Ep50: Thriving with a Nurse Coach Action Mindset-Kimberly Foster, BSN, RN, HN-BC, HWNC-BC, HMCP, Sacred Geometry Energy Healer

About Kimberly Foster

 

Kimberly Foster, BSN, RN, HN-BC, HWNC-BC, HMCP, Sacred Geometry Energy Healer

 

Kimberly Foster (Nurse Kim) is a certified Holistic Nurse, Integrative Nurse Coach and Holistic Anxiety Treatment Expert whose mission is to shift our culture so we stop wearing our burnout as a badge of honor. Working as a cardiac nurse for over a decade, Nurse Kim shifted into the coaching world to help prevent people from going into the hospital in the first place. She has been teaching as holistic faculty for a major health organization for several years and uses her holistic training to teach people how to recognize and resolve burnout without medications.

 

Nurse Kim also holds certifications in Heart Math and Sacred Geometry Energy Healing which allow her to offer natural alternatives to help individuals relieve symptoms of exhaustion, anxiety, and more. Available for workshops, retreats, and individual needs, Nurse Kim is an educator, keynote speaker, and coach who believes in an integrative approach to whole person well-being and health.

 

Nurse Kim lives in Michigan with her husband, 2 kiddos, and her dog. She loves game nights, bonfires, days at the beach, and is a BIG fan of the show Supernatural and Hallmark Christmas movies.

Contact

shiftmylens@gmail.com

Ep50: Thriving with a Nurse Coach Action Mindset-Kimberly Foster, BSN, RN, HN-BC, HWNC-BC, HMCP, Sacred Geometry Energy Healer Highlights

“To be able to pause and say, no, this is the course of action I want to take, was a really powerful tool that I had to learn and to actually use– the whole action mindset.”  ~Kimberly Foster, BSN, RN, HN-BC, HWNC-BC, HMCP, Sacred Geometry Energy Healer Highlights

Ah-Has

  • Nurses are juggling so many people, things and needs. How can you step back and create space for you within all of it?  It’s OK to do that.
  • It’s hard to set boundaries, and you can still set boundaries!
  • How can you share your obvious gifts with the world?
  • Who is your influence as a Nurse and a Human?
  • What shifts can you make to function from a state of overflow?
  • Holistic Nursing and Nurse Coaching practices, create space for you to just be…

Resources and Links

Barbara Dossey, Co-Founder of International Nurse Coach Association/Integrative Nurse Coach Academy

Jean Watson

Kimberly Foster website

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Ep50: Thriving with a Nurse Coach Action Mindset-Kimberly Foster, BSN, RN, HN-BC, HWNC-BC, HMCP, Sacred Geometry Energy Healer Transcript

Nicole Vienneau  00:01

Welcome, everyone, to Integrative Nurse Coaches in ACTION! My name is Nicole Vienneau. I am your host and I am also a Board-Certified Integrative Nurse Coach. And today we are welcoming Kimberly Foster all the way from Detroit, Michigan, who has just very recently passed her board certification for Nurse Coaching. So, we are excited for her for that. She’s doing a little dance, I’m doing a little dance, we’re all dancing together for her. So, we welcome Kimberly.

Kimberly Foster  00:32

Hi, Nicole. Hi, everyone.

Nicole Vienneau  00:34

We’re so glad to have you on her podcast today, Kim, and we’d love to take a little trip down history lane, of course. We’d love to know why you became a Nurse.

Kimberly Foster  00:45

Oh, that is such a great question. I am so excited to be here with everyone today. And I’d like to say that Nursing found me. You know, there are so many of my colleagues that I hear them tell their stories and they say how they’ve always wanted to be a Nurse. And I was one of those people that I wanted to do every… I never knew what I wanted to do. I really kind of fumbled, I changed my major in college several times.

And I landed in a Emergency Medical Technician program and I thrived. I just it was definitely something that I enjoyed doing. I always thought I was going to be a teacher. And I guess Nurses are teachers in a lot of ways, but not in the traditional sense that most people think of.

But I was presented with the opportunity that I could either pursue a paramedic license or Nursing license. So, I applied to both, and the universe intervened and I got accepted to Nursing school my first try. And the rest they say is history.

Nicole Vienneau  01:57

I love this story. So, Nursing found you.

