Choose Joy: Reimage Nursing Through Integrative Nurse Coaching: Kristine Davidson MSN, RN, HWNC-BC, AHN-BC Transcript
Nicole Vienneau 00:00
Welcome, everyone, to the Integrative Nurse Coaches in ACTION! podcast. My name is Nicole Vienneau. I am your host, and I’m also a board-certified integrative Nurse Coach. And I have the pleasure of interviewing Nurses from all over the world who are living and breathing integrative Nurse Coaching. And today is a special day for me because we get to go down history lane a little bit. My guest today is Kristine Davidson.
She is living in Charlotte, North Carolina. She is the founder of Sol Health. She is integrating integrative wellness and holistic concierge. So she’s going to people’s homes and or they come to her. She’s doing pop ups in the community and she’s providing options for our fellow humans who are looking for something a little bit different in their healthcare to support them better.
And the fun little tidbit that I just learned and that we just really connected is that many moons ago we took the same master’s program in Nursing at the University of Arizona! Go cats! Bear down! So let’s welcome Kristine Davidson.
Kristine Davidson 01:20
Thank you so much. Thank you, Nicole, for having me. It feels like a very special day. This will be a pinnacle in my story. So thank you for having me.
Nicole Vienneau 01:28
I’m so excited. This is amazing. I’m so glad we’re here together. And our listeners, buckle up because we’re going to talk about some fun stuff today, as we always do on the Integrative Nurse Coaching Podcast. All right, so we love to go down history lane, and we love to know a little bit about how you even decided to become a Nurse.
Kristine Davidson 01:50
You know, I have gone through a big spiritual journey, as we learn when we go through our INCA self assessment, and now looking back, I can say that it’s just the path I was meant to be on, but really, I thought I wanted to be a doctor. I thought I wanted to be an OB/GYN.
I was telling everybody that in high school, and then of course, as people kind of mentor you and talk to you, and I started figuring out, you know, application processes, they were like, “I think you should, you know, do a Nursing school because what you’re saying you want to do, help people, be compassionate, you know, be with people, that sounds more like Nursing, and so I was like, okay, you know, I guess I was just naive and go with the flow.
And so I did apply to a Nursing school, and I got in and got you know a great acceptance package. And so I was like, you know, it would be silly for me to not do this, and so you know the idea pivoted, and I got into the Nursing program, and you know it was like never looking back.
I was like, yes, this is what I was meant to do, and I do love the caring piece of it. And I ended up going into… I was still you know… I wanted to do OB or mother baby, and then I ended up being in a toss up between labor and delivery or critical care. But you know, you go through your rotations, and critical care just grabbed me by the horns. And in my mind, I was like, I’ll just start in critical care, and then I’ll go to labor and delivery later.
You know, like if I have critical care, I’ll for sure be able to get into L and D. Well, you learn that that’s not true, but then again, it is the journey I was meant to be on because I saw what I saw, I experienced what I needed to, and again, I just truly believe that it led me where I am today. So, so grateful for my journey in Nursing.
Nicole Vienneau 03:38
I love this story, and it’s interesting how we kind of morph. You know, first of all, I think it’s crazy that we ask like 18, 19, 20-year-olds to know what they want to be when they grow up, kind of thing. Let’s spend lots of money and time and go to school, and you don’t even know that you want to do these things.
And in your case, it kind of worked out okay, because yeah, and then you know, not I did want to point out, call out doctors and so forth. It’s not that you’re not caring. We love you, doctors. Oh yeah, but we all know, all our listeners know, there’s there’s a different pathway for Nursing.
Is that that we are known for being most compassionate and caring at the end, doing our work in that from that vein, from that heart space every day. I love that. Okay, so so you’re you’re graduated Nursing. You went into critical care. You always have loved labor and delivery. Are I know as a listener, like I’d want to know: Did you ever go into labor and delivery. Did you ever get to do it?
Kristine Davidson 04:43
Yes.
Nicole Vienneau 04:43
Oh, you did it!
Kristine Davidson 04:43
I did it. I had three children of my own, and I love helping and talking to moms, and you know, helping people who are going through that journey. And I even have a client now. I was like, you know, if you want somebody there at your bedside, I think I could do that for you. You know, so I’m I’m there for it, who knows? Maybe it’ll come again someday. I still love that world, but I feel very called and led on the journey that I’m on.
Nicole Vienneau 05:09
Well, I think having your own children, I think you’ve experienced labor and delivery like full on.
