Let's Be Real - Mama Journeys - Episode 158 W/Kathy Allen

Kathy Allen is a mom of a 56 and 55 year old as well as her first great granddaughter!  She is a nurse and has started a group called the gutsy nurses.  She was the second oldest of nine kids so she was very well prepared to be a mom! Her mom ran a daycare so she was very ready to be a mom!  She thought having only 2 and a step son so three in her home and her challenge was to not be so responsible and play more. She was the team mom, the classroom mom and was very involved with them and her biggest supporter was her mother-in-law because she was so thrilled her son was so happy.  Her own mom was working so hard, she couldn't really be her biggest supporter so they lived in San Diego near her husband's family to raise their kids. She has really enjoyed watching her kids become amazing adults.  Her first birth was only 4 hours long and she was thrilled how he came into this world. She had a stepson who came to live with them when he was 9 years old and when he became an adult, he was diagnosed with cancer and passed away as a young man and watching that happen was the worst mama moment. She also had to learn that he was going to go through his own process and she wasn't in control.  As a nurse, she worked as a nurse on and off throughout her whole life. She worked in almost every department in a hospital as well as mental health locations. She is now working with nurses who are on the verge of burnout. Her program is called gutsy nurses to help nurses understand what is actually going on with them.  The extra added stress of having a patient of theirs who could die at any time. They are experiencing a different kind of exhaustion called traumatic exhaustion. Parenting with this burnout is a huge issue. She is writing a book to help nurses with this burnout and exhaustion and how to handle it.  You can find her at gutsynurses.com