Frequently Asked Questions

This post and the information below is from 2018.

I couldn’t answer every question, guys, sorry! So I just picked my favorites and the answers are below! Thanks for reading!

1. Do you believe in voting and are you voting this November? Yes and yes. I didn’t used to vote in the primaries or the midterms, but the election of Trump has shown me what a grave mistake that was. This November, and every election going forward, I will be voting at them all. At the end of the day, it’s FREE. It literally costs me nothing to vote. If I can wait in line for Chick-fil-A, then surely I can wait in line to vote on November 6th.

2. Do you take any hair supplements or hair vitamins? I don’t take any hair specific supplements or vitamins, but I do take a multivitamin.

3. What are your favorite scrub pants? My favorite pants are Cherokee 1123A and Jaanuu Jogger Pant J95006.

4. Did you work as an STNA or a CNA before becoming a nurse? No, I never worked as a nursing assistant, but many of my classmates did.

5. Was nursing school hard for you? Nursing school in general is hard, only 44% of applicants are accepted. So the answer is Hell YES! It was very hard, but I still passed every class, thank God!  It is hard, as it should be, we are trusted to literally save lives, but it is doable!

6. How do you balance your work life/ home life/ blog life? I think I struggle with this a lot. It’s the reason why I typically go 5-8 days between Instagram posts and I only update the blog once or twice a month- because real life is happening! It does help that nurses typically only work three days a week (three, 12-hour shifts) so you have four days off. But, in addition to running this blog, @heytaemama, and @blackmomsbreastfeed, I also work multiple jobs as a Registered Nurse. I work as a bedside nurse in the NICU, as a clinical educator, and I also do per diem work as a clinical consultant. There are women and men who do all of that + have children (real life super women and men)! I don’t think I will ever be one of those bloggers who posts every day and I don’t even think I want to be. I don’t like being held to anyone else’s time frames and I want to be in the moment with my life.

7. Which nursing school did you go to? I went to an accelerated program for non-nurses looking to earn an MSN at Rush University College of Nursing in Chicago (shoutout my favorite city). Rush is currently ranked #18 in Master’s of Science in Nursing, #4 in Doctorate of Nursing Practice, and #1 in Clinical Nurse Leader programs. Rush is a kick ass school and I would recommend it to anyone!

8. What do you think about getting an ADN before BSN? I support this 100% for one reason in particular: If you earn your ADN and then get hired in a hospital as a nurse, you can let the hospital pay for your Bachelor’s degree. In other words, in my opinion, it is best to LET. THEM. PAY.  Look for a hospital with tuition reimbursement or that has its own school of nursing. Student loan debt is CRAZY! I would avoid it if you can. I loved my school, but if I could do it all over again, that is what I would do.

9. What inspired you to become a nurse and do you enjoy your job? Click here to read all about what inspired me to go to nursing school. What made me stick with nursing school however and what drives me today, is my passion to fight the health disparities and inequities that impact African Americans. I enjoy working in the NICU because I love love the tiny little babies. They are so sweet and I just want to help them feel better. I really enjoy being a clinical educator and clinical consultant because I am just naturally good at speaking and presenting to audiences.

10. What other units have you worked on besides NICU? I have worked on cardiology, postpartum, population health, and case management.

11. How do you deal with nurse bullying/ nurses eating their young? This is a real issue that I have seen in multiple hospitals. It is wrong and something I will never understand. For one, past the age of five, I don’t understand rudeness/bullying by anyone. All it screams to me is “Hey! I am a bully because I am insecure! I am afraid that I’m not good enough so I put other people down in order to make myself feel better!” The truth is, bullies hate themselves and think they are not good enough. People who are confident and people who truly love themselves INSIDE, don’t put others down.

12. Do you have any tips for other young ladies starting a blog? 1) Do it sooner rather than later. I contemplated starting this blog for three years before actually doing it. What a waste! It is hard at first. Then, when I actually decided to do it, it was so much harder than I thought! I tried starting this blog in August 2017 and got so frustrated with trying to design a website (with zero knowledge of what I was doing)  that I completely gave up and ignored it for SIX MONTHS. I also tend to be a liiiitle bit of a perfectionist when it comes to designs and layouts so it took a lot of man hours to get this up and running. 2) Never sacrifice your morals/values for popularity. For example, I will never show y’all my raw ass for likes or traffic to my page (or for the attention of men), because that’s simply not me. People can like me for my knowledge, my views, and my face, or not at all. That’s a personal stance, but women, and men, are clearly free to do as they choose. ♥

More questions? Let me know!