Gifted Healthcare Blog

Our nurses amaze us, and we love sharing their inspiring stories in our Gifted Spotlight series. We recently met with Kirsten Held, a Gifted Stepdown Nurse, to learn more about how she overcame burnout and is trying to help other nurses facing this issue.  

Why Nursing?  

Kirsten has been a travel nurse with Gifted Healthcare for over 3 years, working in five different facilities around New Orleans, Hammond, Slidell, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She recently graduated with a Master’s from Southeastern Louisiana University to pursue a career as a family nurse practitioner and is continuing her education to earn her doctorate degree. 

In her seven years as a Stepdown Nurse, Kirsten had fallen into a fatigue and burnout cycle, but eventually rediscovered her love for nursing back at the bedside and is using this experience to help others just like her.  

Inspiration

In 2019, Kirsten was burnt out. She hit a wall as she faced the challenges of the nursing profession, and then COVID hit. She was living with her sister at the time and feels as though she truly hit rock bottom. However, from this struggle, Own Your Why was born.  

Kirsten’s twin sister, Paige, is a financial advisor. She used tools that she had learned in her career to help her sister defeat her burnout.  

“As a financial advisor, my sister has had career coaches and mentors for years. They have so many resources not just to help you in your profession, but as a person as well. She has learned how to be the better version of herself in order to perform at her best in her career.” 

“In healthcare, everything is so patient care-focused that we sometimes forget about ourselves,” Kirsten continued. “So my sister started coaching me and helped me dig myself out of this hole I was in. I had an “AHA” moment and thought, ‘If I just take care of myself first, I can perform better at work.’” 

“I can actually take care of myself and my patients,” Kirsten said.  

Own Your Why

Kirsten and Paige used this experience to launch their company, Own Your Why, to help medical professionals that are feeling undervalued, burnt out, and yearning for clarity.   

Own Your Why offers a mentorship program for healthcare workers to utilize tools and resources to take care of themselves. And ultimately, leading to better patient care and work-life balance. The goal is to help nurses get their fire back.  

The 5-week program utilizes an app that allows continuous communication. In addition, they offer weekly video sessions to help nurses reach their goals. There is also a community Facebook group to connect like-minded medical professionals so they can support each other.  

“The most exciting part about working on this with my sister is that I want to help healthcare workers get their life back,” said Kirsten. “I am on the other side of it now, and I didn’t even know it was possible to get my fire back.” 

Advance Your Nursing Career  

It’s our mission at Gifted to support nurses and healthcare professionals. We give them the opportunities and resources they need to thrive. To learn more about how this resource could help you by visiting Own Your Why’s official site.