* Welcome to the APM podcast. I'm Colleen Dang.


0:12


* I got to talk to my dear friend Non. She has worked at Kaiser Permanente and Stanford Health Care as a registered nurse.


0:16


* She got her bachelor's in nursing from USF in 2017 and returned to USF for her Doctor of Nursing practice degree in 2023.


0:24


* We talked about her first Halloween in America, learning to appreciate Venom's culture,


0:34


* getting over stage fright as a nursing student and working on her mental health.


0:40


* Also, fun fact, she came here straight from her last, final ever.


0:45


* We hope you enjoy our conversation. Welcome, nine.


0:50


* We're so happy that you're here. Thank you for joining us on the iPad podcast.


0:57


* Thank you for having me. Great. So we're looking forward to talking more about you and your journey here at USF.


1:02


* So let's start from there. Where did you grow up in?


1:11


* What is your cultural background? So I am from Vietnam, the Motherland.


1:15


* And then I came here when I was five.


1:22


* They're the planes, not the boat people vibe, but then been in San Jose all my life.


1:26


* I moved to L.A. for like a very small stint in my life.


1:33


* Then I like it. So I came back here. Oh, so I've been here ever since.


1:36


* Do you have certain memories from when you lived in Vietnam?


1:42


* And then what are some memories growing up in San Jose?


1:46


* For Vietnam. Young is memory. Earliest memory I have is literally of me and my cousin.


1:51


* I think like probably like three or something like that. Or for deciding to go.


1:57


* That we're going to go explore. So just the two of us walked off.


2:01


* Mind you, this is like Vietnam village. Like village village.


2:06


* So like mud houses and stuff like that. We would just like, walk out to, like, quote unquote, explore.


2:10


* So we were missing for, I want to say, like the whole day. So they got the whole village, which is like all our relatives, to go look for us.


2:16


* So we came back and they were like, Would you go to?


2:24


* But we were just like, it's like, you know, having a little like exploration or having an adventure.


2:29


* So that was like my earliest memory of Vietnam and then of San Jose, I think of of when it was Halloween.


2:33


* And my parents, like, didn't know what Halloween is, obviously, because they don't have that in Vietnam.


2:42


* So we didn't have, like a costume, nor do we have, like, the money for it.


2:47


* So my mom just, like, threw on a dress and was like, okay, you could be a princess now.


2:51


* But like, that wasn't enough because, you know, as a kid, you wanted, like, the costume in the mask.


2:56


* So she drove us to Party City on in, like, Tula area to look for something there.


3:00


* But everything was, like, sold out. So I just went to school with a dress on.


3:08


* And there's a picture of me so angry at, like, five years old because I didn't have a costume on.


3:13


* So, yeah, that was my earliest memory. Well, I was just going to say, back in Vietnam, it literally takes a village.


3:20


* Yeah. I find you in reading that, actually. What drew you to nursing in the first place?


3:27


* It was funny cause my mom wanted me to be a doctor in order to compromise.


3:35


* I was like, Okay, I'll do nursing, because even at a young age, I knew I did not want to be a doctor.


3:39


* I just knew. And then to order in order to appease, you know, any Asian parents, you're like, Yeah, I'll try it.


3:45


* So I did nursing, and in the beginning I, I actually did not want to do nursing because I was like.


3:51


* I don't know. It just was like. Because here's the thing about health care. That's like my thing about it.


4:00


* Like when you go into health care, it's a very, like, homogenized, like community, essentially, like everyone kind of like looks alike.


4:04


* Everyone has the same interests. Everyone like, has the same. How do I like pathway?


4:11


* Right. So going into that, I'm very I'm not like that.


4:16


* Like, I don't really like I don't know.


4:21


* It's very stiff like. So what's it called. A it's a stippling.


4:25


* There's a cycling to me and I don't, I don't really particularly, really enjoy that.


4:28


* And I don't like the competitiveness of health care because like to me, at the end of the day, we're in a really hard situation like school, right?


4:34


* You might as well help each other. And with anything in life, it's just more fun to do it together.


4:41


* It's just more easy, right? So those are the things I actually didn't really want to do.


4:46


* I think in my third year I wanted to like, drop out of school completely because I was just like having such a hard time with it.


4:51


* I was the only with a lot of like mental health stuff and school is just like not fun to me.


4:58


* And then I think I just like. You know, that immigrant mentality of like, just put your head down and keep going.


5:04


* So I was like, Let me just keep going. And then my first year of like outside of nursing or school when I was working, oh my God, I hated it so much.


5:12


* I wanted to quit. I was like, I don't know what I'm going to do. Maybe I'll go into like, tech or something or whatever.


5:24


* I was also away from home, so it made me like, just not like my situation, even though I had, like, really great friends, great mentor.


5:29


* It had like all the components I would like, but I just didn't like, I don't know, I didn't really click with me.


5:35


* And then it went on like that honestly, for a while.


5:41


* And mind you, this is when I was going through grad school, right?


5:45


* So it actually wasn't until maybe like a two years ago.


