We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Alexis Lodge. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Alexis below.
Hi Alexis , thanks for joining us today. Can you share an anecdote or story from your schooling/training that you feel illustrates what the overall experience was like?
Training to be a registered nurse was very exhausting. It was very overwhelming and caused a lot of sleepless nights, but very rewarding after school was complete. But if you ask any nurse, they will tell you not to be a nurse.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Yes, my name is Alexis Lodge and I am a registered nurse from Cleveland, Ohio. I started working in a skilled nursing facility when I was just 14 years old, as a dietary aide in my hometown, Oakwood Village, OH. From there, I went on to be a nursing assistant at age 17. When I graduated high school, I went to school for nursing. After graduating from nursing school, I worked several jobs as a nurse manager, nursing supervisor, and Assistant Director of Nursing. I worked in various healthcare settings to gain experience prior to becoming a travel nurse. I went on to become a travel nurse and I was relocated to Las Vegas for my first assignment. When I arrived in Las Vegas, I found there was a need for nursing schools and decided to open a post-secondary school to assist the community with healthcare training and education.
Do you think you’d choose a different profession or specialty if you were starting now?
If I could go back, I would absolutely choose to be a nurse again. Nursing is the only profession that can cross over into other professions. I’ve had thoughts of being a teacher when I was younger, so now I’ve become a nurse educator. If you are unsure of any career, try nursing. It will give you an idea of other professions while staying in this field. For example, if you want to become an author, you can publish a nursing book. If you are thinking of legal studies, you can become a paralegal nurse or a forensic nurse. If you want to travel, you can be a cruise ship nurse. Nurses are needed everywhere.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
There is a book by a nurse named Meisha Amia Woolford. It is called “The Bedside Boss: From Scrubs to Six Figures.” It is a wonderful book written by a fellow peer who was also a travel nurse at the time that I started travel nursing. She talked about all of her endeavors and how hard she worked to achieve her goals. It was very motivational to read about someone who had a like-minded vision and ideas similar to mine. Meisha has always been a great influence over many nurses and I enjoyed reading her book knowing that she was going through the same things that I went through as a travel nurse. She also talked about her journey as an entrepreneur which was very exciting and scary but she has paved the way and encouraged so many of us nurses to keep going!