Today on Raise the Line, we bring you the unlikely and inspiring story of a nurse who overcame learning challenges and a lack of business experience to create a successful company offering a visual learning system for her fellow nurses and other clinical providers. Join host Lindsey Smith for a lively and fascinating conversation with RekMed CEO Jennifer Zahourek, RN.
Today on Raise the Line, we bring you the unlikely and inspiring story of a woman who was afraid of blood as a child but became an accomplished nurse; who struggled with learning disabilities but became an effective educator; and who, despite lacking business experience or knowledge of graphics, built a successful company that produces visually rich educational materials for nurses and other providers. “I think the theme of my life has been I have struggled with learning, and I didn't want other people to struggle,” says Jennifer Zahourek, RN, the founder and CEO of RekMed which has developed a sequential, interactive learning system that includes illustrated planners, books, and videos used by millions of students and providers. The initial focus was to provide nurses with everything they needed to know from “the basics to the bedside” but RekMed now offers content for medics, respiratory therapists, medical assistants, and veterinarians as well. Driven by her belief in the power of visual learning and her “just freakin’ do it” attitude, Jennifer overcame her fear of launching a business and quickly realized just how well nursing had prepared her for the hard work and unpredictability of entrepreneurship. “Nursing teaches you how to just be resilient, to pivot, to delegate, to work on a team and to handle high stress. I think nurses could literally be some of the best entrepreneurs on the planet,” she tells host Lindsey Smith. Tune in to this lively and valuable conversation as Jennifer shares lessons from bootstrapping a publishing company, insights on the evolving landscape of healthcare education, and advice on embracing change in nursing, especially with the expanding role of AI.
Mentioned in this episode:
Liz Lucas
Hello, I'm Liz Lucas, welcoming you to Raise the Line with Osmosis from Elsevier, an ongoing exploration about how to improve health and healthcare. Today we're going to learn about an education company that, like Osmosis, creates engaging visual content to help learners master complicated medical information. But in this case of RekMed, the primary target is the field of nursing, from the basics all the way to what bedside nurses need to know. RekMed also offers content for medics, respiratory therapists, medical assistants, and veterinarians.
The founder of RekMed, Jennifer Zahourek, is a deeply experienced RN in pediatric and adult emergency medicine and critical care, and has worked across the country in over 15 emergency departments. The interactive learning system she developed includes illustrated planners, books, and videos that have millions of users.
And we actually had the opportunity to meet in person at a conference not too long ago and your fun and useful products just immediately caught my eye. So, thank you so much for joining us today Jennifer.
Jennifer Zahourek
Thank you. I'm very excited. I love everything Osmosis, and I've definitely used you guys for sure over the years. Osmosis is amazing, and it was so great to meet you, too, at the conference. That's for sure.
Liz
How nice to know that. Yeah, it really was. Well, I'd like to start with learning more about you and your career journey because I understand that you actually didn't follow necessarily a straight path into nursing.
Jennifer
Yes, so in the beginning of my early childhood, I was actually terrified of blood. I used to pass out and faint. So that was kind of number one that really anyone in my immediate family, anyone that knows me since I was like even under 10, it's like, “How are you the girl that's dealing with blood?” I've broken teeth and I've knocked myself out cause I would pass out as soon as I saw it. So that was just kind of a funny part of how I don't think I was meant to be initially a nurse. I did go for nursing school originally, and when they said we were going to do IVs on each other, I ended up passing out in the middle of orientation.
Liz
My goodness.
Jennifer
And I was like, there's no way, I can't do this. So then I went and became a mental health counselor. And the first day working at Children's Hospital on the job, I looked at all the nurses and I was like, this is insane. This is all I wanna do. Why am I here? I just wanna be a nurse.
