About Me

My Story

I decided to create a website to share my unique story, experiences, and hobbies. I grew up as an only child, but this doesn’t mean I lacked siblings… I grew up in a household full of animals that became my best friends! With this in mind I developed a love for animals very early on in life. I currently have six dogs, three cats, a horse, and a salt water fish tank.

In early childhood, I wanted to be a veterinarian. My passion for animals never changed, but as I started to mature during my teenage years, my dad and I battled health issues. It was during this time I was exposed to healthcare and became interested in nursing. Being hospitalized was a very vulnerable feeling, but my nurses were always there at the bedside. It was this aspect of nursing which initially sparked my interest.

I entered a bachelors of nursing program directly out of high school. Four years later I graduated nursing school and found myself searching for my first nursing job. During my critical care semester in nursing school, I was exposed to the intensive care unit (ICU) setting. At that point, working in the cardiothoracic ICU became my “dream job”, although as a new graduate with no experience, ICU jobs are hard to come by. I ultimately accepted a job on a medical surgical/hospice unit. I met a variety of unique patients, co-workers, and mentors who helped, guided, and shaped me into the nurse I am today. After working on this unit for a year and a half, I accepted an offer to work in the cardiothoracic ICU!

I will be talking about the externship I did during nursing school, how I did a ICU fellowship to finally obtain my dream of working in the cardiothoracic ICU, certifications I have, and much more nursing related.

In addition to being a healthcare provider, I also have the unique perspective of being a patient. I’ve had procedures such an EP study/ablation with loop recorder insertion for inappropriate sinus tachycardia. I’ve had arthroscopic hip surgery to repair a torn labrum. My post-operative course was complicated by deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and bilateral pulmonary emboli (PE). In February 2019, I also had a dual chamber pacemaker inserted for junctional rhythm. Although these aspects of my life are very personal, I benefitted from those who shared similar experiences and hope mine will, in turn, help others too!

Hobbies

I’ve had my horse, Jazz, since I was 12 years old! I love the ocean, have a passion for ocean preservation, and I’m am a scuba diver! I currently have my PADI advanced open water and nitrox certification.

I’ve been diving in the Great Blue Hole off the coast of Belize, Hawaii, and even New York. I’ve gone cage-less shark diving in the Bahamas, St. Maarten, and Jupiter, Florida alongside hammerheads, bull sharks, tiger sharks, Caribbean reef sharks, lemon sharks, and more! I enjoy raising awareness about the decline in sharks due to barbaric practices such as shark finning, and debunking the false perception of sharks as man-eaters.

I also love to snowboard! I learned how to ski at a very young, but around the age of 10, I decided I wanted to learn how to snowboard. I fell in love with it and traded my skis in for a snowboard ever since! When I’m on a mountain, you can usually catch me in the park trying new jumps!

I’m also a skin-care/make-up addict and will share some product reviews with tips & tricks which I find helpful!

I am excited to share my journey!

-Katie