5:49


* Like halfway into my career that I was like, Oh, you know, I think I think I don't I want to particularly say like, I'm in love with nursing,


5:55


* Like it's my path where I wake up in the morning, I'm like nursing, you know, or like my parents are like, there's really no like.


6:03


* Uh, a sentimental story that comes with it.


6:11


* But I think for me that what I enjoyed about it is that it encompasses everything that I like, that I like to do, who I am as a person.


6:13


* There's a lot of like variety, right? You can do nursing, like on the phone or you can do in-person.


6:23


* There's different stuff you can try with it.


6:28


* The the nice thing about it is like, I like I like to find like purpose and stuff I do and like people will say, oh,


6:32


* you, you know, you're helping people, but I actually don't really find that to be like my main reason to do it.


6:40


* But rather, I think like I, I don't think these people are like, helpless, that they need help.


6:46


* You know, it's more so like they just need like some kind of, like, advice, like, oh, hey, here,


6:50


* I'm here as a resource because when you look at patients and when you look at people who need help,


6:55


* like it's very you're looking down on someone like that.


7:00


* And that will affect the way you view people because, oh, I'm, I have this knowledge, I have these skills and this experience.


7:02


* These people are helpless in a way because they're sick or whatever.


7:10


* They need my help. It feeds into this ego later on in a lot of like health care, people kind of have that ego and like,


7:15


* I don't think that's right because at the end of the day, like we're all equal. I'm just here to provide as like, resources if you need something.


7:22


* So that's one part of it. And I think the other part of it is just like, um, like stable income.


7:30


* It provides a lot of stable income. And like, that's what my parents always taught me.


7:37


* You know, you don't always have to like, like, love the job you do, but as long as you do it well and you like,


7:41


* yeah, as long as you do a good job at it, then I think that's important. And I think it feels like.


7:48


* My like my need to have are fulfills. Like all the means I like to have I'm able to do outside of work, like I'm able to,


7:56


* like, save money, to, like, give to my parents or I'm able to like take my friend Sally.


8:04


* To me, that also is so meaningful. So now I've been finding like different meanings in nursing and I think maybe that's just like a more


8:08


* I've like grown into this mindset of like my job is in like my identity and I don't think like,


8:17


* your job should be your identity. Your identity is like multifaceted of different things that like make up you as a person.


8:23


* What helped you stay motivated through your student journey?


8:30


* I think my family. So that's always like a motivating factor.


8:36


* And my like, my friends and like my support system and stuff like that.


8:42


* Therapy, their there feels great. And I think like after doing a little bit more therapy, like myself, I think like with anything in life,


8:48


* health care, any kind of job, whatever it may be, um, you know, external motivation.


8:57


* So like, family and friends can only get you so far, but you have to like, want to do it as well.


9:04


* And the mentality that you have to do that is actually like, you know, not to credit external factors.


9:11


* Now my mom, but my mom, like she's definitely like the person who puts her head down and just like, work like she's your true the grind.


9:18


* Don't stop hashtagging vibe. She works so much.


9:29


* And I think that just kind of like instilled in me as a person because I, I give up a lot.


9:34


* I give up a lot with a lot of things. But with me it's kind of like once I'm in it, then I just kind of like, keep going.


9:41


* So it's definitely helped me to I guess I continue on with a lot of things like I've done in life.


9:47


* But that's not to say that.


9:54


* Like to me that's just a portion of like what's motivated me to get to this point when I was in nursing school for my B.S. and it was so hard.


9:56


* I stayed up all nighters and everyone did. But you're literally like going to school full time classes on top of doing like clinical work.


10:06


* So waking up at like five in the morning, I'm getting home at like six,


10:14


* seven in the morning and you're doing this 2 to 3 times a day on top of doing classes and like setting for final.


10:17


* It was so rough. I am trying to maintain what called a social life and I was working at the same time.


10:23


* I was really trying to do it all for no reason, so that was really hard.


10:30


* But honestly, like I'm pretty sure was hard in the moment.


10:34


* But reflecting back, I had so much fun. I only remember like having so much fun and it was crazy and it was like difficult.


10:37


* I'm pretty sure I cried a lot too.


10:44


* But reflecting back like, I don't remember any, like, bad moments that I would be like, Oh, I should have just done this incorrectly,


10:45


* or I wish I didn't do that cause you, when you were like, really struggling together, like you're studying for these, like.


10:54


* It's like hard, hard test together. And you're like, I could feel out right now and you're so you're with like a group of five people who are like.


11:01


* And the test tomorrow can just determine my future and I could fail out of the school or keep going, you know?


11:09


* So you really lovely day by day. I think I think that instills this kind of like live in the moment mentality with a lot of a healthcare professional.


11:15


* So it's a lot of like work hard, play hard. So I would say shout out to like my nursing school friends, especially my friend Cathy, She the bomb.


11:25


* We were roommates. Yeah, she really got me through nursing school and like my friend asked and Sydney as well.


11:33


* And then throughout my DNP course, once again, like my classmates and just like my coworkers.