So, I went back into nursing school and unfortunately, because of my dyslexia and my ADHD, test taking for me is honestly so incredibly hard. I didn't even know that I had ADHD and dyslexia until about college, my first go-around when I graduated with psychology. And then finally a teacher pointed out to me that he was like, “I don't get it. You can answer everything so well in the middle of class, but when it comes to test time, it's like you're not even present in class at all.” Then he sat me down and we kind of walked through that, and then once I figured that out, it made me start learning in kind of a different way. But because so many people knew me as a bad test taker, so many people are like, “Hey, if you want to be a nurse, you have to be smart, and you’re not smart. And it was because my grades were so bad.
So, one of my friends actually, she was one of my best friends -- not so much now after this comment, honestly, which is kind of funny because it's part of my story -- but she even said, “You have to be really smart to be a nurse. I don't think you'll make it.” And that was kind of that moment where I was like, wow, like if you don't believe in me, this is crazy. So I ended up getting accepted back into nursing school and even my teachers were like, “You're great at the bedside. You know what you're talking about, but your grades are awful.”
And then I finally kind of dialed it back in and I started realizing that I needed to learn just differently. I just couldn't hear certain things. I'm not an auditory learner for the most part. I have to physically see examples. I have to break it down and know like more of the annoying seven-year-old like why, why, kind of thing. And then once I do that, everything just makes so much sense. So I didn't really know that this path would whatsoever be a part of my journey.
Liz
Yeah.
Jennifer
But when I was in nursing and I started growing as a nurse, I feel like I got by at the skin of my teeth, honestly I was the one that got like 200 and some NCLEX questions. I thought I failed immediately. I feel like just like every nurse when we take NCLEX, we all think we're gonna fail the second we get out of there.
Liz
One hundred percent right.
Jennifer
By the grace of God, I did pass and then really it's funny because when I was in the bedside and hospital system, I felt like I thrived because it's not like ABCD questions. I was like, “Patient care is so easy. I can talk to anybody.” That was an easy thing and then I feel like I just was so excited to learn everything I could too, because I really wanted to be really good at nursing, because my grades like basically always told me that I was never gonna be able to be successful.
So then I noticed in my nursing journey, the more I followed doctors into the rooms, the more I started like listening and hearing like pathology and whatnot and then it started getting to the point where my peers were like, “Hey, you are really good at breaking things down.” And I was like, I think it's just because I have to work so hard at it. And then that is kind of what started leading me into RekMed, essentially, which is kind of crazy. I went home and I actually wanted to create worksheets that were basically a way to break down like diabetes, for example. But every piece of artwork I found...I was like, I can't use this image because it's not exactly what I want and I have to pay someone a million dollars to just change the small image.
Back then, I didn't have $25 for one graphic and I was like you know what screw it, I have to learn graphic design. That's kind of what I started to do. I just want to build these pages because I wanted to explain to people simple ways to learn because I struggle and I feel like I've cracked this weird code of a visuality kind of thing
Liz
Yeah.
Jennifer
And then I started making pages and it's crazy because something that I just was like, “It'd be cool if this was resourceful,” became everything we're talking about. So that's kind of like in a nutshell, my crazy path into like nurse land. And then here we are.
Liz
That's such an interesting journey and I love the fact that you felt passionate enough to have reached a few barriers and just broken through them anyway, because you knew this was the right place for you to be.
Jennifer
Yeah, it's one of those things where I think a lot of people have these moments where we're like, I know what I want, but even if somebody else doesn't believe it, you don't even believe the negative. You're like, you might say that, but I know like that's what I'm supposed to do or I want to do or, you know, not necessarily that I was even calling. It was just like, I wanted it so bad, and I think that made me like push harder. Cause I was like, I don't care what you guys are saying. Like I'm gonna be a nurse.
Liz
What a fabulous test of grit. I always say too, there's no wrong way to become a nurse. Everyone's nursing journey is the right way for them to become a nurse. Yeah, that's so interesting. So you alluded to this a little bit for sure, but how exactly did RekMed come to life? And what was really that true spark that kicked things off?