Kristine Davidson 05:17
Yeah. And now hindsight, I’m not sure if that was for me. You know, like you just you don’t know what you don’t know. So yeah, yeah.
Nicole Vienneau 05:25
Yeah, you don’t you don’t know what you don’t know. Yeah, there may be a time if you do go into labor and delivery is like things that I’ve thought. Oh, I really want to do that, and I try it, and it does it isn’t for me.
Kristine Davidson 05:35
Yeah.
Nicole Vienneau 05:36
Yeah, yeah, and that’s okay. I can change. I can change. I can move. I can follow my energy and feel how it feels when I’m in that environment and and know that it’s not quite right for me anymore. So yeah, okay. So then you went into critical care all your years in Nursing until you found Nurse Coaching. We’re in critical care. So tell us a little bit about that environment or you know something along those lines.
Kristine Davidson 06:01
Yeah, sure. So I wasn’t in critical care. I ended up moving into Nursing education. So in critical care, I just learned. You know, you know, you move up the ranks. You’re kind of helping others. I noticed that I was really into helping the new grads, supporting them. You know, a code or something exciting would happen.
I’d be like, here, here, let me come take you in and show you and create this experience for you. My best friend would probably tell you that I was always a holistic Nurse because I was the Nurse that like enjoyed giving them a bath. I would like play the music that they liked, and I would you know put lotion on their body and lavender ceremonies and things like that.
Like I was I was already kind of doing those things, not knowing, but now realizing I am a holistic Nurse, and we are all holistic Nurses. It’s just how much we kind of cultivate that. As maybe you are familiar with, because I know you’re a critical care Nurse too. You know, we have that moment, that time where something happens, or we decide, you know, we’re recovering ICU Nurse.
You know, where we can no longer we can no longer do that work. Um, so I had an event like that. I did try to walk away and did hospice for a while, and then tried to come back because it was just like what you know they were very different. Again, I chose a different path, and then I thought, oh, I’m not quite ready for this.
Went back to critical care, and then it really solidified it for me. I was like, you know, it’s just I’ve completed that journey, and I had an opportunity within that same organization to do Nursing education, so Nursing orientation. So being able to take Nurses that are coming new to the facility, you know, everyone has always said that I have a very uplifting and positive, you know, attitude and experience.
So I was able to kind of welcome people into the organization with that embrace, and be able to educate them about you know Nursing and kind of that’s how I transitioned from critical care to Nursing education. And then I did some college years. You know, I did the first year. I did clinicals. I did instructional for the first year, so I got to start teaching holistic Nursing.
That was something new that I put into the ADN program. I kind of added a little bit there. Yes, I know. So it’s kind of funny that now I follow the path, and I’m like, oh, I was doing this without even realizing that this was what was calling to me. And in my last position before I became an integrative Nurse specialist, I had a wonderful leader that said, “What do you want to teach Nurses about?”
And I said, “Well being. I want to teach Nursing well being.” So I really got into training and supporting Nurses on mindfulness, on how to support themselves so that they can be better caregivers for those that they serve, and then that led me to the integrative Nursing symposium and the integrative Nurse specialist role.
Nicole Vienneau 08:56
Woo! Yay!
Kristine Davidson 08:58
In a short bit.
Nicole Vienneau 09:00
In a short bit. But you know, one of the messages I think is important for our listeners to recognize in Nursing is that we’re never stuck in a role that is not suiting us at that time in our life, and I think that we can sometimes you know get stuck. I was I personally was stuck. I thought you know critical care, critical care, everything, critical care, and didn’t realize.
I mean, I tried everything within critical care, but I didn’t…. I was stuck in that energy, and it wasn’t really for me as I got a little bit older and with more experience, life experience, etc. But I did, and I didn’t recognize that, that I could change to something completely different. So I want our listeners to really understand that we definitely have the choice to move and morph.
And you know, I don’t want to take anything back in my story because it’s all part of my journey. But I would have loved to move sooner, and recognize my abilities as a holistic Nurse as well. Before, yeah, before I did get burned out and and then left the bedside completely and left Nursing completely for a short time.
So, okay, so one thing I gotta pull back in here is you talked about lavender bath, please tell us… lavender ceremony is what you called it. So, give us a little snippet of what that could look like from your eyes and what you were doing back then.
Kristine Davidson 10:32
Oh, so that was you know something now very progressive that they were doing in the ICU. But as as soon as someone made the decision to transition from you know full care to comfort care, they would be given the opportunity to do a lavender ceremony with their family.
