Your Favorite Pediatric Nurse, Deon Huffman

[00:02] Michelle: Imagine being a sick or injured child entering the healthcare system and being approached by nurses and doctors wielding strange objects, sharp needles and unpleasant medications.

[00:14] Now picture being the parent of that child who naturally wants to protect and advocate, but lacks the health literacy to comprehend what is happening, whether parent or child. You would likely be terrified and would want someone like Nurse Deon on your side.

[00:33] Fortunately, there is Deon Huffman, a pediatric nurse with 10 years of experience. Dedicated to educating both parents and children.

[00:42] He helps them understand common procedures in a clear and approachable manner, never condescending.

[00:49] Deon's YouTube videos cover a variety of topics, including healthy eating for kids, understanding emotions, vital signs, and the MRI machine.

[01:00] His trips to the zoo are both educational and entertaining.

[01:05] Nurse Deon doesn't work alone.

[01:08] His team includes physicians, child life specialists, and even puppets.

[01:14] Together, they create an evidence based educational broadcast that rivals any popular children's programming.

[01:23] Research shows that when parents and children are educated, their anxiety levels decrease, which makes our job as healthcare professionals easier and more enjoyable, creating a win win situation for everyone involved in the five minute snippet. Let them eat cake.
[02:00] Well, good morning, Deon. Welcome to the podcast.

[02:04] Deon: Good morning, Michelle, and thank you so much for having me.

[02:07] Michelle: It's my pleasure, Deon. Since I saw your Instagram come across my feed, Nurse Deon, I was just instantly intrigued. First of all, because you're a pediatric nurse, so we'll talk all about that, but you are educating parents and children who potentially might go into the hospital or have some kind of health issue or come into the healthcare system some way.

[02:36] And I just think that's admirable.

[02:39] I love it. And so we want to talk all about Nurse Deon, but in your bio you kind of talked about an interesting journey into the nursing profession. So let's just start there.

[02:52] Who is Nurse Deon and how did you get started in nursing?

[02:58] Deon: Sure. So yeah, I am a pediatric nurse. As you mentioned, we share that experience.

[03:05] My background more so was before nursing was children's career. I was an after school monitor. I was YMCA counselor. And one day I had a nurse practitioner come in with her green scrubs and she's like, Deon, you do really well with the kids.

[03:23] Have you ever thought about working in a hospital setting with them? And I kind of just shrugged my shoulders and not laughed it off, but just kind of like dismissed it.

[03:32] And that summer my sister was actually a patient and I got an idea of what nurses do, and not only that, how nurses make you feel when you're in the hospital, how important that role was.

[03:47] I had a million questions going through my mind with my sister because she was ill, and we had no idea what was going on, but they found a way to make me feel better as a,

[03:55] As a sibling. So I got this wild idea in my head that, hey, I like what you do. I'm gonna come be a nurse with you. And I remember telling the nurse that same story, and she kind of laughed at it.

[04:06] And I was like, all right, fine. That summer, right after she was admitted, I got my CNA license, and that started my nursing journey. It's been an interesting time since then.

[04:16] And. Or my experience leading up to that was med/surg nurse. So I got a chance to be a bedside med/surg nurse, and I'm currently a radiology nurse. So that's kind of like a quick little tidbit about me and then where I'm at now.

[04:30] Michelle: Yeah, that's really cool. And I love that as nurses, we kind of have that power to influence, right? We sometimes don't even know that we are doing it.

[04:43] We are just doing what we love. We're doing our job, but people see us, and especially when children see us. And I like how you said how they made you feel, and that is so important.

[04:59] You know, I saw one of your posts. It's like the kids won't remember everything that went on, but they will remember how you made them feel. And I think that's so important and such a superpower that we have as nurses.

[05:14] Deon: You're right, Michelle. And the thing is that one thing that I urge new nurses and anybody that's coming into our industry, especially with. We all have a unique gift that once we tap into it and lean into it, we can transfer that energy to these patients, to these parents, and make them feel like they're not just a patient, but make them feel like they're human, which, as nurses, we get into this industry to heal people as you will.

[05:40] And we all have a unique gift to do that once we really tap into it and lean into it. That's what I believe.

[05:49] Michelle: Yeah, we really do. And I think it's always a power for good, and we need to always be aware of that and use it in that way. And I certainly see that that's what you're doing.

[06:02] I love your channel. I love your YouTube.

[06:05] I just went on there the other day. I was on there for I don't know how long watching all your videos, and I was like, this is amazing.

[06:14] If I were a child or a parent of a child who is sick or who has encountered the healthcare system in some way, I feel like this would be so beneficial.

[06:25] Have you always had a knack for teaching or is this something that you had to hone?

[06:32] Deon: Great question. This is something that I did have to hone. Not only that, I did have to utilize, you know, educators, masters in their, in their industry, such as teachers, other physicians, child life specialists, to really format how we wanted to structure it so we could not only educate the children, but also help educate the parents as they're watching the episode with their child.

[06:59] So my whole mission, you kind of mentioned this earlier with my page, my social media page, is not only to educate kids and parents, but to help them feel empowered as they're in places such as the hospitals or doctor's office.

[07:10] Because, let's face it, I mean, we go to school to understand health related topics.

[07:17] The average person, our patients don't. So we have to be able to break it down to a level that they can understand, no matter the grade level they were or are.

[07:26] And they teach us that in nursing school. So I had to really hone in on what I want to say to the children and how I want to say it, which includes just making it a lot simpler.