Jennifer
So there is so much more to that. I started creating these pages and my whole goal was like, I want people to just learn. And when people start telling me, you know, you're really good at starting to explain things or like break things down. What's funny is I would be a travel nurse and I would sometimes get students that would have like a different preceptor. And then I would go like, “Hey, I have to go do this. I'll take your student.” And then the students would more so be like, “Well, I kind of want to follow her around because she talks me through so much more.”
And then it's funny, I remember it deep in my soul thinking like, my gosh, this is kind of my nightmare because I always felt like I wasn't good enough to be the person explaining this stuff because my test grades were never good and I was never excelling academically. But then I also was like excited because I was like, I want to show people more of not just, here's how we put in a Foley, but here's how you put a Foley in somebody that's maybe got different barriers to do it. And so I started feeling this mission of like, there's so many different ways to do stuff, and I wanna not just teach you now, but I wanna teach you like multiple ways. I think the theme of my life has been I struggled, I didn't want other people to struggle. And so that was kind of a big part of it.
So anyways, with my ADHD, I am a huge schedule/list/planner person. So I started making these pages and I was like thinking to myself, I don't want people to get these pages that I'm making and just basically put it on their desk and never use it again. If they do that, that's really defeating the whole purpose of everything I'm doing. So I started thinking about how I use a planner for everything, and I was like, wouldn't that be amazing if in nursing school you had this planner with all this content in the back of it, and then these weekly questions because back then we didn't have a cell phone and everything when I first started.
I launched this in 2017,2018 so it took me like a year to learn how to do graphic design and then I got my first book. So I created this planner with the content in the back of it in November 2019 and we didn't have Google calendars like crazy and all these other things. It's crazy how that's not really that long ago.
Liz
Yeah, it's true.
Jennifer
I wanted them to definitely use it, not just get this product that sits on their desk and then they paid money for something that they're not utilizing. And so what's crazy is I made my first planners. I actually worked a whole bunch of overtime, and I saved about 15 grand up
To do 500 books initially. When they got sent to my house I like bawled my eyes out because I'm like, my god what did I just do? I don't know if anyone's gonna want this. This is crazy. I just have all these books. If no one wants it, I'm just gonna have the biggest bonfire of my life. So then my husband was like, I think you're being crazy. Just put it out there. You worked so hard for this.
So I put my first ad up on Instagram and two planners got sold literally that day. I remember thinking like, holy crap, this is working. It's crazy. And I was excited. And then it was like people's Christmas presents because it was November. And I felt this pressure of like fear. I made myself so vulnerable, putting myself out there making this, but what if people are just like, oh my gosh, this is stupid. And so I was so afraid to do it. And that I think is such a testament to of no matter what you start, no matter what you do, it's always, always scary. But you just have to freaking do it, is really what it comes down to.
And then really from that point on, it's crazy. We sold the 500 almost instantly and sold a thousand another month later. And I was like, holy crap, I think I'm on to something. COVID hit. And then I was like, oh man, I am going to use like a month off because I have asthma and I'm afraid of COVID and I was treating COVID patients already because it hit the Bay Area before we really knew about it.
Then I really took some time off and within like six months I had already sold I think 10,000 books or more. Within the year, we hit six figures and I was like, what just happened? Like it was crazy to see it blow up, but it was definitely a matter of not money. I didn't care what we were like making. It was just the fact that I was like, my gosh, I get to not just educate my patients but I’m getting an opportunity and the ability to help all my fellow colleagues in nursing. I think that was a lot of it because it wasn't supposed to be something to make me money as a business. It was really just like ‘I struggle. I don't want you to struggle. How can I make this happen.’
Liz
And what a cool full circle because I'm sure that struggle you experienced is what makes you so good now at what you do. Even the students identifying you as the preceptor they preferred...because it's one thing to, like you said, to show a student how to do something and it's difficult to explain sometimes why you think so. Well, that's because that's just the way we do things. But for you and your experience, you take those extra steps...