And so, you know, if they had a denomination that they wanted someone to be present, we would you know make strides to get somebody in there that could do you know a prayer or some kind of ceremonial thing with them, and if not, if they just wanted something spiritual and beautiful, the Nursing staff could read off a passage.
And we had lavender on a cotton ball, and as we spoke to each part of their body, we wiped a lavender cotton ball across it, and you know, would be you know something beautiful about their eyes and what their eyes have seen, and you know you just move down their body, and the family was present for this, and they also had some lavender with them.
So just the whole room was engulfed in this wonderful energy of love and admiration, and the scent of lavender as they kind of you know maybe this was their goodbye or their way for them to come to peace with their family member transitioning to comfort. So it could be done at any time.
It could be while the patient was still with them, or it could be after the patient had passed, their family member had passed. It just was up to them when they would like to to complete it, and it was really beautiful. And I, and you know, there of course there’s some Nurses who are like, “That’s not me,” you know. And I’d be like, “I’ll go in there and do it. I’m happy to do it. I’m happy to do it. I love lavender.”
Nicole Vienneau 12:14
Oh, that’s so beautiful. It actually made my heart just, you know, I felt that emotion come up because, gosh, what a beautiful… we’re seeing seeing that human, seeing them at their humanness at that time when they made this decision.
Yeah, I think I’m done with all of this, and I’m done with all of this, you know, dramatic care. And let’s just allow nature to take its course, and then doing that with such presence and veneration, almost like you’re just with them. Beautiful. Thank you for sharing that.
Kristine Davidson 12:50
Yeah.
Nicole Vienneau 12:51
Yes. Okay. So a lot of different transitions in in your Nursing career, and so where are we now? Education and then going to the integrative Nursing symposium.
Kristine Davidson 13:08
Yeah, so within my Nursing professional development role, where that leader asked me what I wanted to do, I decided to you know shoot for the stars, and I said my dream is to put on an event for the staff, not no cost to them, to give them, you know, a glimpse of what different modalities could look like that they could do within their practice, either for themselves, you know, if it’s not something that they have a certification or a policy for in their area, or for their patients, if it is allowed, like such as touch.
Our organization allows healing touch if you have certification and documentation. So I just did like a one day half day thing, and it just had such a response, and just kind of kept growing from there. So that was kind of a local, and then I did it regional, and now I’m doing it enterprise wide. So our enterprise is one of the fifth largest in the country, and so we span over six states.
So I’m being able to, and it’s not just Nurses that are invited. You know, care partners or other modalities who want to use holistics in their practice or for themselves can join virtual, and then we also have some in person. Of course, I didn’t want to lose that piece because I think that there’s that need for connection. And I know we keep saying post COVID. I don’t know how long we’ll keep saying that, but I do truly still feel like we need that.
Nicole Vienneau 14:37
Yes, we do.
Kristine Davidson 14:38
We do. Yeah, and to like re-foster that, so yeah, so it feels like now I’m able to share the love of integrative and holistics to thousands of healthcare professionals, and kind of remind them that holistic Nursing was the root of Nursing. That is, you know, Walt Whitman and Florence Nightingale, this is the thought that they had, that we would hold people’s hands and we would be with them and we would listen to them and we would create an environment that was healing for them.
And so it’s almost just a reminder of that and a reminder that for a lot of us, Nursing is a calling. And so, but maybe it gets lost or forgotten, and so kind of reinvigorating that calling or that sense of purpose, or that you’re serving, if you feel you know that that speaks to you, those kinds of things.
So we have a little bit of everything: sound therapy, yoga, auricular acupressure, mindfulness, healing touch. I mean, I’m open. I get information from staff as to what they want to learn about, and then we find presenters, ideally internally, who are already doing it and how they’re doing it, and share it so that they can use it for themselves or for those that they serve.
Nicole Vienneau 16:02
It’s so good, so amazing. I, you know, it’s we as Nurses can sometimes feel like we just have this job and we go in and do a nine to five, and we’re and that’s fine to do that, you know, or nine to five, nine to five, I should say nine to nine, seven, you know whatever that is, and then some Nurses are called to do more, right?
And it sounds like you are one of those Nurses who said, “Oh gosh, I feel like this is missing, and I want to bring this to my colleagues.” And starting like just saying, “Okay, yes, I’m going to do this thing. I know there’s a lot of steps to it. I can figure this out, and just doing it and seeing what happens.
And I love that your vision was that, and that you just stepped up to say, “Okay, I want to try this thing. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I’m going to trust that it is going to be something that people will want to learn about.” And then, surprise, they did.
