Nurses Helping Nurses Get America Healthy 3

I discovered NurseTogether.com about a year ago and was immediately a fan because it was congruent with my philosophy of nurses helping nurses. I am happy to have the opportunity to tell my story and have it posted on the site. My hope is to inspire nurses to join me or find their own way of helping each other.

My name is Brenda Sammy. I graduated from nursing school in 1976 and with the exception of about 3 years, I have always worked as a nurse. I held various positions to include staff nurse, charge nurse, nurse manager, nurse educator and currently nurse case manager. I love nursing but I have not always agreed with the administration.

In fact, I mentioned not working for 3 years. I actually quit a nurse educator position because I did not feel the hospital administrator deserved such a hardworking, dedicated employee. It wasn’t about money (although it probably should have been about that too). It was about respect and principle. The hospital administrator would stop mid-sentence if he was talking to me when someone of a higher “status” entered the room. It probably never made a difference to him but it felt good to me when I walked away from such insults.

I have always been a fighter for what is right. There were times I was so verbal as a nurse manager, fighting for the staff nurses to have what they needed for patient care, that I was labeled by the administrators as a trouble maker and union organizer. It could not have been further from the truth having grown up in a blue collar family where I saw my family suffer every time my father went out on strike. Fortunately, what the administrators thought about me was never important, if I could get what my staff needed.

I fought another good fight in 2001 when untrained nurses were being asked to push Propofol. I actually went to the Board of Nursing and was successful at getting a statement from them which impacted patient safety in many facilities in Florida, and which protected nurses from being asked to perform something not in their Practice Act. I was happy to be supported by my coworkers and nurse anesthetists in Florida. It gave me faith that nurses could join forces for what was right.

About 5 years ago, while working for another administrator who did not see things the way I see them, I made a decision that has forever changed my life. I decided to take my future in my own hands and take charge of my physical, mental and financial health.

There really is not an entrepreneurial bone in my body, so I cannot claim to have started out to own my own business, but that is exactly what has happened. I run a $1.75 million dollar wellness business from my home, part time.

I started a journey to get healthy inspired by a friend who was melting away in front of my eyes. He was a vascular surgeon who was 125 pounds overweight. He and I had lost and gained weight many times over the years we had known each other. This time he lost 125 pounds in 7 months and his entire attitude was different.

I was going into a size 24 dress and feeling more and more hopeless, so needless to say, I begged him to tell me what he was doing. His exact words were, “I will tell you, I will help you, and then I want you to become a health coach with me so that we can stay accountable, give hope to others and secure our families’ financial future.”

When I got started, whether intentionally avoiding the issue or not, I was oblivious to the fact that the entire country (not just me) was getting fatter and fatter. The more I learned about this opportunity to become a health coach, the more excited I became. I started a program learning to eat every three hours and drinking more water. I lost 60 pounds in 4 months and couldn’t believe it. It was the easiest thing I had ever done. I started telling family and friends and many people wanted to join me on the journey. Fortunately, some of my nurse friends wanted to join me too.

The first person I called was an old Army friend. We had known each other since 1980 when we were both stationed in Seoul Korea. Linda was a cardiac nurse clinician who had tried for 30 years to help me get healthy. It was funny that me, of all people, was sharing an opportunity with her to get healthy and to earn extra income. She was immediately on board.

I cannot, of course, tell you about every nurse who has joined me, but Ruth has given me permission to share her story in detail. Ruth was 80 pounds overweight. She also loves nursing and was working as a nurse liaison between a nursing home and the hospitals. She was facing a decision to retire because of already having one knee surgery, facing the second knee surgery, having high blood pressure, suffering back pain and being told she was borderline diabetic.

She felt too bad to continue doing what she loved. She felt she had no option but retire before she was old enough to get her full social security check. She was worried because her husband (a true entrepreneur) had built a spec home when the real estate bubble burst.

I actually had not seen Ruth for a while and did not know she had gained weight. She overheard someone else telling my story and called me. Ruth was skeptical, which I understood, because I had been. She tried to use the excuse that her husband would never let her spend $10 a day on a program to lose weight when in fact she was already spending about $7 a day ordering out for an unhealthy lunch at work. Ruth was smart enough to let me explain the program and the opportunity to be a health coach to both her and her husband. She told me that when we hung up that her husband’s comment was, “if you don’t do this, you are crazy.” I often shudder to think what Ruth’s life would be like now if she did not decide to join me on the journey.

Ruth lost the 80 pounds, got off blood pressure medication, did not need the second knee surgery, does not have back pain, and is no longer borderline diabetic. She became a health coach and earns a great second income as one. She turned 66 and retired and continues to build her health coaching business. Ruth enjoys the trilogy of health, happiness and financial freedom.

In addition to myself, Linda and Ruth, our group includes nursing professors, a nurse who owns a medical fitness clinic, nurse practitioners, nursing supervisors, staff nurses and retired nurses. We are looking for nurses in all areas and in all states to join us getting America healthy. Student nurses and new graduates are welcome too.

Brenda Sammy

For more information, visit my websites:

www.healthynurse.us or www.newoptions.tsfl.com

By Brenda Sammy, RN, MSN