Hayley has spent half of her hustle in hospitals and the other half in the sky. Until recently, she picked up per diem nursing shifts in the emergency room on her days off from Delta, where she served as a flight attendant. At the onset of this pandemic, she took a leave of absence from Delta to commit solely to nursing. Today she works full-time at Mission Hospital in Laguna Beach, where she continues to serve on the frontlines as a dedicated, passionate and kindhearted ER nurse.

The Basics:

Hometown: Bradenton, Florida
Current city: San Diego, California
Alma mater: University of Florida; University of Central Florida
Degree: B.S, Health Education and Behavior; B.S., Nursing
Very first job: Nanny and lifeguard
Hustle: Travel nurse, Mission Hospital Laguna Beach; Flight Attendant, Delta Airlines

The Interests:

Babe you admire and why?
My mom, Annette Sousa. She raised four girls, worked full-time, and still managed to continue to be spontaneous, adventurous and supportive through it all. She taught my sisters and I how to be kind, appreciate other cultures, and to live life to the fullest. My mom is a very hardworking 2nd grade teacher who stays late after school because she loves her students. Before she was a teacher she was also a flight attendant for an airline called People Express. She traveled the world solo and with friends/family, she has visited 6 of the 7 continents and I think I get my go-getter personality and wanderlust from her.

Dream concert to attend (past and present musicians)?
Coldplay.

How do you take your coffee?
One hefty pour of french vanilla creamer

Favorite way to unplug?
I love being outdoors especially on a sunny day. I unplug by going on a run or walk along the beach, something about being near the water helps me to totally disconnect. 

The Hustle:

Tell us about your hustle.
The only constant that has been typical for me over the years is change. I have been a registered nurse for six years specializing in the emergency department, a flight attendant with Delta Airlines for the past two years, and my husband is in the Navy—so that means we move every three years. Currently, I live in San Diego, but am based out of LAX for Delta. I was working for a per diem nursing company called Nursefinders, where I pick up nursing shifts on my off days to work in the ER. Over the last two years I finally thought I found a balance between flying and nursing—but then once again, change was among us all with the start of COVID-19. Flights were getting more empty and hospitals were getting more busy. I was getting more calls from the nursing manager to pick up shifts and with the airlines offering voluntary leaves of absence due to the low demand, I decided to take a leave to both help out my fellow flight attendants who still needed to work and to help the hospital. About four weeks ago I started a full-time travel nurse assignment, working three 12-hour night shifts (7:00 p.m. to 7:30 a.m.) in the ER per week. 

So, now a typical day starts with trying to sleep in as late as possible (usually 10:00 a..m); I do my daily yoga, coffee, run, and then prep for the night. I leave for work at about 5:30 p.m. to start my night shift, and commute an hour to and from work. At the hospital, I get my temperature checked and a new surgical mask before I can enter the facility. We also don’t wear our own scrubs; we’re supplied with surgical scrubs when we show up to change into, so when we end our shift we decrease the chance of bringing something home to our families. During a nightly team huddle, we each get assigned a new respirator mask to have for the shift and then we are sent to the floor. 

The ER world is different every single shift. Some nights I am a pediatric nurse, dementia nurse, geriatric nurse, psych nurse, and hospice nurse. Last week, I took care of two overdose patients, a child with a finger laceration, a person with chest pain, someone who thought they had COVID-19, another person in respiratory distress, and a person who was depressed and wanting to hurt themselves—just to name a few.

Have you always been passionate about nursing? Where do you think this stems from?
Growing up, I did not have any nurses in my family, but my dad was a firefighter/paramedic and I knew from hearing his stories that I had an interest in healthcare and emergency medicine, but I didn’t know at what level. My mom is a 2nd grade teacher and I also realized that I loved interacting, teaching and helping kids. So I thought a combination of the two would be something that I would be passionate about. In college I started my education as a Health Education major hoping that I would find a way to combine two of the things I was interested in. I volunteered on the trauma floor at Shands, then on the pediatric cystic fibrosis floor, and then I did a 3 month internship at All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg, FL on a pediatric hematology and oncology floor. It was during this internship that I realized I didn’t want to just educate families and nurses—I wanted to be one of the nurses. I saw how nurses were at the bedside during the hard times and the good times. They were the ones who were there with the patients and the families; they were smart, empathetic, hardworking and they faced challenges daily that they had to overcome. After graduating with my health education degree, I went right back to school for my nursing degree. I started my nursing career working on a post-operative telemetry and oncology floor. I worked for two years, gained my confidence as a nurse and worked side-by-side with seasoned nurses. I then made the transition to the Emergency department where I have continued to work and be challenged daily.