And now you’ve expanded and expanded and grown, and in your leadership, right under your leadership. So that’s amazing. Thank you for doing that, and thank you for having the courage to actually go forth and do what you feel in your heart and your body to like…. I want to do this thing. I know it’s not easy.
Kristine Davidson 17:22
And you know I love that you said that because nobody has a perfect vision of what they’re gonna do, and like they’re on that track and everything’s gonna work out perfectly. But I do recognize and how you said like I do feel this calling, you know, even with this integrative Nurse specialist role.
Now I’m like I want us to have just like we have Nurse Coaching and people say what do we want to call that, should I call it health and wellness coaching? No it’s Nurse Coaching because we want people to know that terminology. That’s how I feel about integrative Nurse specialists now you know it is a role that is a specialty role and should be recognized by that name, right?
Integrative Nurse specialist. So those of us that do feel called to get training in all of these modalities have a title that we can share with you know how we have grown and learned and how we can support either our organizations or our community with this title, so it is not easy work, but I believe that you know everything will work out the way it’s meant to too. You know, baby steps, baby steps.
Nicole Vienneau 18:30
Yes, I mean, so I did my integrative Nurse Coaching initial program for the Nurse integrative Nurse Coach certificate program. I think I graduated in 2015, so I’ve been at this for a long time. And oh boy, I’ve had many a conversation about what what is Nurse Coaching, right? What is Nurse Coaching? Do you just coach Nurses? Well, yes, and yes, and it’s a lot more than that.
And I think also back to the times when I was much younger, where I had a fitness career as well as Nursing career, and I was a personal trainer. And back in the day, people didn’t know what a personal trainer was either. So you know, we had to stand up for what this is and explain it and explain it, re-explain it.
And now, personal trainer is like, of course, you know exactly what that is or what that could be, right? And now we have Nurse Coaching. Same thing. We’re building a vocabulary for people to understand what it is that integrative Nurse coaches do, and what they could do, and what each of us is different because we’re bringing our own personality, what we find and love about Nursing and our lives and holistic modalities together, and so we’re kind of creating something very special.
And it sounds like these integrative specialists saying because now you’re developing a vocabulary surrounding that, and then bringing those modalities to the bedside, really. Is that really the vision of this?
Kristine Davidson 20:01
Yes. Yeah. So there was again one person in this role in the organization I’m in. It’s integrative Nurse specialist role, and it’s a consultative role. It is no additional charge to the patient, and we get consulted into patients’ rooms. So I went back to the bedside, and I freaking love it. I hope I can say that. I love it because I get to do what I always thought Nursing could be.
I get to walk in the room, look at the patient, and tell them, you know, I’m here to support you, mind, body, spirit, energy, environment, and you just let me know what it is that’s uncomfortable to you, and I will let you know some of the ways that I can help support that, and see if that sounds good to you. And if it does, then we’ll do it together.
And just that’s my day when I’m there, and I do that two days a week, and then the rest of the time I’m on my own. But I I love both. Sometimes people are like, “Are you going to quit the hospital?” And I don’t want to say never because we never know what our paths are. But I love the work. I love when I’m doing it, and I also love that I’m trying to move the needle in what inpatient care can look like.
So that’s why I stay in and I do it, and I enjoy being able to help people who maybe otherwise may have never heard of integrative Nursing or Nurse Coaching, right? For people, they have to come look for us if we’re in our private practice. But if we’re in the healthcare setting and we’re coming to them, they’re not having to look for us to find out how we can support them and coach them and help them with what they’re working on.
Nicole Vienneau 21:40
Right. I know a lot of our listeners would like to do this kind of work, you know, and get that going in their own organizations. And so I love that we’re having this conversation because it is something that we can create in our organizations. And yes, there are a lot of different people to talk to and work through, and you know you have to kind of you have to navigate and spend a lot of time and frustration, I think sometimes, to make these new things work.
For example, I’ll tell a quick story of my own life because there was something that you said in what you just said about you’re going to know when it’s time to move, right? You’re going to know… like right now this is great. I’m enjoying this work. It feels really good in my body, and when I go to practice, I want to be there because I’m feeling like I’m making a change.
So I have a couple of contracts with different hospitals here in my city, and you know I started these four or five years ago, and my job there has really morphed because I wanted… because I have changed. I personally have changed, and I met with my director of the wellness department yesterday because this will be my fifth year coming at this organization.
