Today we’d like to introduce you to Caity Gesell.
Hi Caity, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My road to being an Emergency Department Travel Nurse has definitely been a story full of ups and downs.
I always knew I wanted a career in medicine – my mom is a cardiac nurse and my dad is a paramedic. It was in my blood after all. When I was 18, I was in a domestic violence relationship with a guy who told me I would never make it in this field and that I wasn’t smart enough to be a nurse. However, that just gave me more motivation.
Truth is, I got denied my first time applying to nursing school and I was broken. Literally sat there on my dorm floor and was like “HE WAS RIGHT”. Pssh, no he wasn’t. I transferred schools and got in on the first try. After that, I made it my mission to prove that I deserved that spot. Flash forward to May 2018, I graduated with my BSN from Southeast Missouri State University and started my career as a cardiac step-down nurse in Cape Girardeau, MO.
Initially, I absolutely loved my job. I was that girl who did nothing but speaks so highly of her floor and of her coworkers. I went to work with a positive attitude. I absolutely loved it… until I didn’t anymore. I’d say it started in Fall 2019. Acuity was high, morale was low, and staffing was even lower. I took on a lot of responsibility. I was a charge nurse, a preceptor, a telemonitor tech, and often a rapid response nurse… all at the same time – OH and I had 6 patients.
I was miserable but I kept doing it because I love my patients, I loved my team, and I loved my cardiologist. Then it was March 2020 and COVID hit. Honestly, it wasn’t even so much COVID that broke me, it was everything else. The added pressure of being the most senior nurse, the extra shifts I was working so nurses weren’t taking 7-8 patients on a stepdown floor, being in charge of the night shift schedule.
It just broke me. I worked 5-6 nights a week, barely ate, and spent all my free time basically having to peel myself out of bed. You know the song Numb Little Bug. Yeah, that was me. Then in April 2020, I decided I was done.
Raleigh, NC – a city I knew absolutely nobody in, had never been to in my entire life, but for some reason, it called to me. I applied for a few jobs and surprise, I GOT IT. I was moving to Raleigh! So in July 2020, I packed up my whole life, along with my (now-ex) boyfriend and doggy, and moved 750 miles away from home. Immediately, I felt a difference. My hospital was great, full of staff and administrators that actually loved their jobs and their patients. But why didn’t I feel better mentally?
No one talks about the mental side of moving away from everyone you know and then going through a breakup. God damn, that was it. I remember I cried every. single. night. I wanted to leave. I thought there was no way this is what God intended for me. I still remember the day I broke down, called my best friend, and said “I can’t do this anymore. I think I need medication. I’m anxious all the time.
I can’t even function.” That night I found a PCP and made my appointment to start taking meds. Lexapro, 20 mg daily. That’s what I take every. single. night. At first, I was ashamed of it but then I realized that ya know, girls gotta do what a girl gotta do. It makes me feel whole. It makes me feel like I can get out of bed, breathe, and live a normal life.
Flash forward to June 2021 and I was ready for a change. Apparently, summer is just the time for changes in my life? I was kind of tired of cardiology. It’s all I ever knew and I knew that if I didn’t switch up my specialty now, I never would so I started my job in the emergency department.
When I say that changed my life, HOLY HELL, that change it. I completely 100% fell in love with nursing again, which is strange considering one of my favorite parts of nursing is the nurse-patient relationship… but anyway. There was so much to do, so much to learn, so much to love. It was amazing.
Since then, my anxiety has been a rollercoaster ride. As the COVID waves came in, I added Buspar to my daily med list. Let me tell you, it’s a miracle drug. 10/10 recommend. Apparently, it made me feel brave enough to make the jump to travel nursing, so here I am!
Currently, I’m on my first travel nurse assignment in Greensboro, NC and I love it. My journey has been full of ups and downs *cue The Climb by Miley Cyrus*, but I genuinely love where I’m at in life and I hope that my story helps inspire others who have been like me.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
HAHAHA no, absolutely not but that’s okay! Sometimes the biggest struggles help you in ways you never even knew they could.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
So currently, I’m an emergency department travel nurse. I’m only really on my first contract, so I’m really a baby travel nurse. Prior to this gig, I did 1 year in the ED and 1 year in cardiac stepdown in Raleigh, 2 years in cardiac stepdown, and 1 year of float pool in Cape Girardeau, MO.
I love love love cardiology and pharmacology, like nerd level love, so I’m 100% known for being the person that randomly knows a bunch of medical facts. I also am known for being the one who loves to spend time with her patients. When I worked on the floor, it wasn’t uncommon for me to spend hours with a patient getting to know them.
There was one time I even brought a cake in for a patient to celebrate her birthday! Like I tell folks I wanna know about your grandbabies, your dog, your house, your car, I wanna know all about you as a person instead of the room number on that door.
Who else deserves credit in your story?
One group of people in healthcare that do not deserve nearly enough credit is NURSE TECHS. OH MY GOD, they are the heart of the healthcare team and I could not do my job without them.
Contact Info:
- Email: caitgesell@gmail.com
- Website: https://msha.ke/caitygesell
- Instagram: @caitygesell