[07:37] Michelle: Yeah, and I love how you do that. You really have a knack for breaking it down. But it doesn't ever sound condescending or, or anything like that. It's just a simplified version of, you know, the scientific way that we would see things.

[07:53] So your team that you work with, Deon, you, you mentioned physicians, child life specialists.

[08:00] How do you formulate the episodes? Like, how do you decide on a topic that you're going to approach?

[08:08] Talk about that.

[08:10] Deon: Great question. Yeah. So I took our life experience, our experiences in the hospital, and kind of created a template of like, all right, what are common topics that parents are asking about?

[08:23] And then we actually created a focus group too, and said, hey, if we can create content for kids and yourself, what would you be interested in seeing? So we can create episodes to help tailor that experience for you and your child.

[08:36] And we got a lot of feedback. Great feedback. So our first 10 episodes were a very broad idea, very broad topics. And we formulated the episode based on the questions and responses that the parents would ask us so we can answer those common questions and as well as the common fears.

[08:54] For example, our first episode with what are Vitals? Kids come into our Industry, you know, to the doctor's office in the hospital. And they're scared a lot of times of getting a blood pressure or they don't know what's going to happen when they get their temperature taken, or even the pulse ox probe, which is very harmless.

[09:09] But to them, they're in this unfamiliar area. So we were like, wait, it doesn't have to be that scary. Let me show you. So the idea of it all too is with exposure therapy, they see these things and when they realize that, all right, maybe it's not too bad, I don't.

[09:26] I could be a little less scared. That's the goal. That's what we want to happen.

[09:31] Michelle: Well, that's very cool. And it's very effective too. And you mentioned child life specialists. And when I was a pediatric nurse, we had a very small unit, and for a very short period of time, we did have a child life specialist.

[09:47] It was just magical. These people that have these talents of working with kids and families and helping them navigate through the healthcare system.

[09:58] But you work at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, which is a huge institution, a huge children's hospital. So I would imagine you have a lot more than one child life specialist.

[10:13] But talk about their role and how important that is in really educating the families and sometimes the staff too.

[10:23] Deon: Yes.

[10:24] So I love my child life specialists. I love all child life specialists.

[10:29] And they are. God said they are angels. They're very important to our industry, especially working in the hospital, because what they can do is take a concept such as getting an IV and break it down for children and parents to a way that they are not only going to understand, but help them feel a little less scared.

[10:52] Because once we understand something, a lot of times we are less fearful of it. And I feel bad sometimes because as nurses, especially a pediatric nurse, maybe I don't do the best at explaining it to the child, to the way that they can understand it.

[11:07] So. So they're less scared. And a child life specialist will come in and be like, hey, how's it going, Timmy? Do you know what's going on? Well, yeah, they're gonna poke me.

[11:20] And they find ways of helping Timmy go through their emotions. So then they're at a place where they understand what is gonna happen to the point of, like I said, a little less fearful.

[11:32] So their role is to help educate to the child's understanding and learning ability as well as, I believe the parents opportunity too. And not only that, I think the child life specialist role can help build a foundation for parents to help them Teach their children in ways that maybe they cannot.

[11:52] Michelle: Yeah, I love that you, that you added that. Because kids are going to listen to their parents, right? Their parents are their sole person in their life and they know them, they love them, they trust them.

[12:07] And it's not so with medical professionals, right? So the fact that these child life specialists, pediatric nurses, pediatricians, we can educate the parents so that they can pass that on and educate their child.

[12:26] And I think that's so important. And I agree. These child life specialists are just highly skilled people. They are so good at their craft. And I feel like, man, if every pediatric unit could have one, that would be amazing.

[12:44] Deon: Absolutely. And you touched on something too. It's like I feel as nurses sometimes we don't have, we're so task orientated as far as you know, we have a skill to do such as dropping an IV or doing a dressing change or things like that, where we often forget to take the time needed to assess where the patient is at emotionally for this procedure.

[13:05] And that's okay. That's a part, you know, we're a busy workload where a child life specialist, they can come in and literally prepare them to get them ready for what's about to come.

[13:15] So the healing process is a lot quicker for them and we're not causing as much trauma that's often associated with our industry.

[13:24] Michelle: Yeah, that is so true. When I think back in my pediatric days and you know, things that we used to do, I, I know that we inflicted some trauma on these kids and it makes me really sad to think that, you know, we didn't have all the skills to be able to navigate that whole thing in a good way that wouldn't cause harm.

[13:55] So, you know, I, we just have to go forward and always do better in that realm.

[14:02] So one of the other things I love about your channel is that you have incorporated a lot of fun into your videos. And I watched like all your zoo videos, I thought those were so fun.

[14:19] Deon, I was like, you know what, he's really appealing to these kids on a different level that Nurse Deon. Of course he's a nurse, but it's not always serious, it's not always about teaching.

[14:33] He's having some fun too. How important is that for kids to see a medical professional being sort of light hearted and having fun?

[14:44] Deon: Well, you touched on something just a moment ago where we need to have self care as healthcare professionals, including Nurse Deon. Including Deon. 

[14:53] Going out into the real world is a part of our everyday life and we need to find things to help us balance our work environment, what we see at work, what we see at school.

[15:06] Sometimes it's very emotional, good and bad.

[15:09] Being able to go out to the zoo, being able to go outside, being able to go swimming. I enjoy going out to the mountains, even to the desert. I believe that life, we need that balance in order to find that happy medium of what's going on in the real world.