And right now, I’m working with new grads, and I love it in the Nurse residency program. And still, something inside me has shifted that maybe this isn’t… I’m not the best person anymore to do that work with new Nurse residents. So we had the conversation and we’ve shifted so someone else will step into that role because my energy feels different than I was so excited and jazzed to get that going, and what she said to me was really interesting.
She said, “I feel like since you’ve been here…” Now I’m only there… I’m not there full time. I’m just there for a certain amount of hours a month. But she says, I feel like since you’ve been here, you have been the one to shine a light on something that we really needed, and you have been the person to start that, and then you shine the light somewhere else where we need it, and then you give us resources or ideas on how to start something else, or you do that, and that we have shifted so much, and because of your integrative approach, you have been able to help us see things we had never seen before.
And one of them was to get Nurses more involved in wellness, from but Nurses leading wellness instead of a wellness person who doesn’t know what Nurses do on a daily basis or tries to know but can’t really know because they don’t do it, so our Nurses are leading wellness now for Nurses.
So you know, but we’re like a light that’s shining all over the place. But the real main thing is we can be that light, but it’s hard to be that light because our light sometimes is like very little. It’s hardly shining because there’s so much around us that’s pushing it down, and maybe it’s not a priority in the money and all those things.
And still, I feel like we can still have the voice and still show up and still be that light, light and energy for our colleagues and our patients too, and whether wherever the heck we are, community, at the bedside, our own practice, taking a break, you know, living our life, wherever we are, it’s all that. So love that.
Kristine Davidson 25:15
Yeah, I mean, whoever we touch, it doesn’t have to be millions of people. It can just be the circle around us. It’s still making a difference for those people. Caritas statement. Maybe this one place at this one time was meant to be for this one thing.
Nicole Vienneau 25:31
I just got chills on that one. That’s so true. So true. And it’s almost like when we’re even helping ourselves. I mean, when we’re taking time for ourselves and we’re saying no to something or whatever that is. It’s like I’m taking care of myself, but because of that, I’m also taking care of past generations too, who may have never had the opportunity to say no.
And then also that ripple comes out because we’ve just taken time for ourselves. So yeah, are we ever smart or what? Okay, so now you’re in the hospital a couple of days as this integrative specialist role, and then you also said, “And I’m on my own the other days.” So tell us about the other days. What’s going on there?
Kristine Davidson 26:20
So it’s been about a year now, which sounds… it’s crazy because you look back and you’re like, wow, look at all I’ve accomplished. Again, just like we were just talking about, looks really intense up front, overwhelming. I’m never gonna get there. Where’s my light? And then all of a sudden, fast forward, look back, all you see all that you have accomplished in that short amount of time, because really a year is just… it’s really not… it’s a drop in the bucket, right?
But so I decided, you know, I did the integrative Nurse… I was doing the integrative Nurse specialist role, and I thought, wow, this needs to come out to the community. I was doing, you know, mindfulness, aromatherapy, foot reflexology, health and wellness Nurse Coaching and ear seed auricular therapy, and that one really got me excited because I just hadn’t heard about it before.
It was not in the community, and I was like, I think I can make this fun and support people holistically to support themselves, especially when in this day and age when we’re so go go go, and our nervous system is so, you know, overwhelmed, and we’re getting all these illnesses, and just not really, you know, addressing them from maybe like a root situation.
So I decided I would just go on my own, start with like pop-ups, just to make it very casual and give people information, and that has kind of flourished into gatherings, you know, where people, you know, curate their people that they have together, and they say, “Hey, I want to show you this ear seed thing that I’ve been doing. I’m going to have you guys come.”
Or, and so I’m able to teach them. I do an ear massage, which is very relaxing. Then I, you know, clean their ears. I have gold, stainless steel, or titanium, so it looks pretty. I actually don’t have any on right now. I should have put some on so I could show you my ear.
Nicole Vienneau 28:12
For our listeners who are on YouTube, you can see behind.
Kristine Davidson 28:17
Oh yes!
Nicole Vienneau 28:20
She’s got an ear chart on her wall, and listeners, if you’re listening to us on a podcast, you can’t see that. But she’s showing us her beautiful ear as well.
Kristine Davidson 28:31
Looks like jewelry, but they’re so teeny tiny, and you push on them, and they communicate with your nerves that are communicating with your brain, and then all the different parts of your body. I mean, just learning that you know it looks like an upside down baby, and there’s just over 200 points. And this is just one way.
Nicole Vienneau 28:51
It is an upside down baby! I’ve never seen that before! So cute! Yeah. Okay. The ear. We’re talking about the ear here.