Kimberly Foster  02:01

Nursing found me, it did, it did. And I’m so, so grateful it did because it’s definitely a calling. It’s definitely why I’m here. Definitely why I’m here.

Nicole Vienneau  02:12

I love it. And it’s interesting, you have experience in the healthcare field, and still didn’t quite know that you really wanted to be a Nurse. And you kind of did a toss up.

Kimberly Foster  02:23

I did, I did, because I had heard how hard it was to become a Nurse and how hard it was to get into Nursing school. And I was the first in my family to go to college. And I’m the first woman in my family to have a career. And so, definitely wasn’t on my radar. Definitely wasn’t on my radar, but here I am!

Nicole Vienneau  02:48

Here you are! We’re so glad you are here, let me tell you, in so many ways, right? Wow. So, then you… tell us a little bit about your Nursing journey, then. What has transpired for you?

Kimberly Foster  03:03

So, when I graduated, I got accepted, my very first Nursing position was on a cardiology unit. And this was 16 years ago now. I definitely fell in love with cardiology. I have a strong family history of heart disease, and so it really hit home that I could see my patients as a member of my family because we had been through that journey with my grandma, who I was very close with until she passed last year.

And so, you know, I worked in an inpatient cardiology unit for several… for almost a decade, and I got to a point where I was starting to hate my job. I was in a place… I was in a bad place. I resented my patients. I had attendance issues because I could not force myself to get up every day and go to work. I felt like I was missing my family. I felt like I was doing the same things day in and day out.

And when I got there, and I sat with my patients, and I had that relationship centered care that now that I know what that is, but at the time I didn’t, I just knew that that I really love doing. But it felt like it was at the expense of or instead of the things that brought me joy. And so I got to a place where I was introduced to holistic Nursing.

And that actually was through a point in my journey where I was wearing many hats, many many hats. I was everything to everyone, including leadership for a five hospital system shared governance, I chaired that council. I did so many things above and beyond just my bedside Nursing role at work, but also in my personal life.

And when I got invited to attend my very first holistic Nursing conference here in our area that my health system sponsored, it happened to be the conference where Jean Watson was the keynote speaker. And so little did I know, you know, I was about a decade into my Nursing career, you know, barely 30 years old, and the seed was planted by Jean.

So I really have to acknowledge and thank her one day, if I get to meet her again in person, for planting that seed in me, because that really, that bloomed for me. And my healthcare organization that I worked for had a program that actually prepared Nurses for board certification in holistic Nursing, and here I am today, because I sat in those classes, that nine day intensive that we had over the course of nine months.

And I said to my mentor, I said, I’m going to be teaching this stuff one day. And sure enough, I passed my boards. And like four months later, a faculty position opened up, and I interviewed, and I got to teach holistic Nursing concepts to people that were not Nurses. And boy, did I find my passion, I love talking about this stuff. And so I’ve had the privilege of being holistic faculty for my healthcare organization since 2018.

And so what a journey it’s been, because we have definitely needed these concepts and to know how to take very good care of ourselves through that, you know, through this COVID journey that we’ve had. You know, as a profession, we’re finally coming out of the states of trauma that I think that we’ve been hanging out in for the last three years.

And we’re finally at a place where maybe we’re ready to start healing. And so now more than ever, we need people to speak up and to start showing others how to do it, because we get stuck in this tunnel vision. And that, to me, is the next chapter in my journey. And so, it was really amazing to be able to serve in this faculty position, to be able to teach others that were non-Nurses really the tools that they needed to take very good care of themselves.

And so I was able to go contingent in my Nursing, my bedside Nursing role. I pivoted departments. I was able to be in a procedure area instead of an inpatient unit, where I wasn’t working weekends, I was not working holidays, because I wasn’t on call. And so that really helped to bring some balance back into my life. But I still felt like something was missing, right?

I still felt like there was a piece of me that knew I was still not catching my patients at a point because I had all these tools in my toolbox that I knew could help prevent people from going into the hospital in the first place. And then I took a leap of faith, and I decided that I was going to leave the inpatient world.

And so when I made the decision to branch out into a care management role with the same healthcare organization, I got to keep my holistic faculty position because it was still within the organization, and I got to be what I now see as a Nurse Coach. But I was the very first holistic Nurse to enter that space, and to really use the tools and talk about the tools and to be able to be that type of therapeutic presence in that space to help shift their lens if you will.

