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After the burn out of the pandemic Rebecca Lalor took a new view to agency nursing and began building her own business.
I graduated during the pandemic as a general nurse in Dublin. This was a challenging time for every nurse working in Ireland. After graduating, I worked for a year on a ward as a new graduate nurse. It was great to be qualified! However, the chronic stress from the pandemic started to kick in and I found myself facing burn out one year in. This showed up in my life as
pre-shift anxiety, feelings of being stuck, lack of boundaries and an unhealthy work/life balance. I didn’t know how to take care of myself as an individual whose professional role depended on taking care of others.
I had always found yoga a helpful tool for managing stress, so I enrolled on a 9 month, part time yoga teacher training which I did on the side of my nursing role. Doing this course opened me to the world of life balance, stress management and connection to self. I started diving into the world of self development and applying everything that I learned practically to my life. I saw small but extremely significant changes in my mindset and resilience.
As a way to challenge the burn out, I decided to take myself on a solo backpacking trip to figure out who I was away from the world of always helping others. So I finished up my role, booked a one way flight to Bali (very Eat. Pray, Love!) and did a course which allowed me to become a virtual assistant. Virtual assistant’s work remotely helping small businesses with their behind the scenes admin, social media and branding. I loved this area and was able to transfer so many of my skills which I was already using in healthcare. I worked primarily with self development coaches and wellness business owners.
My interest in this world continued to peak. I came back from my 6 month long trip, signed up to be an agency nurse and worked firstly on the wards, and then in the community in Dublin. I loved this area of nursing - it offered me so much autonomy, trust and I was able to truly give back to individuals and families in need! Being outdoors in fresh air in between patient calls, setting my own schedule as long as I got the tasks done and really providing individualised and holistic care to each client suited me down to the ground. In my opinion, Community nursing in Ireland is the way forward with Slaintecare providing a key pathway for treating and preventing the root cause of chronic illness.
If it wasn’t for agency nursing, I would never have been able to try out community nursing and realise my passion for this area of preventative health care.
For the past 6 months, I have been able to base myself on the West of Ireland, which has always been a dream of mine. Here I have worked for a well known lifestyle wellness brand, taught yoga classes, become a somatic breathwork facilitator and studied a dual-qualification in holistic life coaching mind/body practitioner. I now have my own business (Rebecca Lalor Wellness) where I help women to connect to their values, build their self worth and intentionally design a lifestyle that works for them.
Thanks to Clarity Locums, Agency Nursing allows me to fill the gaps and remain connected to my love for patient care. Agency nursing has given me flexibility to design a life that gives me true fulfilment and joy, without the risks of chronic stress and burnout.
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