Kristine Davidson 28:59
And where the points are. So rooted in traditional Chinese medicine, it’s been being used in India and Egypt, and you know for centuries. And you know since 1950, we were able to put the science behind it with Dr. Paul Noje and really document the scientific evidence. And now you know you can go and Google, and there’s plenty of studies out there that are showing this is just so simple, non-invasive.
And a lot of the women that I do, they love how passive it is because it’s just on their ear; they don’t have to think about it, or it gives them an opportunity. You know, talking about the Nurse Coaching part of it, it gives them an opportunity to ground and center because now here I am touching my physical self, and also people who are working on maybe cravings or oral fixations or nail biting or smoking.
You know if you’re working on something specific that we’re putting ear seeds on for that now you have something physical for you to push on to remind yourself of that goal that you’re working on. And so I find it’s like a nice tool because yeah, you set your goals, and but you know it’s always better if you write it down, right?
It’s always better if you have something physically going with you to make it stick, and so this is almost like their physical reminder of what it is that they’re working on when we get together and chat. So that’s kind of been the fun one that I’m doing in the community. I still have the foot reflexology and the healing touch and things like that, but I’m enjoying the ear seed journey. And so here I am taking it on the other days of the week and in between my family life.
Nicole Vienneau 30:40
Right, in between family life, of course we have that, and this is what you’re doing with Sol Health, right?
Kristine Davidson 30:45
Yes, yes, yes. So I will come to their home, or they can come to me in my space here. That those of you who can see can see, lovely. Or I do those community pop ups, so I’ll have different businesses that I’ll reach out, and you know, like health and wellness businesses, or chiropractic offices, or different places like that, that they would like to share the modality with their staff or their patients, or you know, the people who come there. And I kind of pop in there and offer it.
Nicole Vienneau 31:14
Wonderful, so good. This I think in November we have a collaboration at my wellness studio, where we’re doing the auricular seeds and sound together, so sound bowl. So we’ll talk about the seeds, what they’re good for, and how they can use them. Some of the history, and then put the seeds in or on, not in, on. And then we’ll do a sound bath after that, and then of course we always integrate.
We always wake everyone up gently, and then what’s come up for you. How are you going to use these seeds as you go through your next week? You know all that kind of stuff. Yeah, and I love the collaborations, and with your business in Sol Health, integrative wellness and holistic concierge, I would like a definition about that. Like, well, how do you see that? What’s happening with the holistic concierge? So hot, so hot.
Kristine Davidson 32:11
Well, and I struggle with this too, right? Because I want to be affordable, I want to be accessible, but I also know I am not insurance covered, and so I think it’s just a nod to the understanding that it is kind of an out of pocket cost. But with that comes the full package, right? I’m not just looking at one piece of you. I’m looking at mind, body, spirit, energy, environment. I’m making you feel heard and supported.
Sometimes that’s what people need. I’m bringing in that light into your space, or I’m clearing the energy maybe in your space to support your healing in that area. Also, I just really wanted to meet people where they’re at because I was doing it in the acute care setting, and I saw how sick our country is.
And still, we’re getting 20 and 30 year olds and 40 year olds, just like people that should not be in the hospital. They should not be sick. They should be out enjoying life. But it just made me think: if I’m able to meet people where they’re at and make it accessible and easy, I want to do that.
And it’s funny, you know, you think that you want to have this brick and mortar and you want to have this shop that people can come to you, but that just… it hasn’t resonated with me yet. And the more I think about it, I’m like, if I don’t have that, and I am mobile and able to come to them, I’m able to go to people that maybe cannot leave their house, or I’m able to meet people with, you know, where their need is, and that feels better to me.
And the amount of money that it takes to have a brick and mortar, I can now put that towards the modalities that I’m offering, and I don’t charge extra for that concierge in that way, because I’m saving in the brick and mortar, you know. So it’s just like again, we were talking about at the beginning the different ways that we could do this and the different ways it could look.
I even had somebody tell me get like a little mobile RV, and you know, I’m like, that’s an interesting thought, you know, and have like my little care space and take it on the road so that if their home is maybe not conducive or doesn’t have like my beautiful massage table, I can bring it with me already set up.
Nicole Vienneau 34:31
Maybe in the future, because definitely there’s some overhead with that too.
Kristine Davidson 34:35
Yes, right. Overhead. Thank you. That was a word I couldn’t think of. Yeah. So, so yeah. So that’s how it’s become concierge, and then of course there are people who just enjoy the luxury of that sound and so it’s a little bit and both.