And it kind of felt like I was going at it blind, sort of, because how could I make… how could I make it fit? What was I drawing on? What experiences was I drawing on to really inform my practice? And so I remembered the… it was either the 2018 or the 2019 ANA conference that I got to go to, and I think it was 2018, and I actually met Barbara Dossey in person.

So I feel like when I say Nursing found me, like all these really heavy hitter Nurse theorists that I have had the joy to meet and to get to know, even if just for a few moments, like that really… that, to me, that was the universe saying, yep, this is where you’re meant to be. And so, I remembered that conversation that I had with Barbara Dossey, and she was like, you really need to think about Nurse Coaching.

And I was like, what’s a Nurse Coach? Like it was such a brand new concept. You know, I had just learned holistic Nursing and gone through all that it took to become a Board-Certified Holistic Nurse in that token, and you know, five years later, here I am, you know, I’m like, yep, I’m gonna listen to her.

I’m gonna listen to Barb. And like you shared at the beginning, I am three days into my official Integrative Nurse Coach journey as a Certified Integrative Nurse Coach. So, I can’t wait to see where this next chapter leads. But, you know, I feel like I can now make the difference to help people who may be struggling with a bit of that same burnout that I was in, that I now can look back and say, wow, I really was burned out.

I did not know. I was really good at taking care of other people. As Nurses, I think we do that very well. But we give and give and give until there’s nothing left. And then we find some and we give that away to. Because it’s… we think that that’s what makes us a good Nurse, or a good wife, or a good human. But you know, as we go through that coaching journey, we realize that it’s actually a disservice, that we have to give from a place of overflow, and not of scarcity. Because only then can we really sustain that giving the way we want to.

Nicole Vienneau  10:57

Beautifully said. And what a journey you’ve had. Starting off in cardiology, and then feeling this sense of burnout, the symptoms you expressed. A little bit of resentment, a little bit of, you know, just go go go, taking all of the tough assignments, and then pushing past and finding more ways that you can give, like you were saying.

You know, being chairperson of a major committee in your organization, and just giving, giving, giving, going above and beyond. And then finding holistic Nursing, because you went to a conference, met Jean Watson as the keynote speaker.

Kimberly Foster  11:39

Isn’t that crazy?

Nicole Vienneau  11:40

I love it. I so love it.

Kimberly Foster  11:42

How about divine intervention?

Nicole Vienneau  11:45

And how she planted seeds for you. But you never really realized, as I was listening, you didn’t realize you were burned out until you discovered holistic Nursing. Is that true? Can I say that?

Kimberly Foster  11:58

Yes.

Nicole Vienneau  11:58

Yeah. And it’s like… it’s this holistic concepts that allowed you to see above for a little bit, see you from above, maybe, to really pinpoint, oh my goodness, I need to take care of myself.

Kimberly Foster  12:13

Right. And I think that it looks different for everybody, right? That you may not think that you’re burned out, because it’s just such a familiar place. But you know that it can’t always… it doesn’t have to always be like this. That Nursing can bring you joy again. And that if you truly feel like this is your calling, and this is what you’re meant to do, there’s a way to do it that does not involve self sacrifice.

Nicole Vienneau  12:42

Yeah, realizing that you can set limitations on things, create some boundaries that support you, the foundations that support you. And so now you met Barbara Dossey, another Nurse theorist who… I love Barbara Dossey.

Kimberly Foster  12:59

Right, right. And so I guess the next chapter is that I am now in my third year of Nurse Coaching through this healthcare organization. And they don’t call it that, they call it care management, but really, it’s Nurse Coaching. And so, I often, because I hold extra certifications in different modalities outside of my degree and my licensure, I often will incorporate some of those tools with the permission of the physicians that I’m working under.

I will teach some tools like Heart Math, and energy healing, and talk about those things with my patients as tools that they’re able to use. And I kept getting asked time and again, how can I find you outside of my doctor’s office? Because, you know, I can’t do those types of things. I can’t do healings and stuff in that environment, it has to be done outside the physician office. And so I kept getting asked time and again, how can I find you?