Jennifer
Yes. Right.
Liz
...to really understand all the context surrounding why nurses do the things they do and then you're able to relay that either verbally or through your awesome notebooks. Very cool.
Jennifer
Thank you. I think that is true. It's like nursing is so not linear at all. Like there are so many different ways to do everything. When I was a travel nurse, I remember this one girl -- she's amazing -- her name's Brittany. At this point, I was like 13 years into nursing and she was like, my gosh, I'm so sorry if I'm telling you something you already know. And I was like, you could teach me how to give Tylenol. I don't care, because there's probably six ways to give Tylenol to be really honest with you. Like, it doesn't matter what it is.
Liz
So true.
Jennifer
There’s always a new way you're gonna learn and that's what I love about it.
Liz
My gosh, so true. So, you created RekMed and it quickly became successful without any prior business experience, it sounds like, and while you were still working as a nurse, and it sounds like through the pandemic as well. So, just one or two challenges there! What were some key factors in making this a successful company?
Jennifer
So I actually still practice. I refuse to not practice. I think we're always evolving and as Osmosis knows better than anyone, things change so much. The way we treat strokes, the way we do heart attacks, like STEMIs, the way we do everything...it's always evolving. And so that's really important to me to always just have my toe in the hospital system because I don't want to be doing education without staying up to date.
I think the biggest thing was not letting the fear consume me in the beginning. Taking a risk is scary. Everything we do, changing into a new unit, everything is scary. I did my homework more than I think most people would be willing to do. I looked up everything. When it comes to packaging and like boxing...what was super interesting about that is after I'd made the book, I remember my supplier was like, “Okay, what do you want to pack it in?” I was like, wait, what do you mean? They're like, well, you have to ship it in something. And I was like, my god, I need a shipping box and something like that, I didn't take lightly
I read a ton of stuff on how important is packaging? What is the best kind of packaging? What colors are important on packaging? And then I found this article that talks about how Apple’s packaging...the way it slowly opens creates this like dopamine and this chemical response in our brain that we're so excited to get this product. So Apple is like insanely strategic on how they package everything. Then I also learned that they were saying at the time -- because a lot of stuff has changed these days -- is that the user's experience of a package is 60 % of what it comes in because it's their initial impression of everything. And so just stuff like that.
I just put so much effort and so much homework into it and I think that the reason I was able to grow so much is that I didn't like delegate at first, even though in nursing you delegate so much. I learned a little bit of it first and then I delegated, so that I kind of knew what was expected.
So it's very much kind of like all these little jobs teach us this big holistic picture that we get better at. Like, if we're a CNA -- or I was a mental health counselor at one point and then I became a nurse -- having these little roles like working in the ER, working in ICU, working on critical care ambulance.
I think that's what I did with RekMed. I just started doing everything first because one, I didn't have money and I was growing into this because I wanted to know what it was all about. Like, what is packing like? What does it take? And that way, it made me competent that I was able to then make really good decisions. Those decisions were also extremely researched, so I think that's another thing.
And then I also feel like I cared so much about my team that they were happy because when you have a business, you think like, how is anyone ever gonna care about my business as much as I care about my business? That's a very scary thing, and it's very much like how I think we feel in the hospital. You know, when you're a part of hiring a new employee, you're kind of like, “Well, is this person going to be a great fit for the unit or are they going to care about the unit? Are they going to be caring for our patients?” It's essentially the same thing. The better you are to them, the better they want to be for you as well. And I think that's kind of another driving force too, is I had really good people on my team that were excited because I tried so hard to give so much more of a crap of how they were doing versus just having them doing a job.
Liz
I love that connection you make between bedside nursing and delegation and understanding all the pieces and parts because you're right, you would never delegate something that you are unable to complete as a nurse.
Jennifer
Yep. Yeah.
Liz
And so you felt like you needed to have at least enough knowledge to know how to delegate it properly when it comes to your business, too. That's really interesting.
