About Nurse Lisa 

Thanks for stopping by... I have enjoyed 35 years of nursing adventures (on land and sea) with a focus in Emergency Nursing and Addiction Medicine.  About 7 years ago, I realized I was starting to feel robotic and empty inside The more I thought about it, the more agitated I became.  I started to resent the electronics in the ER, as I felt I was caring more for the computer and less for my patients.  Even worse, I felt as though we in the medical profession had stopped truly LISTENING to our patients.

Sure, we cared for their bodily needs in a timely fashion, but we were being relentlessly pushed to do more faster, NOT for the patients well-being but for the employer’s bottom line.  I thought, “Our focus in healthcare had become distorted… Costs were skyrocketing and yet, our outcomes were diminishing.  Why didn’t this seem to bother anyone else?  Why does everything seem OFF to me?”

It became crystal clear that my practice was in dire need of true depth and compassion (both for myself and patients), so I ventured off into a more holistic journey.  I decided to dig deeply into the complexity of our pain/ opioid crisis using both sides of my brain.  This ultimately led me to Graduate School to apply the rigors of academia to my insatiable curiosity.   

Today, my left brain is happy in that I graduated with my Master of Arts degree- Health Arts and Sciences at Goddard College, VT in Feb 2018.  This program allowed me to ask MY questions and craft new solutions, empowering body, mind and spirit. Developing and sharing this tool, “Comfort Quest” has become part of my OWN healing & self-care (right brain)... 

 IF you’d like to learn more, keep reading... (no quiz, I promise)

 As a child, I recall sensing things that seemed “off” even though I didn’t know why or what to do about it.  I remember sensing tension in my family and my mom telling me, “There is nothing wrong with your dad, he works very hard and is tired when he gets home from work.”  But as a child of 8 or 9 years of age, I felt that something was not “right”- Dad would come home from work in the evening and within a short time, he would be asleep, snoring in his Lazy Boy recliner with a can of beer nearby. 

My gut was tied in knots all the time; I walked on eggshells at home, not wanting to get anyone upset by asking more questions.  To calm those feelings, I retreated to my room and spent a lot of time in my schoolbooks; perhaps the answers were buried in the texts… Of course, I did not find the answers I sought, but at least I learned a lot and excelled in class. 

Instead of going off to Notre Dame after graduating as Valedictorian, I listened to my gut (which I now know is my inner wisdom), and enlisted into the USCG instead.  Mom was an RN, so I parlayed my interest in science/ health and trained as a Hospital Corpsman in the CG.  It was during my time in the CG reserves, that I was able to build upon my corpsman skills and become an RN, like Mom. 

My time as a nurse began in Labor and Deliver and soon morphed to the Emergency Department.  I loved the independence, quick thinking and immediate feedback during acute interventions.  I always tried to make a difference … even if only to make a patient smile when they were REALLY frightened about their situation.  When confused with the medical jargon, I was skilled at helping my patients better understand their diagnosis and how it affects their bodies.  Most importantly, I wanted them to make positive changes to improve their health, even after an ED visit. 

 I recall a memorable patient while in triage on morning… I quickly concluded my assessment and in addition to charting her subjective pain level 10/10 in the box on the paper record, I also made another note about her physical appearance, “African American woman, smiling and chatting on the cellphone eating Cheetos”.  I thought I had done a thorough job, including a complete picture of her pain level.  Imagine my surprise a few hours later when the Medical Director of the ER pulled me aside to discuss my narrative note.  He didn’t feel that it was necessary, as it did not support her self-assessment. But I held my ground and respectfully reminded him that as an RN I am obligated to report my findings as well.  We agreed to disagree, and my note remained.

What I learned from that experience was that you can do the right thing and STILL get called on the carpet for doing it, especially if it is not in line with the prevailing mindset at that time.  Even more importantly, I learned that I MUST “listen to my gut” and speak and protect the Truth in what I do, and be ready to absorb the response of those who may/ may not agree. 

Well, eventually, something SO outrageous happened that I had to take a stand.  I was doing some research online in August 2015 when I learned that the FDA had just approved oxycontin for kids (11-17) for the treatment of moderate to severe pai … I had been working in Addiction medicine for a couple years at that time, and had seen the effects of teens/ young adults being placed on opioids after sports injuries.  Sadly, many of them ended up shooting heroin when they were unable to get pain pills. 

I got another “gut hit” again, and this time I just KNEW I had to dig deeper, ask visionary questions and speak up.  Why are our babies in so much pain?  What is going on in their lives that is causing the PAIN and How can I HELP protect them? 

What finally came through all of these adventures is a deep understanding that “the experts” don’t have all the answers and that IF we desire true healing in life, it is an INSIDE job.  I created a hopeful tool where we can still get to the truth and stay off the rocks of addiction.  If you’d like a guide on this journey, I’m here to help you reclaim the God-given healing power of your body, mind, spirit connection.