Where can I have this done? You need to do this outside of the doctor’s office. And so after hearing that for several, several, several months, I think that was just, you know, I don’t know how many times they had to kick the dead horse, but I finally listened. I launched and opened my own business. And you know, when I went to enroll in my Integrative Nurse Coaching and realized that certification was important to me, I wanted to have the credentials to back my practice.

It just was important to me. And then I hadn’t yet taken the leap of finishing my bachelor’s. So, I finished my bachelor’s degree and got my Nursing, you know, the certification course through Integrative Nurse Coach Association… or Academy. And so, you know, it’s been quite the journey in the last year. Lots more alphabet soup, I guess you could say, after my name, in this past… in the year 2022. But boy, never did I think I would be where I’m at right now.

Never, ever, that I would be really kind of going into this Nurse entrepreneur type space. And I am learning so much about myself and uncovering so much about what’s out there and what is possible through using my Nurse Coaching. You know, I partnered with several different wellness and yoga studios in my community to be able to offer these services, to be able to talk about the reality of giving from a place of scarcity and why… how it is damaging to our health, and the way we can fix it.

And I have been able to be a vendor at different organizations that are, you know, through fundraising events and trying to get, you know, my name out there to be able to talk about this mission that I have to stop wearing our burnout as a badge of honor.

And to me, that’s very important, because I feel like that, you know, tying back to my cardiology roots, where the precursors for heart disease are oftentimes, you know, the things like high blood pressure and anxiety and lack of sleep and all of the not just physical consequences, but the energetic consequences.

You know, they take their toll over time. And those are the precursors that lead to heart disease. And so how do we create a culture that does not wear that burnout as a badge of honor? That can say, instead of say, you know, using our busyness as a way to justify why we’re tired, to just say, you know what, this is where I’m at today, and that’s okay.

And that, you know, what can I do? What tools are in my toolbox to get me through this patch on my journey? Because oftentimes, when you’re in those symptoms, it can be hard to remember what’s available for you to utilize, and then to actually do it, right? It’s important to take action, because we often live in our heads.

And that is a messy place to live most times, because if you’re not really clear on your why and your purpose and the reason that you get out of bed every morning, whether that’s Nursing, whether that’s your family, whether that is, you know, to enjoy your Starbucks in the morning, whatever that reason might be, right? We’re Nurses, we love coffee.

And so, if we can’t anchor to that why, and have that why be prevalent and in the forefront of our journey, what is the hustle? Why are we in that hustle and bustle mindset? And so Nurse Coaching and holistic Nursing have really given me the ability to pause, and to put up those, you know, those moments of, it’s okay to just exist, that that’s more than enough.

And so, now I have the privilege of being able to speak on these topics on a large scale, through several keynote speaking events that I get the opportunity to share this message. So, what a journey it’s been. This next chapter, I can’t wait, I’m so excited to see where it leads, and to see how I can really help people achieve balance.

Nicole Vienneau  18:09

Very early on in our podcast, you spoke just a snippet about your grandmother. And I’m wondering if you might be able to… if you could share a little bit about your grandmother and her influence on you, as you’ve come through this journey.

Kimberly Foster  18:27

She is the curse and the blessing in the journey.

Nicole Vienneau  18:31

We all have one of those.

Kimberly Foster  18:32

Right? What an inspiration grandma was. I called her Gram. And man, she was tough as nails. You know, I think that those women that were born in the era of the Great Depression, you know, 90 years ago almost now, and she just… she showed me that you can really achieve anything that you want if you work hard, and you put your mind to it.

And that passed on to my mom, and it passed down to me. And, you know, my mom lives by the philosophy that girls can do anything, and oh I took that to heart and I ran with it. But when grandma had her heart attack when I was 14, she had a major MI, massive STEMI, and she ended up having to have bypass surgery.

And so, watching her recover and watching my mom take care of her in that space, because we lived very close to Grandma at that time. And so, you know, Mom was trying to balance three kids and take care of, you know, her mom at that time. And to see what she had to go through, because grandma wasn’t doing the things that I know now, like I can see, you know, hindsight that she was definitely not giving from a place of overflow.

And so, you know, watching her go through that journey, but then the consequences of having a massive heart attack and having congestive heart failure and watching her go through that journey. So, when I was working as an inpatient Nurse, she had another MI, and ended up having to have the ICD placed because the heart function didn’t recover this time.