Jennifer
Yeah, it helps you make good decisions because you know what the expectation should be and you know how hard the job is, too. That's the other thing. Like, I make so many mistakes packing and sometimes there's a big joke when I help pack orders, more customers will be like, hey, I think you screwed something up. And I'm like, that's because I was there that day. It's because it's so human to do and I think that not having unrealistic expectations of employees is really big. If people mess things up, I was like, if you only knew how much I messed up and it was OK. You know what mean? That made them feel like, I'm in a safe area to make those mistakes.
In the hospital, it's the same thing. It's inevitable when we make a mistake and when we make a med error and when we do whatever we do, because it's just part of it. And when you're embraced that it's OK, but also learn from it, then it makes such a better environment to be in overall. Yeah, definitely.
Liz
Yeah, building an environment of trust for sure. Tell us about some of the content you do offer and what differentiates RekMed from some of the other medical education or nursing education systems out there.
Jennifer
So, we have definitely learned to pivot over the years. I think it's become more saturated now. It's so funny -- God bless them too -- I know there's a lot of people that have taken their student nursing notes or whatever they've done and they put them on Etsy or they put on Pinterest or they put on whatever. And I respect that hustle. I sure do. But I will say we still are very unique, even from other companies, because we have kind of created more of a sequential learning system. It's really in our name. It's from the basics to the bedside.
So we are not just giving information of somebody's notes and being like, here you go, this is the overview. This is truly information that we've broken down, but we also build activities around it. So you're really just getting it into your brain. You're retaining it, you're working through it, you're learning it. You have the option of video, you have the option of filling out all of our worksheets, you can reprint them out. We have flashcards...all kinds of things.
So it's been this comprehensive thing that really goes from, what is your temperature, what is your heart rate all the way into mechanical ventilation. What is a wedge pressure? What’s a Swan-Ganz catheter? It's really literally basics. You do not have to be a nurse to understand our content at all, and that's always been my goal because if we go back to me struggling so much, I wanted to create stuff that anyone could understand.
For instance we had another graphic designer at one time on board that had no medical background whatsoever. Then my dad -- he's my best friend -- I would show him things we build too and so there was always this thing where if my dad can get it, if a graphic designer could get it, if anyone could understand it, we did our job, and that was like the best part.
So I think the fact that our information enforces learning in a way of actually working with it and not just reading it is definitely what has set us apart. Our workbook is sitting right there, for example, making you do the work to get in your brain. Nobody wants to read these days. I honestly like barely read. I do audiobooks like you wouldn't believe and podcasts like you wouldn't believe. I do like reading, but at the same time when it comes to a nursing textbook, people do not want to read. That's exactly how Osmosis thrives too, is because they want the visual learning and they want those short clips and everything that you guys also give.
So that was kind of the thing, is we know the student needs to study, but they don't want to read a bunch of stuff. So there's the content on the left and then there's the activity on the right and it makes them do the work. That way it's engaging in a way that they're just not sitting there reading chapters, which is great.
Liz
That's so great. How useful and how helpful.
Jennifer
Thanks.
Liz
This is another question that we happen to just touch upon -- but maybe you can provide even more context and detail -- how did nursing prepare you then for being an entrepreneur?
Jennifer
I’ll tell you what: I actually believe that if you have put a couple years in nursing, I feel like nurses could run the world in business, honestly. Because the fact that there's so many things that we face, especially in the healthcare system, you can do anything with nursing. But there is something to be said about working in a unit, working in a hospital that has a high patient load, especially like at a trauma center. And some of the places I worked that are not trauma centers were way worse than some of the stuff I even saw in a Level I Center.
But to learn the delegation, to learn the multidisciplinary team, to learn how to do a lot of things outside your role, to learn to say no to things that are not in your role, and the way that you just have so much pressure. Learning how to talk to a patient, learning how to talk to an angry family, learning how to talk to lab and the doctor...like there are so many things that a nurse does in one shift alone that prepares you so much for business that I didn't even realize.