Was it difficult transitioning back into nursing after taking some time off?
Over the last two years of working with Delta, I have continued to pick up nursing shifts sporadically so I can stay current with nursing. But going from full-time flying with Delta back to full-time nursing has been an interesting transition. My nursing skills are still there; I feel confident in my abilities, but I have found that other nurses and doctors have questioned my career path, asking, “Why would you do that if you are a nurse?” I have found myself having to defend my other career. Most people think flight attendants are on the plane to serve you drinks and snacks, but our number one priority is safety. Flight attendants have been trained to respond to many different emergency situations. They know how to take care of someone during a medical emergency with limited supplies and resources, respond to an aircraft decompression, guard and fight to keep the security of the flight deck intact, deal with unruly or uncooperative passengers, and evacuate a plane that is in danger in under 90 seconds—all while keeping a smile on their face. Flight attendants and nurses are similar in many ways, and we continue to work hard and be on the frontlines during this unsure time. Being a flight attendant has taught me to never underestimate anyone and to always keep in mind that we don’t know what people are going through. We meet hundreds and thousands of people during multiple flights over several days; you never know why people are traveling, so I think it has given me a chance to relax, be more empathetic, and connect with people.

How has your job changed because of COVID-19?
As an ER nurse, we are the frontlines of what is coming through the door, COVID-positive or not. Before the pandemic, if we had a critical patient come in, we would have all hands on deck and several nurses helping out to start an IV, do compressions, help intubate, chart, or medicate, but due to this pandemic we don’t want to expose more staff [than necessary] to this virus, and therefore we have restrictions on how many nurses or staff are allowed in the room. During a critical situation now, there are only one to two nurses in the room with the doctor and possibly one other tech or respiratory therapist. If a patient is having trouble breathing, we have a lot more restrictions on what kind of breathing treatments they can receive due to COVID precautions, which in turn limits the type of care we can give. There have been changes made every day about new procedures, kinds of tests, new equipment. The one change that has personally affected the way I care for patients before and after the pandemic is a simple change, but now that patients and staff are all required to wear masks, I keep catching myself smiling at patients and staff and then realizing they can’t see me smile or I can’t see them smile back. Before the pandemic I didn’t realize how far a smile would go when helping to comfort patients during a scary time, but now I am more aware and appreciative.

How do you practice staying composed in such an emotionally charged profession?
I really try to focus on the patient and their safety as my number-one priority. I work with a great team of nurses and doctors who do the same. In high-stress situations, I focus on what I need to do for the patient and get it done. I had a patient who suddenly went into cardiac arrest and we were unsure why, but had a feeling it was due to a pulmonary embolism (blood clot in the lungs). We did CPR on and off for multiple hours; in the end we did get the patient back and stabilized (the best feeling, ever). The whole time I was so focused on being efficient and making sure everything was getting done. During our debrief, one of the nurse assistants told me that I looked “so calm” during that. I couldn’t do anything else but laugh, because on the inside I felt anything but calm; I could feel my heart pumping from my chest to my fingers and felt as if I was having hot flashes the whole time. I guess I was so composed on the outside, so much so that I appeared to be calm to my coworkers during a very charged time. That day I gained some real insight on how I personally respond to stressful situations. Luckily, as a nurse, we don’t have paperwork or “work” we take home, but sometimes you can mentally and emotionally bring work home with you depending on the kind of shift you had. I have about an hour drive home from work, and during that time I try to decompress from my feelings, emotions, and thoughts from the night before. I do my best to leave my work at work. I listen to music and focus on the day ahead to try and stay in positive spirits. If I am working three shifts in a row, I make sure I have time to get a walk or run in before I start the next shift. It has been a way for me to feel energized and ready for the next shift ahead.

What are some ways our readers can support your industry?
Everyone is doing their part during this time by social distancing, practicing hand hygiene, and staying home. Local companies have made positive signs and banners for us to see on our way to work, local restaurants have provided meals for staff and all of these gestures and donations have been so much appreciated and we feel the support. But we also understand that emergencies still happen—you can’t control if you’re sick, have chest pain, emotional distress, or had an accident that led you to seek medical attention. We want you to feel safe and know that hospitals are still working to help you in these urgent situations. The past couple of weeks I have had patients apologize or say things like, “I feel stupid for coming here.” We don’t want you to be afraid to seek medical care; we are here for you, no matter the case.

How has being a woman affected your professional experience?
I think being a woman in my professional experience has allowed for more opportunities to be open, honest, nurturing, and connect with people. Although those qualities helped me to achieve becoming a great nurse, I feel that those qualities are sometimes also seen as a weakness and that woman-nurses are “too soft” or incapable of becoming a leader in the industry. Annette Kennedy is the president of the International Council of Nurses, and she said this perfectly about women in the industry: “Give them a level playing field, remove the glass ceiling, and abandon any notions of ‘women’s work,’ and nurses will change the world.”

Career and/or life advice for other babes?
It's never too late to try something new and to embrace change. When opportunities arise, don’t be afraid to go against the grain and do something different; never be afraid to try something you have always wanted to do.

Connect with Hayley:

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This interview has been condensed and edited.

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