[15:24] You know, in nursing, they teach us the balance of mind, body and spirit. That includes going outside, that includes talking with friends. That includes so many different elements than just work.

[15:35] And I want kids to be able to take that, see that nurse Deon doesn't just work and, you know, do these things that work, but he goes out into the real world and can interact and have fun and hopefully that inspire them to do the same whenever they're feeling, you know, maybe down or in a rut.

[15:54] Because it's about the mind, body, spirit, balance. And when the kids can learn that and see that, I believe that we're doing a good job.

[16:03] Michelle: Yeah. I mean, what a beautiful gift, first of all, that you're giving yourself by focusing on your mind, body and spirit but giving your colleagues and giving your patients and families as well.

[16:16] When you are more balanced, when you are rested, when you are fulfilled, because you are focusing on these things that feed your mind and your body and your spirit, you just bring a better Deon to anything that you're doing and to anyone that you come in contact with.

[16:39] And that is just such a beautiful gift.

[16:42] Deon: Thank you. And that also brings us, because I love your channel, The Conversing Nurse, because what you talk about too, in our industry is about how different aspects of our industry, different people that you can come across.

[16:54] But when I talk to new nurses especially, I try to teach the balance part, the self care part of that, because like you just said, what we do is traumatizing at times, unfortunately.

[17:09] And while it's difficult to just say, yeah, don't take that home with you, the fact of the matter is, Michelle, we do. And it's tough, especially as we deal with a population that may be terminal and the average person doesn't have to deal with that, but we do.

[17:23] So when you have these new nurses coming and it's like I try to educate them and call them out on having a plan, an action plan for themselves. We do action plans in school, but have an action plan for yourself.

[17:36] So when things get a little rough, you have something to fall back to that can get you through these ruts that you're going to have it's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when you go through a state of quote, unquote, depression or whatever you might want to call it for yourself.

[17:51] I get them. I get ruts like that all the time. And I have to fall back to this action plan that created for myself back when I was in nursing school to help me get through this time.

[18:00] And that includes, like I said, going to the mountains, going outside, going to new places. So any nurse that's out there that is coming into pediatrics especially, make sure that you have a self care plan.

[18:13] I think it's going to help you go through your career so much and create a longevity for you 100%.

[18:21] Michelle: Yep, I agree with that.

[18:23] So, Deon, in your daily job working with kids and families, let's talk about health literacy.

[18:32] Are there certain topics that parents need more help on as far as more knowledge, more experience for their kids? Do you, do you see a lot of parents who have no health literacy? Talk about that and how you navigate that?

[18:53] Deon: Great question. Now, in my particular department, currently in radiology, unfortunately, there are times where parents will come in and not understand why their kid is getting an MRI or a CT.

[19:06] And I take the time at that moment usually to try to read up a little bit more on their history and kind of give them an idea of what's going on, simply because I strongly believe parents should be informed on what's going on with their children.

[19:22] And as healthcare providers, I feel like sometimes we need to maybe do a better job in explaining what's going on so they can help better advocate for their children.

[19:33] Part of the channel and part of what I'm trying to do with my current social media platforms is to do just that. It's help break down that barrier of health literacy and make it equal across all boards as much as we can, whether they're English native speaking or Spanish.

[19:52] My goal with the channel also is to get it dubbed over into Spanish for our Hispanic population, which I think is very much needed, especially in my current state of California where I'm, I wish I could do better at speaking Spanish, I'm not gonna lie.

[20:06] But I'm working on it. You know, I'm working on it. But the fact of the matter is we need parents to be on the same understanding of what's going on to better advocate for their children.

[20:18] And as healthcare providers, we have that opportunity to do just that.

[20:23] Michelle: Yeah, we do. And it's a huge opportunity and it's a huge responsibility.

[20:29] And so when you're formulating your episodes. Deon, how do you take into account evidence-based information, you know, what kind of research do you do on the topics and do you have other people assisting you like physicians or other disciplines?

[20:52] How does that work?

[20:55] Deon: Yeah, so the curriculum of our show was originally based on research that I did while still in nursing school. We used Healthy People 2020 and then obviously it, it did evolve a little bit.

[21:07] Now I believe we're on 2030 for the current state, but I used their general information of what we need more of and along with my team of physicians, child life specialists and other educators, we use that as a template of help.

[21:25] What's going to help guide the show to hopefully build a stronger community and have them have a better understanding of what's going on with their health in general.

[21:39] It's a very broad topic and there's so many little nuances in it. And if we could find a way to break down that information for people, the everyday person to understand, then as a healthcare providers, we are feeling fully living out that role.

[21:57] Michelle: I totally get what you're talking about with the healthy people. Is it Healthy People 2020?

[22:05] Deon: Yeah, I believe that was, it's, it might be evolved now to 2030. I think the latest one.

[22:11] Michelle: Well, this will tell you how old I am. So I worked on a lactation effort with my hospital and with surrounding hospitals to improve breastfeeding rates in our, in our county and we went off the Healthy People 2010.

[22:32] So you know, we've evolved a little bit from there.

[22:35] Deon: There you go.

[22:36] Michelle: Yeah, but that's a great program that California put forth and, and it has all that evidence based information in it and so we could access all those research studies and everything.

[22:49] Very, very helpful and it's very concise and laid out and we had, we had a great time doing that and we were very effective in our county. So for anybody that wants to do that, that is a great resource and I highly recommend that.

[23:07] But I think that's important of, you know, providing evidence based education. Always. That's one of our responsibilities as, as healthcare professionals.