Nicole Vienneau 34:54
Yeah, but it’s perfect because it makes sense. I mean, yes, we have definitely made progress as far as Nurse Coaching being covered, yes, by insurance. Maybe. Right? We’re making progress, and it’s exciting. And you know, hopefully, all of our listeners put their commentary in for Medicare. I mean, for all of that, I did.
I spent a lot of time on that, just you know, really wanting to have my voice heard because Nurse Coaching should be covered for people by insurance, you know. So, anyways, all of that, and yet we can also… some of these things are not covered, and we need to be compensated for our skills.
I mean, you know, we both went to Nursing school, and then we decided to get our masters, and then we did certificate programs. And guess what? Those things are not free. We have to pay for all of that. Not only the money, but also the time and the energy that we put towards these things. And so, to be reimbursed by some kind of energy, and somehow money is energy, right?
So we can be reimbursed through that monetary energy, and we are deserving of that. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Okay, so we didn’t talk about the Integrative Nurse Coaching program, which we have to do that because heck, they sponsor our podcast. So we need to have the mention of the Integrative Nurse Coach Academy.
So yeah, yeah. So you graduated in October of ’23, and then you went on to do your board certification in Nurse Coaching and also holistic Nursing. So tell us your credentials so people can hear that ring off. Say your full name with your credentials.
Kristine Davidson 36:38
Kristine Davidson, MSN, which is the master’s prepared RN, health and wellness Nurse Coach, board certified and advanced holistic Nurse board certified. And I got rid of the CCRN because, like, I wasn’t using that anymore.
Nicole Vienneau 36:55
But you did have your CCRN too.
Kristine Davidson 36:56
I did, but it just like got too long.
Nicole Vienneau 37:00
Yeah, that’s like so… my girlfriend says… I asked her the other day what are your initials after your name, she says LOL and OMG. I was like that is perfect, that is what we need. Okay so tell us something that was transformative for you and your learnings through the Integrative Nurse Coach Academy’s Nurse Coach Certificate Program.
Kristine Davidson 37:28
Well, I would love to share with you how I came about the INCA program. So you know, again, you’ve kind of heard throughout my whole story that obviously there was something there. I knew there was something different that I wanted to do. My dad was diagnosed with a terminal cancer.
We knew about the cancer in 2021, but you know it was a quick cancer, and very quickly, you know, my Nurse brain kicked in, and I was like, okay, how can I support from afar? You know, he was in Florida. I’m here in North Carolina, and it really took me down that hole of like there are things I can do holistically or when I go and visit to support the care and comfort because just because we’re not curing doesn’t mean that we’re not healing and doesn’t mean that I can’t do things in my capacity to support him and be there for him even when I’m not there every day, right?
And so that is what took me into the INCA journey. And again, I’m such a believer that everything happens the way it is meant to happen, so that you know the experience that we have lead us to the path that we’re on. And you know, the passing of my dad was able to give me the funds to be able to say, you know what, this is what he would have wanted me to do.
This is what I want to do, and so I was able to take some of that money to complete the INCA program without it being a struggle for my family and you know our household. So, you know, I thank him every day. I thank my mom every day because my mom is the one who is here and is able to help take care of the kids while I pursue these dreams. So you know, it’s both of them.
I’m very fortunate that I have been able to be graced with their love and support. And so again, with that, I was able to take on the INCA program. And you know, from day one, I’m sure, as everybody says, like, oh, these are my people. I get what they’re talking about. I mean, I just, I dove in. You know, I think my Nurse brain, I was like, oh my god, I want to… I was, you know, I was an educator at the time, so I was like, I want to do this. I want to teach for INCA.
I want to be back. Yeah. Just because I loved the content so much, I was excited that this existed. I was excited that you know we were getting it out there. It felt like, and it still feels like, we are at the forefront of the change in healthcare, and to be a part of that, and to be a part of explaining to people what Nurse Coaching is. It’s exciting, right? It’s exciting.
We were a part of this thing, but I think the biggest transformational journey for me was the spiritual one. Again, that very first foundationals course is like, okay, before we teach you how to be a Nurse Coach, you got to take care of yourself first, right? And so that introspective journey, and again, I know for a fact that I would not be a good Nurse Coach or as good as what I’m doing in my role if I didn’t step into that spiritual journey and find that this is my path.
I really feel like I am being a light. I, you know, Jesus has called me to serve in this way, and I feel like I am fulfilling my purpose, and that is so incredible to wake up every day, or even on those challenging days where I’m like, do I want to do this, or do I just want to go back to being a mom? I always have that, but yes, when those times happen, it’s like no, but this is fulfilling, and when I get to hold someone’s hand and you know support them in such a meaningful way, it’s everything.
