Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ashley Govan. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Ashley, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you share an important lesson you learned in a prior job that’s helped you in your career afterwards?

An important lesson I learned from my job as a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) nurse at a local children’s hospital is simple but important; Nobody is going to look out for you, except you. I worked there for four years (part of which included the pandemic) and in that time I not only learned how to take care of some of the sickest kids in the country, but I also trained new nurses to do so. I was part of the recruitment and retention committee – without any extra pay – with the goal of keeping up spirits & morale in our difficult unit. I was also training to be a charge nurse (head nurse that guides everyone else). We were taking care of kids with cardiac abnormalities, transplants, abused children, kids with cancer, burn victims, trauma victims, gun shot victims and more.

All of this to say, I truly tried to go above and beyond in that unit daily. At first, it was a dream job. I loved learning and growing as a nurse, and there were truly magical days where you could see just how resilient children were. Unfortunately, the company chose profits over safety, and allowed unsafe staffing ratios to continue for far too long. I was expected to train two brand new nurses while maintaining care of all of their patients. Safe staffing is 1-2 patients per nurse in the ICU, but we were frequently given 3-4 patients. Remember these are tiny humans. A lot of the time their parents weren’t able to be there and we were all they had. After a year of trying every avenue to get safe staffing, I decided it was time for me to choose me and go my own way. It was heartbreaking leaving a job that I truly believed would be my forever career, but my mental health and wellbeing needed to be my priority. I couldn’t take another day of not giving my patients everything they deserved. It was weighing heavily and broke my heart to leave but I will never forget what my manager told me when I put in my two weeks. She said “everyone goes above and beyond, you too are replaceable.” Lesson learned.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Ashley Govan and I am a 31 year old registered nurse with a bachelors of science in nursing from Oakland University. I spent six years in pediatric nursing, four of those in the intensive care unit taking care of extremely sick & injured children. It was time for a change and I found a job providing intravenous (IV) therapy for a wellness company called Be Well Lifestyle Centers in downtown Birmingham, Michigan. In the ICU you have to be meticulous, know how to start IV’s on very tiny veins, and be able to know how to safely give a bunch of different medications at staggered times depending on what can safely be mixed with what.

I love that I got the opportunity to bring these previously honed skills into a more holistic wellness setting. I will be the first to admit that I wasn’t sure just how beneficial these vitamin/mineral IV’s would be when I started. I am now two years in, and feel confident when I say I am making a difference in people’s lives with my IV therapy.

My clients will come in with specific goals in mind and rely on me to curate a personalized care plan to help make them feel better/stronger/more energized etc. These goals can be anything from anti-aging, to detoxing heavy metals, to energizing their systems and more. Many people assume that people only get IV therapy in Vegas when they’re hungover, or in the hospital when they are sick. I am here to tell you that there is much more that I can provide for my clients!

I also offer other services including weight loss management, EmSculpt, and Botox. I am there to guide you through your journey using these multiple modalities and I will educate you along the way. I take time to know what your ailments are, your allergies, your previous medical history, and anything else pertinent to the treatment you request to verify your safety. A special thing to note is I provide parties and group visits where I can go to your place of work or your home and do botox or IV therapy or both! It is a fun time with friends whether you are gearing up for the weekend, coming down from a party, or just want a little wellness day! I also recommend other services that are provided at Be Well including chiropractics, colon hydrotherapy, and massage therapy if I believe they will help. Let me give you an example.

My client comes in post-partum, with low energy, diastasis recti (separated abdomen common after birth), breastfeeding, and in need of a serious boost. I would recommend that she gets an IV that is safe while breastfeeding that includes a mineral blend for hydration, b-complex for energy, and ascorbic acid (vitamin c) as an antioxidant. I would educate her on the benefits of EmSculpt – an FDA approved machine that improves muscle tone and burns fat in specific areas – to help strengthen her abdomen and reverse the diastasis recti. I would also recommend chiropractic/massage therapy if needed for muscle tension and helping her body return back to alignment post pregnancy. As always, we recommend everyone to speak with their primary care physician before receiving treatments.

My main goal is to keep clients in the best health of their life, so they don’t have to be on a ton of medications, or take constant trips to the doctors office or hospital. Preventative healthcare isn’t promoted nearly enough in this country, and my aspiration is to change that so my clients aren’t in need of multiple pharmaceuticals to maintain a “healthy” lifestyle.

Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?

I think the most important trait you can have as a nurse is compassion. I genuinely care about every single person who comes into Be Well, many of whom are in a vulnerable state. I make it my number one priority to make sure my clients feel safe, heard, and respected while in my office. I always educate my clients on what is in their IV and why I think it will help them. I always talk them through whatever procedure we are doing, such as the steps of getting an IV, or Botox or EmSculpt. I will also tell my client’s NO if I don’t think something is safe, or if I don’t think they would benefit from it. I am not a salesperson, I am a nurse, and your health and wellbeing are my utmost priority. If people go into this industry for money, or something other than compassion, they will be doing themselves and more importantly their clients a huge disservice.

Do you think you’d choose a different profession or specialty if you were starting now?

My nursing friends and I often joke that we went into the wrong field, and should’ve been in a field that receives more respect and financial compensation. Nursing is hard. Whether you are in the hospital, an office setting, a home care setting, or something else, it is truly a difficult career. The system can abuse you, take advantage of you, and expect the world from you. The thing is, I love taking care of others. I love being a person that others can come to for help with their health. It is my passion to expertly utilize multiple modalities to help my clients feel their best both physically and mentally. I am absolutely a nurse at heart, and I couldn’t be anything else.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://bewelllifestylecenters.com
• Instagram: nurseashley_bewell
• Facebook: Be Well Lifestyle Centers

Image Credits

Shelby Dubin Photography (for all professional looking photos)