[23:17] Deon: Absolutely. It is continuously evolving. That's why it's good sometimes to stay up to date on what's going on. And resources like Healthy People really do providers a way of helping the community on a better and a grander level.

[23:35] You're absolutely right.

[23:37] Michelle: One of your LinkedIn posts, you referred to the nursing as STEM movement. And that's just something really huge right now.

[23:46] For those of you out there that don't know what STEM is, it it stands for science, technology, engineering, and math.

[23:54] And there's a big push to get nursing qualified as STEM right now because we utilize all of those things in nursing.

[24:04] But talk about that and the importance of that movement.

[24:09] Deon: Absolutely.

[24:11] And I believe now they're pushing for a STEAM program for the younger population, which adds in art into the formula now, which is amazing, too, because art is a part of our industry as well.

[24:26] But nursing is continuously evolving. 

[24:30] Michelle: So, Deon, what's been the most challenging aspect of providing care for the pediatric population?

[24:38] Deon: Great question.

[24:41] Oftentimes it's not actually the patient that is the child, it's the parents. And I'm not saying that in a negative way or anything like that, but the reality of our industry is we have a sick child that's in front of us, but we also have a parent that has a million things going through their mind, whether it's possibly a divorce, whether it's how I'm going to pay for this hospital visit, whether it's my child, how are they doing, are they going to pass?

[25:07] Or what does this look like for them? They're balancing so many different things.

[25:14] So the answer to your question, it would be probably trying to help navigate what's going on with the parents so I can get them to a level of balance to where they can help advocate for their child and be present with me.

[25:30] So one of the first things I actually like to do, which I tell everybody this, when I was a bedside nurse, when I would knock on my door, you know, I would get report from the other nurse.

[25:41] As long as everything is stable with the patient, I know that I'll knock on the door. I will quickly visually assess the patient what's going on. I'll go straight to the parent and be like, morning, Mom.

[25:52] Morning, dad. My name's Deon. I'm going to be your nurse for today. How are you doing? Is there anything I can get for you for right now? And a lot of times you could see just a relief of them because maybe there's something built up that they wanted to say, or they.

[26:07] They just haven't had something, had something in a while, and then they're like, haven't had time to tell somebody, or maybe someone hasn't taken the time to actually ask them what's going on or how they're doing.

[26:20] So I'll take that moment, ask them how they're doing. And a lot of times I get a feedback that, hey, I haven't had a cup of coffee in three days.

[26:29] I'm struggling Is there any way I can get a cup of coffee? So after I do a quick little assessment on the child, I'll go straight to our little break room, pour them a cup of coffee, and provide that for them, because once they have that routine back, I guess you could say they have a little bit more control of what's going on with themselves so they can better help advocate.

[26:53] So, honestly, it's just helping the parents navigate what's going on through their life to help their child.

[27:01] Michelle: Yeah. That's brilliant. Deon, you touched on something so important that we don't often think about. In pediatric care, we were so focused on the child that we sort of forget about the parents.

[27:15] And, you know, if the parents are freaking out, they are not able to support their child.

[27:21] And we already know by the time they've got to the hospital, they've probably tried a lot of things at home. They've been up for maybe days with a sick child.

[27:32] And a lot of parents that I encountered had a great deal of guilt that they ended up in the hospital. You know, they said, maybe I should have brought him in earlier, but I waited.

[27:45] And so to address the parents right off, right out the door.

[27:52] What can I do for you? Tell me what your biggest concern is right now is so powerful in getting them on your side and in helping care for the child.

[28:04] Right?

[28:05] Deon: Yeah. And you touched on something, too. The guilt part is sometimes associated with the parents, on how they feel, that touches on an emotional state that we often just overlook, like you said.

[28:19] And it's beautiful to take that moment of just being. Hey, Mom, Dad. It's okay. You did a good job. You brought them into the hospital.

[28:28] We got this. Let's take care of the child. But what can we do now for you to help you, bring you back up to that mom and dad that the best person that you're trying to be.

[28:39] So thank you for bringing that up, because I think a lot of nurses do forget that part of the emotional state, the guilt aspect, especially of the parent that they may be at.

[28:49] Michelle: Yeah, it's huge. And in the NICU setting, I think it could even be more profound that that's what I found working with parents of babies in the NICU is moms that had absolutely no control about going into preterm labor.

[29:07] You know, why couldn't my body hang on to this baby? I must be deficient in some way.

[29:13] And once we address that and get that out of the way, then it opens the gate for a lot of healing to take place and advocacy for their child and partnership with the healthcare team.

[29:29] So yeah, super important.

[29:31] Deon: You're so right, Michelle. And I do have a question for you though. With your NICU experience, what advice would you give parents that are going through that NICU experience with their child?

[29:44] Michelle: That's a great question, Deon.

[29:47] I think my best advice would be to, to be with your child as much as possible. Learn how they speak to you because obviously they are non verbal, but they have many ways that they speak.

[30:03] Learn, observe the nurses, what they do.

[30:09] Be present for rounds if you don't know something. If you, if these terms are being thrown out, which are really crazy, all these acronyms that, you know, we all talk about with each other, but the parents are, are, are sitting there going, hey, speak English.

[30:28] I don't understand what you're saying. Yeah, to recognize that and say, you know, do you need clarification on that or do you understand that? Do lots of skin to skin really make that early connection and, and just take one day at a time?

