What if the most powerful tool in your clinical toolkit isn’t a monitor or a protocol, but a feeling you’ve learned to trust? We sit down with ER nurse Jenn Johnson to follow her unexpected path from failing organic chemistry to thriving in emergency care. She began in a tiny rural hospital where one RN ran the show, then in a major stroke center with full support and faster medicine. Along the way, Jenn exposes the hidden curriculum of healthcare: how culture shapes confidence, why bullying and micromanagement derail good care, and how real resilience starts with better sleep, better boundaries, and saying yes to yourself without guilt.

Jenn opens up about the COVID years, stressed with parenting two small kids while working nights, running on fragments of sleep, and realizing that self-preservation is patient safety. She breaks down the practical side of intuition as high-speed pattern recognition at triage: spotting “sick vs really sick,” acting before vitals crash, and asking the awkward questions that prevent disasters in the waiting room. We explore how stories teach better than lectures, why an extra physician touchpoint improves outcomes even when orders don’t change, and how simple advocacy can convert worry into action.

If you’re a pre-health student, new grad nurse, or seasoned clinician rethinking your limits, you'll benefit from Jenn's directives: choose supportive environments, leverage agency and flexible shifts, and build clinical instincts with mentorship and reps. Jenn's book—Nursing Intuition: How to Trust Your Gut, Save Your Sanity, and Survive Your Career—offers an evidence-backed blueprint for making your instincts reliable and your career sustainable. Subscribe, share this episode with a colleague who needs it, and leave a review to help more listeners find these stories and tools. Your gut is talking—ready to listen?

More about Jenn at her website: www.nursejenn.ca

And check out her book: Nursing Intuition: How to Trust Your Gut, Save Your Sanity, and Survive Your Career

Virtual shadowing is an important tool to use when planning your medical career. At Shadow Me Next! we want to provide you with the resources you need to find your role in healthcare and secure your place in medicine.

Check out our pre-health resources. Great for pre-med, pre-PA, pre-nursing, pre-therapy students or anyone else with an upcoming interview!
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