And ended up having, you know, she ended up with a DVT in her arm from the ICD, like, it was just complication after complication. And I often found myself wanting to be there, right? I wanted to be in control, I wanted to, you know, be involved to be able to communicate to my family, what was going on, to be that translator, to be that support person for them.

But at the time, I had a four and a two year old at home, and a husband, and where did I fit in that situation? So, when I say she was the curse and the blessing, she was a source of inspiration that I knew I could do whatever I wanted to do if I work hard enough, but also, she was one of the components of the burnout, I think.

Because I wanted to be there for her, I wanted to be there for my family, to be able to put them at ease. Because that’s our caring nature, right? We’re givers, we want to help. And I find joy in that. I love being that person. But knowing now that you can’t be everything to everyone, and it’s okay to step back, and to let others fill those shoes.

That I was granddaughter, first and foremost. I didn’t have to be Nurse Kim. That I was able to just be Kim, and that was enough. But it took a lot of soul searching to come to that space. And a lot of hard boundaries that… frankly, it sucked, right? It’s always rough. It’s always really rough when you go through transformation, because, you know, our lizard brains really love that familiar state.

And they often want to put us back into those states because it’s familiar. And you know, that the devil, you know, if you will. And so to be able to pause and say, no, this is the course of action I want to take, was a really powerful tool that I had to learn and to actually use– the whole action mindset.

I can’t just think it, like, oh, I really don’t want to pick up the phone. To make the conscious choice that no, I am not going to pick up the phone because this is my time. I had to go through that journey of feeling really guilty and really selfish. But now I know that that’s okay because that’s necessary for me to be able to be there when I’m ready to. So, grandma’s the curse and the blessing, and she’s probably stirring in her grave right now, but that’s okay.

Nicole Vienneau  22:52

See, and I’m imagining your grandmother just listening to your story and just beaming down light all over you. Just supporting you.

Kimberly Foster  23:02

I know she is now, I definitely know she is. But to be vulnerable with you for just a moment more, I got to be part of her transition at the end of her life, and I really feel like she waited for me. You know, we had the honor of being able to be at her bedside when she passed. And boy, she was stubborn to the end. She had to take her own pills, even though she was dropping them all over the place and whatnot.

But the day that she passed, I picked up dinner because my mom was, you know, caring for her 24/7. And so I picked up dinner for my mom and I to share, and I was going to spend time and let my mom have some self-care and some time to step away. And I would sit with grandma to give her some time because that’s a really rough thing to do.

And so I was actually on the phone with my sister at the time. She lives out of state. And you know, we were laughing about something, and I looked up and my mom comes running out the door with like… she’s white as a ghost. She goes, “I need you now!” And so I ran in, and I really think it was divine intervention that things happened the way that they did, but grandma was choking on her secretions despite scopolamine and all the things that we use.

And the suction malfunctioned, and so you know, having to do blind sweeps, and, you know, it was traumatic at the time. But she waited, she waited for me. And what an honor it was right? Now, looking back. I was so mad at myself at the time. I couldn’t get it to work properly. You know, it wasn’t my fault at all at the time. In hindsight, it was a malfunction with the machine.

But I got to be in that space with her. And that was always “Where’s Kim? Where’s Kim?” Whenever she was in that setting, I was that pillar of strength for her. And so, even in life’s messy moments, I think it’s important to remember that just your presence is enough, sometimes. It was a really hard lesson to learn. For me, anyway. It took a while. But even in life’s messy moments, it’s okay to just be you. You don’t have to fix it. You don’t have to have the answer. You just need to exist. And that’s enough.

Nicole Vienneau  25:23

Thank you for sharing this beautiful story. Helps us get to know you a little bit better, too. Yeah. And I’m loving this concept of just being, right? You don’t have to be somebody else, or get all the best certifications, and all of this and that and all the extras that we’re always looking for. I know, so many Nurses are should I get this certification? Like, do you really need another certification? How about just the value that you bring, just as you are?

Kimberly Foster  25:56

And I think it’s important to circle back to that big why. Why do you want that? What is it that you’re trying to achieve through that certification? Is it, you know, what is… and anchoring back to that big why and having that… you know,  those reminders present everywhere, right? We talk about vision boards. I’ve even changed passwords.