[30:48] I, it sounds so cliche and, and I always preface that with this sounds so cliche. But you know, because it is. We hear that, but you know, I have used that so many times in my life where what I was facing was so huge and, and so overwhelming that all I could do was focus on getting through that day and saying I don't have to worry about two days, two weeks, two months down the road.

[31:22] All I have to concern myself is what's going on today. And so that has helped me tremendously. And I think it really helps parents to try not to see too far into the future because the future is so cloudy with many of our babies.

[31:39] Yeah, they don't know what's gonna happen, so I think that helps too.

[31:45] But yeah, it can be a very overwhelming experience.

[31:50] And try to be forgiving of yourself.

[31:54] And a lot of our families, as you have witnessed, you know, they have other kids at home and so they would really have a lot of kids guilt about. When I'm here with my baby, I feel bad because I'm not at home with my kids and vice versa.

[32:12] When I'm at home with my kids, I feel bad because I'm not with my baby. And so really trying to stress, wherever you are, try to be present in that moment and try to enjoy that moment.

[32:25] And then, you know, when you go to the hospital to be with your baby, do skin to skin, you know, pump at the bedside, get involved, try to be present when you're at home, play games with your kids, do activities that you like to do together, try to be present.

[32:43] And so those things help, too. But thank you. That was a great question. I love that and love working with the NICU population, Love working with the pediatric population.

[32:54] What has brought you the most joy working with children and families?

[33:02] Deon: I thoroughly enjoy them being able to come back to the hospital and visit us while having all the memories and everything that built up to that point. You know, they have their hospital stay experience, and I love the fact that they can come back and say thank you for making this a positive experience and a more memorable one in a positive way.

[33:30] There's been countless of times where it's happened that, you know, that's the point where I'm like, nurses. We have a great job. We have the ability to be, in a sense, superheroes too.

[33:41] We have the ability to really impact these lives that we touch, Whether it's the patients. It's not just the patients, though. It's the patients and their families. Everyone that comes into that room, you have that ability to truly be a positive influence to them.

[33:57] So, honestly, it's just the ability to be able to have that feedback from family members. And I used to joke about this with my old manager when we would do for our annual raises and, you know, you have to do your peer review, et cetera.

[34:12] And I'm like, honestly, I don't care about what my peers have to say, per se, but how do the families feel about me right now? Because that's my barometer. That's my gauge on how I'm doing.

[34:23] I feel as a nurse, if I got happy families, if I'm getting, you know, if they're placing discharge phone calls and be like, hey, my hospital stay was, you know, it's fine.

[34:33] But Deon, he really helped our experience, and he helped us get through that time of need. If I get those phone calls, that is truly what fills my cup. And I used to joke about it with

[34:46] my manager, but when she started getting, like, the increase in phone calls and she knew that now to actually tell me that stuff, rather than, you know, all the other stuff about peer reviews and all that, I don't care about the annual raises.

[34:56] I mean, we do because of cost of living, blah, blah, blah, blah. But as a nurse, that is what fills my cup the most, is getting that feedback from families.

[35:06] Michelle: I have to agree with you there. I think that is so satisfying. And. Yeah, bring it on. Right?

[35:14] Deon: Bring it on.

[35:15] Michelle: Yeah.

[35:16] So, you know, why do you do it Deon, you could easily just work your 12 hour shifts and go home, but why do you continue educating kids and parents?

[35:29] Deon: Because we need it.

[35:32] Our industry can be confusing.

[35:35] Health terms can be confusing. A lot of times we use verbiage that is just way too advanced for them.

[35:43] So I love being that middle person to help bridge the gap, to improve health literacy.

[35:51] So when doctors and other providers come in and you, especially being the nurse, bedside nurse, take that moment, make sure you're present as much as you can with the family members and the doctors, because a lot of times we can pick up on that body language change or maybe they just don't quite understand.

[36:08] So. And maybe they may be afraid to ask the physician because whatever reason, it's fine. But being able to be that role of that middle person where we know we can help them better understand what's going on is fulfilling.

[36:26] Therefore, I believe that is one of the reasons why I just love educating and helping families feel more informed on what's going on.

[36:37] Michelle: Yeah, I mean, you said it.

[36:39] That does it all. You know, we have to provide that education and it just makes the whole experience better.

[36:53] When kids, when parents understand what's going on and it drops that fear down. And when the fear is down, they're open to learning, they're open to engaging, and they're open to healing.

[37:08] Right. Because that's essentially, we want them to heal and be able to go home. And if that fear is always there, that is really affecting the healing process.

[37:22] So that's really important. And, and I can tell when I go to your Instagram page, when I watch your YouTube videos, there is a genuine love there for what you do, there is a genuine joy that comes through.

[37:44] And just seeing your face right now, I know that our listeners can't see that, but watching you talk and, and listening to you talk about why you're doing it and you're just filled with joy.

[38:00] So I, I, yeah, I see that. And you know, what's some advice that you would give to a nurse? Either a nurse that is contemplating moving over to the pediatrics realm, or maybe a student nurse that hasn't decided on where, what, what specialty they want to work in.

[38:21] What's some advice that you could give to a nurse who is thinking about going into pediatric care?

[38:29] Deon: Come on over.

[38:31] Yeah, no, I honestly, I urge other provider, other nurses and student nurses, CNAs even, to come into our industry and to fully observe what's going on. There's something that I still preach is that I think that every student or person that's interested in being a nurse, a pediatric nurse more specifically too, to be a cna because that gives them the opportunity to really dive into our industry.

