threat additional surges. Nurses are seeking short bursts of stress relief to combat the burnout they are feeling.
The COVID-19 pandemic has left a path of devastation few are equipped to deal with physically, emotionally, or spiritually. As front-line workers, nurses bear the brunt of overwhelming stress, grief, and exhaustion. Stress relief is a priority, but hard to come by for most nurses.
Minority Nurse recently spoke with Crystal Miller RN, past president of the Infusion Nurses Society (INS) about the ways nurses are just trying to get through these times when days blur together and overtaxed is the normal state.
The emotional toll on nurses can’t be overlooked, she says. “Anyone in health care has been impacted,” says Miller. “Even if it’s not every shift, it has challenged us emotionally.” Nurses, who are problem solvers by nature, aren’t always able to find a solution, let alone the best solution, out of many choices. “The patients are so so ill and you can effect only so much change,” she notes.” And it’s not necessarily for a positive outcome.”
Maintaining a patient connection is now a hard-to-grasp process, but Miller says her team makes a significant impression in any way they can. “We’ve been put to the test in so many ways,” she says. “Making sure we have eye contact –that’s pretty much the most impactful contact we can have right now.”
What else helps? Miller offers a few suggestions based on her conversations with other nurses.
Talk to a Professional
“It’s about more than us and the care we provide and the equipment we use,” says Miller. “It’s about us being emotionally resilient and maintaining our mental health.” Miller, who has spoken or interviewed many nurses who are fighting back tears, says the hurt and the pain nurses are feeling is so dominant. With her own team, she tries to promote the use of employee assistance programs that offer counseling services and encourages that resource. “Sometimes it’s better to talk to someone who doesn’t work in health care and gives you a new perspective,” she says.
Find a Distraction
From watching quick and easy-to-digest TikTok videos to feeding the birds to deep breathing—finding something fast to calm you or make you laugh is valuable. And don’t worry how silly it might seem to others—you need relief and an immediate escape. If a few bursts of cat videos or watching reality TV or breaking out in song and dance help you, then just do it.
Try Journaling
“I can’t stress journaling enough,” says Miller. Again, you’re not going for profound entries. You can write that today was a horrible day and just get that out. Or you can write that out of the horrible day your coffee was perfect and you’re grateful for that one thing.
Find Your Own Soothing Habit
“One person I know grounds herself before her next patient interaction,” says Miller. She touches the door or doorframe before entering the room as a way to say “I am going to see someone else now.” The purposeful action provides a divide between the experience she just had and the one she is beginning.
Acknowledge Your Limits
“Right now, most of us are of the mindset of work, go home, go to bed,” says Miller. “We are so tired.” Still, the grinding workload doesn’t mean nurses have lost their legendary spirit that keeps them going even when things are bleak. “At the end of the day, we just try to enjoy moments of levity when they present themselves and however they present themselves,” says Miller. “And chocolate goes a long way in my book.”