I’ve changed the backgrounds on my computer and my phone like, this is my why. And those are the reminders. Of course, I say that having gone through the journey of exactly, “I need to have this and this and this.” But really, I think that the biggest lesson in all of it was, I was perfect before all of that. I had what I needed.

Nicole Vienneau  26:45

Sometimes we can’t even see that until we go through these important life stories, life changes, transitions, all of those things that we experience, until we’re able and ready to see.

Kimberly Foster  27:06

And I think when I remember Jean Watson standing on stage and talking about her story and her journey, and how she got to be on the stage, you know, for that conference, and her grand Nursing theory, and I was like, I think it planted the seed in me that I want to do that. I want to stand on stage and talk about my story one day.

And here I am. It’s been almost… it’s been about 10 years since that happened. So, don’t forget to look back, right, you know, it can be… when you’re trying to climb the mountain, it can be easy to always be looking up. But in that moment of pause, if you allow yourself, instead of a mountain, maybe think of a spiral staircase.

And don’t forget that in that pause, that you have to look down and see how far you’ve come. And to acknowledge that and thank that older version of yourself, because where you’re at right now is where that version of yourself couldn’t wait for you to get to, and that those reminders can help us remember our why, to give us the motivation to keep going, to be a source of inspiration. Because if not you, then who?

Nicole Vienneau  28:29

Yes. And I’m thinking of bite size pieces.

Kimberly Foster  28:35

I did something for the very first time last week that was so powerful. And I consciously chose to take a day off just because I wanted to. I didn’t have a reason. You know, I have two kids and they are preteens, so we are busy in the throes of all of their activities, which bring me joy, I love doing it, but it’s exhausting. And so to take a day just for me because I wanted to, I wanted to have the time freedom.

And I think that that’s an important goal for me, is to be present in their lives. And to not feel like I have to make that choice of them versus my job or them versus you know, whatever goal I’m trying to set. I want both. And so what does that look like? And to do a bite sized piece of taking one day for me, that this is what I want it to feel like.

And last week was March, you know, we are in the first week of April as we’re talking now, but in March is reading month, and my daughter is in fifth grade. And so in elementary school, to honor March’s reading month, they do spirit themes every day. And so, that morning, she comes up to me and she goes, “Mom, today’s theme is make a yummy dessert. After I get home from school, can we make cookies?”

And I looked at the time and I said, “You know what?” And her name is Lucy. I said, “You know what, Lu? Absolutely, we can make cookies. But what if we did it right now?” And so, it is, you know, 7:45 in the morning, she doesn’t have to be to school until nine, we have more than enough time to make cookies. And so she and I made cookies at eight o’clock in the morning, just because we wanted to.

But that was such a powerful bite-sized piece for me, that I could say to, you know, the universe that yes, and emit those energies and those frequencies to attract back to say, yes, yes, this is what I want, this, please. Yes, more.

This is what I want, to be able and just that one day, that I could do whatever I wanted, just because I wanted to, to have that freedom, and not have to worry about the mud that my son tracked all over the house from taking the dirt road home instead of the paved sidewalk, right? And so it didn’t have to be “instead of”, it could be “and.”

Nicole Vienneau  31:19

Yes, I love “and.” I love “and” instead of “but.” Yes, and, and, and, and! Oh, this has been such a wonderful and insightful discussion, just sharing your story and all the amazing things that you’re doing, because you’ve said yes. And!

Kimberly Foster  31:42

It’s crazy.

Nicole Vienneau  31:44

Yes, right! So, I’d love to ask one more question. Well, I’m gonna have a couple of questions after this one last question, but this one question. Please tell us what is on your heart right now that you would like to share with our Nurses.

Kimberly Foster  31:59

You are not stuck. That whatever little voice inside your head that you’ve been dismissing, that you’ve been shoving to the side, or shoving down because you think that you either don’t have time, that it’s not possible, that you don’t even understand how that little voice’s message could ever come to be. That that is… that’s your “why” talking, guys.

That if you tune in, and you listen, and you pause long enough to really hear it out, it will guide you. And if you learn the right tools, and you learn how to really become self-aware, that anything is truly possible. And it’s through action that we do this. But in order to have a clear set of action steps, you need to pause and you need to listen.