[39:03] You're going to see some of the great things that we see bedside and then some of the, well, you know, the not so fun stuff, the terminal patients that we may encounter because it's not emotional, it's not an easy tax to do what we do, like I said, on our body, whether it's our physical body or emotional.

[39:27] So in working with kids, it's not any better. Therefore, you need to prepare yourself mentally of what you may see during your time working in pediatrics. While everyone said, oh, kids are great, kids are this, but have you ever worked with a child when they're sick or, and, or dying, or have you ever been with their family member during that time?

[39:48] It's, it's, it's not rainbows all the time. It's not, you know, there's not, it's not always rainbows and sunshine. And you have to be able to prepare yourself for what you are going to see.

[39:58] That's why again we talked about this, having self care plan is very important because you, you, you're going to have those 12 hour days, sometimes even more than that and you're going to need something to fall back on to make sure that you can truly get through that shift and be the best person that you can possibly be.

[40:18] To be the best nurse that you can possibly be. And like you said, to be as present as you can to help this family during a time of vulnerability.

[40:29] So if you are a nurse or someone that's interested in being a nurse, try it out or come follow or shadow a nurse or really get a chance to observe what's going on.

[40:43] Because it is not an easy job that we do. We love it. I guarantee you you'll talk to any pediatric nurse that's in it. We love it. But there's gonna be some, there's gonna be some, some effects on it that aren't for the, for the week as you will.

[41:00] So you have to be able to prepare yourself for what's going to come. It's worth it, I can promise you that. It is worth it by all means. But just arm yourself with the tools needed to be able to be fully present with your pediatric patients and their parents.

[41:18] Michelle: That's great advice, Deon. And what I really like about that is that you included the self care. And even I think maybe 10 years ago, maybe even five years ago, we would have never heard that, you know, and thank God that we are.

[41:39] That that's a main focus for our profession now, because we've all learned from that. And I think Covid was a huge teacher of that, that we can't do it all, and we can't go through the days that we go through and come home traumatized and not have any form of healing or repair or release for what we are feeling, what we are seeing, what we are going through individually and as a profession.

[42:11] So I really love that you touched on that. Thank you so much for that. Well, what's in your future? What is in Nurse Deon's future?

[42:23] Deon: I would really love to be able to build up the YouTube channel to truly be a resource for children as well as the parents to help understand our industry a little better.

[42:41] So it could be a resource. They can come back to it and be like, oh, yeah, Nurse, I learned this on Nurse Deon. Therefore, now that the knowledge that I gained from it, the understanding of it, I'm not going to be scared of it as much.

[42:55] So with that, it's, how can Nurse Deon, how can I be a better person to get that message across? What more do I need to understand?

[43:05] So right now, I'm doing a little bit more homework on the entertainment industry on how I can better maybe perform well. You know, thank you so much for your compliments on how I may present on camera and, you know, especially for the show, but the fact of the matter is, I'm trembling inside.

[43:22] A lot of times, especially when you're out in this view and you have a camera following you, and then you have hundreds of other people staring at you talking to this camera.

[43:32] So to me, this is a whole new experience. So what I'm doing is trying to take the correct approach with have. How do I be a better person on camera so the message gets out more clear, you know, wow.

[43:51] Michelle: I. I just see you as such a great performer and just so authentic and genuine and. And joyful and. And happy and credible.

[44:02] Credible. And that's a big thing in our industry, too. And so you bring that credibility because you have that knowledge and that expertise and the experience, but you also bring a very childlike quality to your videos.

[44:18] And, you know, as you were talking there, I thought, you know, this is. This is a show that I could see on, like, syndicated television that would really bring healthcare into the mainstream.

[44:33] Right? Imagine kids getting up in the morning and wanting to turn on the TV to watch Nurse Deon.

[44:40] And, you know, what's Nurse Deon gonna do today? And, you know, is. Is he gonna be at the zoo? Is he gonna be in the hospital? Is he gonna be showing us a certain procedure?

[44:53] That. Wouldn't that be amazing, man?

[44:56] Deon: Michelle, that would be a dream come true. It's like the Grey's Anatomy for children kind of thing. I would love to be able to be able to provide that for the children.

[45:06] And, you know, it's. That would be a dream come true.

[45:10] Michelle: It would just be awesome. I think, you know, I think of my great nieces and nephews and my grandkids, and, you know, I watched some kids programming with them, and I thought, man, man, this would just be right in line with, like, Sesame Street.

[45:27] Deon: Oh, that would be awesome to have them, you know, us do a collaboration video together. I would love to be next to Elmo. Big Bird.

[45:34] Michelle: Right?

[45:34] Deon: But you never know. I mean, in the future, who knows? Once we get going, let's. The sky's the limit. As you will. And I'm ready to fly, baby. Like, I. I want to be able to provide that for the children and the parents.

[45:46] And if this is the way that we can do it, what better way than having a health provider? Having multiple health providers, you know, that's why I love having industry experts on our show.

[45:56] So if you see them on the show, that's really what they do, and that's what I love about that opportunity, to be able to present that to the children so they'll be able to see it in real life.

[46:06] So that would. Yeah, that would be an amazing feature.

[46:10] Michelle: Well, dream big, Deon. Dream big.

[46:13] Deon: Thank you.

[46:15] Michelle: All right, well, as we get ready to close, I'm gonna ask you a question that I ask all my guests. Now. Is there someone you recommend as a guest on this podcast?

[46:24] Deon: Ooh, let's see.

[46:27] Michelle: It's kind of an on the spot question, and if you don't have an answer right now, that's totally fine.