I think one of the biggest examples I love to give is, you know, in the emergency department, when a patient comes in as a trauma or they come in as a code, we have this team of people that are working around the bedside and we'll do something and see if that works. And let's say we put in the chest tube and they're still not breathing well. We don't just say well, okay, didn't work....all right, guys, let's go to room three. We're like, what's next?
There's no such thing in nursing of taking a situation and being like, well, that didn't work, we give up. Really what it is, is just this constant pivot. And because of that, and not giving up, it builds that resiliency or endurance. So in business, it was kind of one those things that as I was getting started, if something didn't work, it really didn't matter because I was like, okay, it didn't work, what's next? I think nursing is truly what's responsible for that.
So, pivoting is a huge part for us too here at RekMed. But it really is like, you know, that's what nursing does. It teaches you how to just be resilient. It teaches you to pivot. It teaches you to deal with high stress. It teaches you to delegate. There are so many things that it does. And I think that's the beautiful thing of it. The more you can work in various units, you just get this like holistic picture of how things work. I mean, really nurses could like literally be some of the best entrepreneurs on planet earth. I think they could run the world. That's for sure.
Liz
I agree. I think in a lot of ways we already do. I would think, too, that another aspect of being a business owner as a nurse, is it's almost like you serve as the center of the wheel...like all the spokes attached to you in both settings.
Jennifer
Yeah, it's so true. Yep.
Liz
What is your proudest moment being a part of RekMed?
Jennifer
I would say this is a two-part thing. The thing that makes me the very happiest is every time somebody has written in and been like, wow, your stuff has helped me pass NCLEX, or it's helped me with this, or it's helped me with that. When I see that, it goes back to the core mission of why I started, of I wanted my struggle to help people. And when people are like, my gosh, this really helped me through...that's all I ever wanted. It didn't matter what happened along the way, I wanted this to be a tool for people. It wasn’t about the business end of it.
We actually partner with the Emergency Nurses Association for a workbook. We do their whole new grad program. We have a whole bunch of universities and healthcare systems also that are buying our books. Those are huge wins for sure and those wins mean a lot, but they are like, oh my gosh, this is so great, this happened today, then it's like kind of onto the next reaching thing.
I think the proudest thing of RekMed is taking a moment like this, and when I reflect on the whole entire journey of how this came through is really like what to my core makes me happiest. Because when I think of starting something that was so unexpected with a mission of just wanting to help other people learn beyond just the patient care alone, it just feels like that's the success.
I think success could be measured by people by like, my gosh, you've made money or you have X amount of books and whatever. And that is awesome. But at the same time, it's so cool that it is actually something that helps people. That’s the biggest thing. Yeah, that's cool.
Liz
And being a part of a company that's so mission driven as well, I can absolutely relate to those little moments where you get to be like, “Okay, we are accomplishing what we set out to do. We have farther to go, but we are on the right path.
Jennifer
Yeah, absolutely. Yep. You can pump content out like crazy, you can put nurse notes out there, you can write everything, and the world is getting so saturated with it, but to create a system like even Osmosis does that actually works, that helps people retain knowledge and make it so digestible, that's what really kind of sets it apart in terms of success in my eyes.
Liz
Do you have any advice for people listening who might be interested in becoming an entrepreneur themselves?
Jennifer
Gosh, I think if you have the itch, then it's probably made for you. I think if you don't have the itch, it's very hard. It's rough and that's okay. I will say that people think if they start a business, they have to have all the steps together instantly, and that couldn't be further from the truth. You don't need it together from day one. The whole thing is gonna make you grow. It's exactly like if you show up to the ICU and you're like, “My God, there's ventilators and there's all these new things that I don't normally do.” If you look at the macro picture, my gosh, is it overwhelming. Business is no different.
