We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Dwayne Mariner. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Dwayne below.
Dwayne , appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear the story behind how you got your first job in field that you currently practice in.
My initial exposure to the field of nursing was fortuitous at best. I was in nursing school at a local university, just completed my prerequisite courses and was a few weeks into level 1, intro to nursing and maybe knew how to check vital signs. Browsed the local hospital “want ads” and applied for a nurse tech position. Interviewed, told my story and was hired within a few hours of interview. Feeling very certain I knew everything there was to know about nursing, I set out for orientation, basic CPR class and do’s and don’ts of the hospital. No problem. I went in my first orientation shift and quickly learned not only was I ill prepared, I had the wrong shoes, stamina and education(I was too green to really understand what it was I was supposed to be doing) . I had approximately 16 patients per shift and every shift, all 16 were very “needy”. I had no idea that people in the hospital needed me so often and so acutely! As a young man, 33yrs old, I think, my first job as a nurse tech was not endearing me to the field of nursing. I hated it. I worked three 12 hour shifts per week and had class 5 days a week. I was constantly tired, studying, working or sleeping. I had no personal life and wasn’t 100% sure I would continue qithe program and acquire my license. Time marches on, education continues and I become much more acclimated to 13 hours of standing. I bought good shoes, resigned to the fact that I would be busy 7 days per week and continued pursuing my bachelors in nursing(BSN). A couple years passed, I was “breezing” through school and it was OK. Made some good friends, had a few laughs and continued to work, study, sleep and attend class. After 4 long years and hundreds, maybe thousands of clinical hours and hundreds of hours in acute patient care as a nurse tech, I was ready to graduate and begin my career as a registered nurse. Where was I gonna work? Yet another question that I had not really considered. Cardiology? Nephrology? Neurology? Emergency? I had no idea. Great! Now what? Football season was upon us and my buddy asked me to go travel to a Texas Tech football game vs Oklahoma State(his Alma mater). He had invited the Director of Emergency Department in the very same hospital where I had worked as a tech for the last 2 years. We visited unbeknownst to me that she was an RN, nursing director and overall one of the best people I would ever have the honor to meet. She inquired as to “what I did” and I responded that I was finishing nursing school, working on the “floor” as a tech and “job hunting”. She looks at me, very sternly and says “come work for me in the ER. I’m a good boss and I think upu would be a good fit”. ER, I asked? I don’t know ER just doesn’t resonate with me. “You will like it”. OK. We set up an interview, which I attended and we had a nice interview, I bragged about myself and I was hired, at some point later. Move forward to graduation, testing etc. I begain teching in the ER before “internship” started and, as per usual, quickly discovered that I knew precisely squat about ER Nursing. Here we go…
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
After years of ER nursing and watching the industry spiral into “for profit” and relying on sick people we took a step back and looked at the big picture. Most notable was the fact that very little preventive care was actually being done. People were relying on hospitals to keep them healthy, which is exactly opposite of what they do. Hospitals treat sick, not well individuals. Of course, you have some services for screening and such, but mostly it’s surgeries and big ticket items that keep hospitals operable. “How do we mitigate ER or hospital visits on a wellness level” was the next question. We took a wellness approach with IVs, supplementation and education. Slowly built a client base and have spent hours with clients digging down to the basic needs for their overall wellness expectations. We offer IVs with vitamins, of course, but we offer so much more. We treat a patient from a wholistic approach. Sometimes that includes impromptu “therapy” or just being the ear someone needed to bend for a few hours. We try to be a home away from home where you are welcome to drop by for a cup of coffee or lunch date. Furthermore, we offer simple urgent care such as ear aches, flu, bronchitis etc. We are proud of our brand and our team, and really rely heavily on the “family” business model. We aren’t huge, but we are busy and growing. I’m excited that we are not experiencing catastrophic growth as it undermines our goal of being local and available. We just want people to feel well, feel like family and walk away knowing we took care of their needs with the utmost professionalism and candor. Actually, kind of funny, I’m not from LA or California even, but I have connected so many people in other industries to collaborate, learn or even job seeking. It’s like a small town in our office and that makes us smile big daily.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
Honesty, professionalism and experience. Truthfully, being Texan has not hurt either. I don’t know why but people are drawn to us. We treat people how we would like to be treated. Sounds cliché, but it goes a long way. I used to always tell people in the ER that said “thank you” how they made my day with 2 simple words. We as a society have become in such a hurry and distracted by socials and electronics that we, myself included, forget there is another human being deserving of your kindness and attention when needed. We strive to be better…at everything we do. Business, of course, but life, family always comes first and we take great pride in making that a priority for our clients, employees and ourselves.
If you could go back, would you choose the same profession, specialty, etc.?
Ha! Great question! I recently answered this question and I absolutely blew it! No, is the short answer, but here’s why…
I’m a rock star in a nurses body. I love music and I love heavy rock and if I could go back I would learn to play guitar better and sell out stadiums! It’s easy, right? That of course is a dream that I have recently decided would have been awesome, but the reality is…I don’t know if I would take the same path. I feel like the path you take is yours and yours alone and even if I could do “do-overs” I’m not even 100% sure I wouldn’t end up doing the same thing, especially if I knew the outcome. Now, no knowledge of future, total rockstar or philanthropy, I do like helping. Such a tough question that I will be mulling over for the rest of my life.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ahsiv.com
- Instagram: AlphaHydration
- Facebook: AlphaHydration
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/alpha-hydration-and-wellness-woodland-hills?osq=alpha+hydration
- Other: Google Alpha Hydration and Wellness
Image Credits
Dwayne Mariner