It’s everything, and I couldn’t have done that without the INCA program teaching me that I needed to focus on myself first before I could focus on others, and so all day long when I’m talking to Nurses, I know we say this all the time, but you’ve got to take care of yourself before you can give to others.
But that is so so true to the root of your being because you are a healer walking in a room. That’s your modality if you have done the work. And so if we could share that with everyone, like all you got to do is feel good inside, you know, do the work that you’ve done for yourself, and you’re already helping heal people by walking in the room and sharing your light and your energy with them.
Nicole Vienneau 41:56
So true, you know. And some of our Nursing colleagues, I mean, they would never, we would never… I think back to myself… Like I’m just going to talk about myself. So way back in the day before this program, I never, I mean, I thought I was taking care of myself. How about that? I would eat well and I’d exercise, and that was it.
So for me as well, it was an emotional and a spiritual shift for me to go to learn about Nurse Coaching and to be forced. I was forced into… I was not forced, I signed up for the class, so I want to get my money’s worth. Right? That’s how I had to focus. That’s how I had to do it.
Like I paid this money, so I’m going to do this. I’m going to get an A in this class, and I’m gonna learn the stuff, right? And I didn’t know all of the benefits of, oh gosh, I learned that about myself, and I focused, like, put the light on me instead of everybody else.
And because of that, that was the beginning of me, even more now, delving into these different healing modalities for myself first, and then exploring them with other people if it resonates with me. So you know, it’s interesting how the shift, because in a way we’re like we paid the money, we’re going to sign up, we want to get a good grade, and then all of a sudden, oh, I feel better.
Kristine Davidson 43:16
Yeah, like, this is for me.
Nicole Vienneau 43:18
Right? Yeah, I love that. So fun. Everybody’s journey is so different, and it’s so great to spend time with you and hear your journey because it’s just… I just am really connecting with a lot of things, and I know our listeners are too. So okay, so in our last few moments, I always love to ask this question, and is my favorite question of all. So, Kristine, what is on your heart that you would love to share with our listeners?
Kristine Davidson 43:54
Okay, it’s funny. I knew you were going to ask this question, so you have like the preconception thoughts. But I was like, you know what? I’m really gonna sit for a moment and really like feel what comes to my heart. And it’s really, and we didn’t even really talk about it much now. But it’s choose joy. Like we did talk about a little bit how you can pivot at any point in time.
But if you’re sitting here right now and you’re miserable with the work that you’re doing, and you’re a Nurse. Guess what? You are so lucky. There are so many other avenues. There are so many other ways that you can bring back what you loved about your career, what fired you in the first place, and bring the joy back into your life.
But there are… I ask patients that all the time when they’re sitting in the hospital. I say, “Okay, you know, when you leave here, what do you want to do? What’s going to bring you joy?” And so many of them can’t answer that question, and that breaks my heart. It breaks my heart that they have lost joy in their life.
So, I think that that’s the purpose and meaning of us being here right now is to enjoy each other and to enjoy, you know, the process and the meaning. And so, that’s my takeaway: is make sure that your work fits with your life, and make sure that you have meaning and purpose and joy in what you do.
Nicole Vienneau 45:18
I’m just taking a breath into that. Yes yes yes. And so how can we find you, Kristine? How can we connect with you?
Kristine Davidson 45:31
Ah yes well I guess I’m most active on Instagram even though I can’t say I’m super active but Sol Health is S O L like the sun in Spanish because I have Hispanic roots, so S O L H E A L T H N C and I did the N C for Nurse Coach and North Carolina so there’s our little… yeah. @solhealthnc and then my website is also solhealthnc.com.
And you know I have some exciting things coming for 2027. I’ve been really called and led to maybe start teaching others what I’m doing for people who really want to in person learn just some simple techniques. So I think I will have some workshops coming up. So if that’s something that interests you and you just kind of want to dabble without taking on a big certification, that is what I have in the works for 2027. Workshops to come.
Nicole Vienneau 46:30
Wonderful, exciting, and also like shifting, right? I mean, we can shift and do other things. We don’t have to keep ourselves in one little spot. We can go around and spread our light everywhere, right? Yes, yes, yes. Well, thank you so much for spending time with us on the Integrative Nurse Coaches in ACTION! podcast. I know our listeners have found some pearls and jewels to take away with them, as I have as well.
Kristine Davidson 46:55
Thank you, thank you again so much for having me, Nicole.