It's about making something that really does fulfill you....that you know even when it's really hard, you're gonna wake up still excited, because if you don't, it's not gonna work. It's just like working in a unit. Like, if you wake up and you're not fulfilled at the unit, you're not gonna thrive there or feel good there. And so I think not being afraid to take a risk, because you will be afraid -- I'm still afraid -- and everyone gets nervous and it feels vulnerable, but just doing it is the best part.
But don't feel like you have to do it with 500 things already in order. Start very small, and then you will start seeing traction. You might try to throw 20 things out there...like in a code, we tried 20 million things, and the one intervention works. It's the same concept. So then take that one intervention and go from there. Baby steps.
They always say most entrepreneurs do about seven different types of businesses or startups before they actually make it. They always say your first three businesses are where you get smart, not actually like rich. I think those are very valuable lessons because it's true. You have to learn in order to build something great.
I think in my timing, I got very fortunate that this was my first adventure and it got to be where it was, but I think it's just one of those things that if you want to do it, do it . Don't have it all together, start small and do your homework always and know that if you are a nurse getting into business, your job has already prepped you to be able to do it.
Liz
That's so interesting and it sounds like you've just been such an expert at iterating...this didn't go quite the way I thought, so let's try something new until we get it right.
Jennifer
Yeah, absolutely, and don't like loom on it either. You're gonna throw mud at the wall like a million and one times and if it doesn't work, it's just like, who cares? You're done. Yeah.
Liz
Well, we have many students and early career health professionals in our audience. What's your advice to them about meeting the challenges of this moment and approaching their career in healthcare?
Jennifer
This moment is super interesting because -- I don't know if you feel this way too -- there are times where I hear so much about AI and what's coming in nurse land. I think we all are feel like we’re so understaffed and so overtaxed and whatnot, and it makes me wonder if we are actually gonna feel this way in five years? Because will there be tools and... like I don't know little robots or things that are gonna help take the workload off that we might not feel this way?
So I think sometimes what is helpful to think about is the things we worry about today might not be what we worry about three months from now, three years from now, five years from now. And so that's kind of something to always put in the back of your brain. But it makes me think it is best to be a sponge and get every little thing that you can soak up in whatever position you are. Don't stay stagnant. If it doesn't make you happy, move on. But also there is this whole new world of nursing potentially coming of AI -- nurse bots and telehealth and
triage nursing -- and we haven't even had a fraction of idea of what's truly gonna be reforming the healthcare system.
So if you're starting as a nurse or a healthcare professional now -- if you wanna be making these really great decisions, you know, five years from now after you've really gained a bunch of experience under your belt -- I think staying current and seeing what's coming and embracing that things are gonna probably radically change is gonna be really big. I think we have a lot of people resisting what's coming and I think that we can't run away from it. If you don't embrace a change, you're just going to be internally miserable because the world's going to keep going regardless.
So it's interesting. Get the experience you can. Be a sponge. Learn everything. If it doesn't fulfill you, keep going. But also be very open to what's coming and how can you potentially leverage that for your current situation? Is that something you'd be interested in? So yeah, you're a really great nurse, but could you also be helping a company with potentially triage nursing or even give insight or evaluate.
So, I think there's things that might become openings that we don't even realize could swing nursing in a whole different pendulum. Yeah, stuff to think about.
Liz
So you're saying that upon graduation, we're just starting our learning journey, aren't you? That's exciting though. Yeah, I agree with you. Well, this has been so lovely talking to you today, Jennifer. I totally thank you for your time.
Jennifer
You, too. Absolutely. Thank you so much.
Liz
Are there any last things you'd like to tell our audience today?
Jennifer
I think just maybe my favorite quote, and what I always say is, it's really not about how hard the information is, it's how it's taught. And thankfully, Osmosis and other resources are out there. So however it is they learn is the way to learn. And it is true. The information isn't hard, it's just how you learn it is the most important part.
Thank you, Liz. I really appreciate it.
Liz
I’m Liz Lucas. Thanks for checking out today’s show and I hope you can join us next time.