[46:32] Deon: I would love. Do I have to have someone specific in mind? No, like a specific date? Okay, great.

[46:39] Going on our topic, I would love to see maybe a child life specialist.

[46:43] Michelle: Yes. Okay.

[46:45] Deon: Simply because that's a role within our industry that needs to maybe better understood across the board with providers on what they actually can do for children, rather than just provide them toys.

[46:58] They can do more than just provide them toys, I promise you. So I would say a child life specialist.

[47:05] Michelle: That's awesome. Okay. I will put out my APB for a child life specialist.

[47:10] Deon: I know a few. I mean, you never know.

[47:13] Michelle: Okay. Yeah, I'll message you later and you can introduce me. Well, how can we find you? Oh, yeah, go ahead.

[47:23] Deon: Okay. If you could whisper something in little Michelle's ear as she's a baby in a crib, what would you have whispered to her?

[47:33] Michelle: That's a hard one. I think I would have said, you are so much more capable than you think you are.

[47:44] Deon: I love that answer.

[47:45] Michelle: That's great. I love that. Yeah, I might start using that as a question for my guests. That's really.

[47:53] Deon: Feel free. No, I love mind-blowing. I love. It's a reflective question and answer, too. It's just like. Like you said, though, a lot of times we put either barriers on ourselves or we take other people's challenges and barriers and think that's our own.

[48:08] Reality is, it's not. You are more capable than anything you can ever put up as a barrier. If you choose to, you have that option, you know, break down those barriers, break down those walls.

[48:21] You can do it. So I love your answer. That was so good.

[48:25] Michelle: Well, I love your question. And like I said, I might steal it.

[48:28] Deon: Ah, go for it.

[48:31] Michelle: Well, where can we find you, Deon?

[48:34] Deon: So I'm going to keep this really easy, Nurse Deon, across all platforms. N U R S E D E O N I'm on Instagram. I am on YouTube for the kids channel.

[48:47] Parents feel free to subscribe.

[48:49] I guarantee you get something out of it, too. There's still tidbits of adult fun in it as well. I'm on TikTok and hopefully soon to be Spotify. We're going to work on a couple songs here in the future, too, so we'll see.

[49:05] Michelle: Oh, my gosh, what a fun future. That's awesome. Thank you. I will put all those links in the show notes for anybody that wants to find you. And what a fun conversation this has been, Deon, and such a necessary one.

[49:21] I. It's just, you know, I'm very partial to the pediatric population. It's been my life's work. Yeah. And, you know, we just. We love it. And I think, man, I loved your advice to nurses that want to get into pediatrics.

[49:40] I think that's so beneficial.

[49:42] So thank you for sharing everything that you do for the pediatric population and for nurses. I think your message of caring for yourself primarily is just so important and so necessary today, and you just do it in such a fun way.

[50:02] And I just appreciate you being my guest today.

[50:05] Deon: Thank you very much, Michelle. I appreciate you. And honestly, I appreciate what you're doing with your podcast as well. We need more people like you, and I love that you're able to create a voice for nurses all around.

[50:20] So thank you so much.

[50:23] Michelle: Thank you for those kind words, Deon. Well, we're at the end, so, you know, at the end we do the five minute snippet, and it's just five minutes of fun. It's just some off duty questions.

[50:36] So are you ready to play?

[50:40] Deon: No. But, yeah, let's do it.

[50:44] Michelle: It's so much fun. Okay.

[51:26] Here we go. Convince me to live in Southern California.

[51:31] Deon: Man. Michelle, this is a great question. Wait, you already. Well, you live in Central California. All right, so let's see. Do you like the water?

[51:39] Michelle: It's a good one. Yeah, you're right there. Right?

[51:42] Deon: You're right.

[51:44] There's so many things to do. Now imagine you can just open your door and be minutes away from the water.

[51:52] Is that something that you'd be interested in? I mean, you know.

[51:55] Michelle: Oh, yeah. Sold.

[51:58] Deon: Sold. Okay. That's the best I got. I mean, no, I. Southern California is beautiful. It gives you opportunity to go to the water as well as if you're interested in going to the desert.

[52:08] You could do that. The weather is beautiful all year round. I mean, do you get that in, you know, central California?

[52:19] Michelle: Yeah. There's a lot to do. You're right in the thick of things, literally. Okay. Okay. What I miss most about Florida is.

[52:29] Deon: So there's this thing that I say whenever I get off the plane, how quiet it is. I didn't realize how much stimulation that you get, especially when you're in a busy borough like Los Angeles.

[52:41] So I would have to say one of the big things, aside from friends and family, of course, is how quiet it is.

[52:50] Michelle: Wow, that's cool. Okay. If I were stranded on a desert island, I would not want to be without this book, Easy.

[53:02] Deon: The Alchemist. That is probably, like, one of my favorite books by Paulo Coelho that I have actually reread at different stages of my life. I read it. I think I was first introduced to it by one of my, you know, my idols, Will Smith.

[53:18] Deon: And he talked about the book, and I was like, what is this book he's talking about? And I read it. I want to say I was 21, somewhere around there. And I've reread it probably three times total, but with increments like five to 10 years of my life that have gone by, and I pick up something new each time I read it, that I didn't have that acknowledge when I originally.

[53:41] When I first previously read it. So it would have to be the Alchemist.

[53:46] Michelle: That's a great one. I have read it as well. And those books that do that, man, they're such a gift, Right? Because they are not one that you ever, you know, give to Goodwill.

