Rosa Crumpton, RN, BSN, BS, MBA/HCM, did not always want to become a nurse, but she is beyond grateful for the experience of serving people who need help. She believes in the importance of self-care and always holding out hope, as this allows medical professionals to acknowledge their struggles and deal with them head-on. Believing that there are better days ahead not only helps nurses but it aids in patient connection and healing.
Thank you so much for your time! I know you are a very busy person. Can you tell us a story about what early experiences brought you to choosing a career in the medical profession?
At a young age I decided I wanted to find the cure for cancer after my uncle passed away after a brief fight with it. Originally that landed me in the direction of research, and I spent a few years in basic science research, but I missed working with people and decided to look into other career paths. I was forced more quickly than I had planned to make a career decision when the lab I worked in lost its biggest NIH (National Institute of Health) grant and I decided to transition into nursing because I could use my basic science background and serve people in a different way.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you in your career as a doctor?
One of the most interesting things that has happened to me as a nurse is having a patient that was somewhat of a local celebrity. I hadn’t been a nurse very long and I did not recognize them at first. The patient was very low key, but another nurse told me what movies that patient had been in and it clicked. It was good for me to realize that celebrities need care just like anyone else.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting out on your career? What lesson did you learn from that?
One of the funniest mistakes I’ve made in my career (so far) is making an assumption about a family member. At the time it was mortifying but I mistook a patient’s much younger wife and referred to her as his daughter. They were both good sports about the slipup, but I felt so bad. I learned an important lesson to never assume anything. Always ask the question!
To #DareToCare means to survive and thrive in today’s medical world. How do you take care of yourself? What’s the routine you must do to thrive every day?
As a healthcare professional it’s challenging for me in the best of circumstances to really feel like I’m thriving, but I definitely learned during this COVID pandemic how important it is for me to actually make time for myself. I’ve had to build back good habits by scheduling in things on my calendar. I literally have reminders through the day that remind me to drink my water, walk a lap around the unit and take a screen break. I know these things seem so easy, but the truth is before I put them in my schedule, I wasn’t doing them. These little things have helped me accomplish more and feel better.
I write a series of letters to my God-daughter in my latest book. In that same vein, what are 5 things you would tell your younger self?
Five things I would tell my younger self would be:
- Have more fun;
- Travel extensively;
- Spend time with the people most important;
- It’s ok to say no;
- Start investing now
How can medical professionals reclaim heart-based healing amid pandemic, political, and other pressures?
Healthcare Professionals can work to reclaim their heart-based healing even in the midst of a pandemic by taking care of themselves first. We are more than a year into COVID19 with no quick relief in sight. It’s important that we pace ourselves for this marathon. It’s easy to keep pushing and pushing but that is when we will hit a wall and may never recover. So we need to take our breaks, we need to eat, we need to take some days off and do the things that bring us joy and peace.
Is there a particular book that you read, or podcast you listened to that really helped you in your work as a healthcare professional? Can you explain?
I was gifted a copy of Donna Cardillo’s book “Your First Year As A Nurse: Making the Transition From Total Novice to Successful Professional” after I got my RN license and it really helped me set my expectations and set meaningful goals for myself. I had the pleasure of seeing Ms. Cardillo in person a few years before that and she reminded us to find and use humor in our profession and that has stuck with me.
Because of the role you play, you are a person of great influence in the healthcare community. If you could inspire other doctors and nurses to bring change to affect the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? Said another way, what difference do you see needs to be made for our collective future?
I aspire to inspire other healthcare professionals to always have hope. It’s so easy to fall into the trap of being jaded and close off our emotions when we deal with all the stress and overwhelm that healthcare can cause.
How can people connect with you?
I’d love to connect on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/rosacrumpton/