So, listen to that inner voice. And don’t be afraid to take bite sized piece action steps to reach whatever that outrageous insane, you have no idea, it’s terrifying, you don’t know how it’s going to work out. Be courageous enough to listen and take those action steps that really live inside your heart.

Nicole Vienneau  33:21

I love it. Thank you. I felt that right in my heart. So thanks so much. So, I have a few fun questions to ask you.

Kimberly Foster  33:35

Oh, I like it. Bring it on!

Nicole Vienneau  33:37

Alright. So these are questions you’re just gonna fly off the seat of your pants kind of thing. Just answering the questions. Okay, here goes. Dog or cat?

Kimberly Foster  33:48

I’m a dog person.

Nicole Vienneau  33:49

Why?

Kimberly Foster  33:50

I like their energy. Yeah, I just… the pure love that they give is just different than cats. Cats, you gotta earn it. Dogs just, they just want to be around you. I love their tails. I love their wiggle butts. And I love how they’re so in tune, right? They’re really in tune. At least any dog that I’ve ever owned. They’re very aware of our person’s energy. I think we have a lot to learn from them.

Nicole Vienneau  34:20

Yes. How would you describe Nurse Coaches in 20 words or less?

Kimberly Foster  34:30

How about I just start listing adjectives, because that, to me, works better. I would say they are great listeners. They’re great at recognizing patterns. Supportive, goal centered, resourceful. In the future.

Nicole Vienneau  34:50

Awesome. I think that was like 27 words, but who cares!

Kimberly Foster  34:57

I’m a talker, Nicole. I’m a talker. I can’t help it!

Nicole Vienneau  34:59

Okay, so Integrative Nurse Coaches in ACTION! So, ACTION stands for some words. And it was fun that you just said all those adjectives. Yeah. So action stands for authentic, curious, truthful, inspiring, open, and nurturing. So what does living in action mean to you?

Kimberly Foster  35:29

To me, living in action means not being afraid to talk about the hard stuff, especially in places where Nursing isn’t traditional. To be able to show that these qualities exist in all humans, and that if we can anchor into that divine love, where we all emanate from, and help us lead back to that place, in places that it’s not traditionally found, is how we’re going to change the world and how Nursing is going to change the world.

Nicole Vienneau  35:59

Yes, tapping into divine love. Hmm, yes, please. Yes, please. Ah, so in our last few moments, we’d love to know how to find you. So how can our listeners find you, Kim?

Kimberly Foster  36:14

So, I am on social media, you can find me there. I am on Facebook at Kimberly Foster RN, same handle on LinkedIn. And I also have a website, it is heal.me/balanceme.

Nicole Vienneau  36:33

And we for sure are going to list all of those in our show notes so people can capture you and work with you if they’d like. And then, I know that you’re working on a project right now.

Kimberly Foster  36:46

I am, I am. So, one of my passion points is helping Gen Z and Millennials who are struggling with anxiety. I’ve put together a care plan, if you will, that guides people that have anxiety disorder, how to have clearer thoughts, how to sleep better, and how to have more energy without medication. And so, definitely looking to launch that beta course very soon.

So, if you or someone you know struggles with anxiety, and would benefit from having some holistic tools in their toolbox to help guide them on their healing journey, definitely stay tuned for that. And I have also had the opportunity to be a keynote speaker in several organizations, both large and small. I’ve partnered with Moms of Business and also with Ford Motor Company.

So, some bigger organizations, and like I had mentioned earlier, some smaller organizations like yoga studios and whatnot. So, if you are passionate about healing burnout and anxiety in the workplace, and I definitely help support organizations on that mission to relieve some of those conditions. So they’re workshops or speaking opportunities. So definitely, those are my next steps. That’s how I’m bringing it into action.

Nicole Vienneau  38:08

Alright, girl! Yes, so please reach out to Kim. Yes, you can find all her contact information in our show notes. So thanks so much, Kimberly, for sharing your heart with us, your wisdom, all these little nuggets that we’re just gathering up to bring into ourselves, and we look forward to seeing more from you.

Kimberly Foster  38:29

Thank you so much. This has been so fun, Nicole.

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