[53:55] They stay on your bookshelf forever. Yeah.

[53:59] Deon: Forever. Okay, wait, wait, wait.

[54:01] Michelle: A quick response to you.

[54:02] Deon: No. I want to know yours, Michelle. I love a good book. Tell me yours. That you can.

[54:06] Michelle: So my book is one that I actually read every year, and it's by Rosamund Pilcher. And it's. It's called September.

[54:16] And it's this beautiful story of this large Scottish family.

[54:22] Scottish and English. And it's set in Scotland and England. And this author just has the most amazing ability to paint this picture of beauty. And I just. Every September, I read it, and I just love it all over again.

[54:39] And I've been doing that for, like. Yeah. Decades.

[54:43] Okay, we're gonna play a new version this time. And this is called. Finish this sentence. Okay.

[54:49] Deon: Oh, boy. Here we go.

[54:51] Michelle: Okay, ready?

[54:52] Deon: Okay.

[54:53] Michelle: Every time I look to the sky...

[54:56] Deon: I think I have an opportunity to do something great today.

[55:04] Michelle: That's beautiful. Do you have a favorite childhood game that you played?

[55:10] Deon: Probably Monopoly, because it could last forever. And honestly, though, I used to love playing chess as a child, because I used to get to the point where I try to beat my dad.

[55:22] Michelle: Wow.

[55:23] Deon: So between. Between those two. But then it got to the point when I did beat my father in chess, he no longer played with me. So after that, you know, it's a sad day.

[55:31] I stopped playing. But it used to be that one for sure. But also, Monopoly is a fun game.

[55:36] Michelle: Wow. I know. Monopoly could go on forever. Yes.

[55:40] Deon: Love that. Yep.

[55:41] Michelle: Okay, here's another. Finish this sentence. I know this is weird, but I really like to...

[55:56] A lot of people don't know that about me. They may find it a new fact to them or whatever have you. But, yeah, I like musicals.

[56:05] I Like to go to musicals.

[56:06] Michelle: Oh, my God. That's not weird at all. That's lovely. I love it.

[56:10] Deon: Yeah.

[56:11] Michelle: Okay. The world would be a better place if...

[56:14] Deon: If we could all support each other more.

[56:20] Michelle: 100% agree. From time to time.

[56:24] Deon: It's good to eat some chocolate cake.

[56:29] Michelle: Are you a cake fan? I love cake.

[56:31] Deon: Ooh, Michell. That's why you were talking about bacon earlier. 

[56:37] All right. So I have this thing where I appreciate all chocolate cake. I appreciate all pizzas, I appreciate all water. However, I love. It's like I just love a good chocolate cake.

[56:49] Michelle: Yeah.

[56:50] Deon: So that's my balance. I work out. You know, I believe in balance for my life and moderation, et cetera. You know, our latest episode is literally talking about eating healthy. But in that, though, it's also finding the balance with eating because I believe that we shouldn't die being strict on a diet or being strict worried about this.

[57:07] We need to have that balance. And chocolate cake, Michelle, is probably the best thing to add into the mix of food that I just love and appreciate. So, yes. Chocolate cake.

[57:17] Michelle: Okay. I'm on Team Deon with that. All right, last question. I will never forget the day when...

[57:27] Deon: That one's probably too deep. Do you want this light hearted or do you want this?

[57:32] Michelle: I just want it authentic.

[57:34] Deon: All right. Authentic. So the day my dad was diagnosed with cancer, I was coming home from a shift, and I ended up having to rush into the hospital.

[57:46] And I've never seen my dad express any kind of pain. He's of that stoic generation. I've never seen him express pain or any discomfort growing up at all. And to see the look in his face when I came home from work and realizing that something was going on, I will never forget that day, that whole evening, especially when they said pretty much that he had cancer that was stage four prostate cancer, but it ended up spreading to different organs.

[58:18] So I had to see my father crash very quickly in front of my eyes in the ICU setting where they said that he probably wouldn't have made another 24 hours that night that I took him to the hospital.

[58:28] So those memories play back in my mind. Unfortunately, he's still with us, and I'm thankful for that time. But that is something that I.

[58:38] Man, I never thought I would go through.

[58:41] And I can now empathize a little bit more with people that grieve and realize that grieving can look so many different ways for different people and.

[58:52] But now they would be. Never forget that. Those moments for sure.

[58:58] Michelle: Yeah. Time stops, right? Time just completely stops, and it's. It's so overwhelming. And, you know, the grief. Grief can start before our loved one even passes. Right.

[59:13] Deon: A hundred percent facts.

[59:15] Michelle: Yeah.

[59:16] Deon: Didn't realize that until I went through that experience, so. Oh, no. Thank you for asking that.

[59:21] Michelle: Wow. I appreciate your authenticity, Deon. Thank you so much. Well, you did really well in the five minute snippet, I have to say.

[59:31] Deon: Those are good questions, Michelle. Man, I had to pull it out of the brain for that one. It wasn't expected.

[59:37] Michelle: Well, I. I know. Well, we can forgive you because you were on a red eye flight and you still showed up today and you brought everything with you. And thank you so much for sharing everything you have with.

[59:51] With everyone. I so appreciate it. And I so appreciate everything you're doing for children, for families, and for nurses. So thank.

[01:00:00] Deon: No, no, no. Thank you, Michelle. I appreciate what your channel's providing, so thank you so much.

[01:00:05] Michelle: You have a great rest of your day. All right.

[01:00:08] Deon: Bye, Michelle.