11:40


* So we were, we were I used to work night shifts a lot. And so there's a stereotype where late night shows a little bit crazy,


11:49


* but fun night or day shift, they're more like, you know, rule abiding and proper.


11:56


* They're still fun, but, you know, just less. They got sleep, so they're not as crazy.


12:00


* So just like the camaraderie that it builds when you're in a very high stress, high emotional, high, like physically draining profession.


12:07


* Yeah, it really like being like, brings people together. I don't know for good, I don't know for bad, but man, it was some sure fun times.


12:19


* Now that I work day shift, it's not the same anymore, you know, I get sleep.


12:27


* So I think more like a reasonable person. Are there specific memories that you have as a student here?


12:30


* Were you nostalgic for any locations or places? Oh, my gosh, I love this question.


12:38


* So, yes. When I was in a rush when I was a freshman, I'm still trying to figure out stuff here.


12:43


* And I was so like sick. I was so, like, sick.


12:50


* I think I had the flu or something. Maybe it was just a cold and I was just being dramatic.


12:53


* But like in back at home when I'm River, I'm sick.


12:57


* My mom makes me like porridge, like congee. And I'm in.


13:00


* I'm in my dorms. I can't cook and I'm so sick. And I was like, Oh, my God.


13:05


* And the only thing they have in this area, in like Richmond, areas like, you know, very American food.


13:08


* So I was like, oh my God. Like, oh, I got to, like, push myself to eat like, chicken nuggets to scratchy food down my throat.


13:15


* Like, it's so awful. And U.S. have got there like burritos, like just not a cure for a sick person.


13:21


* So I went on Yelp and I found this place. I don't remember the name.


13:27


* It's literally on 14th and Noriega. You walk all the way down.


13:30


* It's across the street from BBT. I think it's called like wonton house.


13:34


* I'm pretty sure it's Clementine House, actually. And they.


13:38


* Have porridge and it was $5 for a bowl of porridge.


13:43


* And I remember like taking the bus, the five taking to the 28 down, walking my sick body, and it was raining and opening the door.


13:49


* And no one like, speaks English. I don't speak Chinese.


14:02


* So I'm like, this place this. So I'm sitting in this like little booth that faces, like, the window and it's raining outside.


14:06


* It's actually super moody and nice. And they think about it and then it comes out and I'm eating.


14:14


* And like, in that moment, I was so homesick too, I think, when I was.


14:19


* I met you freshman year.


14:22


* I was telling you how homesick I was and I had that and oh my God, I like wanted to cry because it was like, so nice and like, comforting.


14:23


* And I'm a sucker for nostalgia, even if the food sucks.


14:31


* It may out of the nostalgia gets me, I'll keep going.


14:36


* So then, literally for four years straight, I try to convince all of my friends to go there and eat there with me.


14:39


* Food solid for five at best.


14:45


* But to me, I think, My God, this is a ten.


14:50


* I have the nostalgia fiber, all of my friends there, and they open late to places in places in us that don't really openly.


14:52


* They open till, I think two in the morning or three in the morning for a porridge place.


14:59


* So we I would go with my friends and it just became like a little place I liked.


15:06


* So yeah, I went to that place and then right across the street. BBT as f the bomb.


15:12


* That's too nice. Those are great porridge And Baba.


15:18


* Yeah, Great combination. Um, can you talk more about being a nursing simulation technician at USF?


15:22


* Mm hmm. It was so fun. I actually got that job like my senior year of.


15:32


* College when I was like. Like, I don't know what to do. I need to find a job.


15:38


* So it was really good because I work directly with a lot of like my nursing professors who I was once their student.


15:42


* In health care. You can learn like, you know, anatomy, physiology and whatever you can in the book.


15:48


* But the most important part of it is like the hands on work.


15:54


* So pretty much these simulation labs set up these scenarios that you go in and it differs depending on what grade you are.


15:57


* So freshman, sophomore, senior bubble ball and the scenarios get harder and harder.


16:05


* Slash pertains to whatever you're learning that semester.


16:09


* So we would put on these like scenarios for nursing students to do either I was physically the patient or we control these like,


16:13


* these like machine mannequins, right? And those mannequins are expensive.


16:21


* They're like ten to 15 to $20000 for one.


16:26


* So just imagine all these like little early 20 year old teens just like messing around with it.


16:30


* So it was wild. So we were put on these like scenarios and yeah, it's really funny because like, it's like kids teaching kids sometimes,


16:38


* but I would say that was like the best part of the nursing, one of the best part of the nursing program because you really got to like.


16:47


* You know what you learn, but then applied it before you went out to do clinicals.


16:54


* So yeah, that would be it. Yeah, that was going to be my next question.


16:59


* Do you feel that you were able to bring what you learned in the lab to your clinicals in real life?


17:03


* MM. I would say yes and no. I think it made me more comfortable with being like, watched.


17:10


* Right. Because you're in it with 5 to 10 other students and then your professor and you're doing stuff and they're critiquing you on it.


17:17


* So that aspect helped me improve.


17:25


* Just like, like stage fright, because a lot of what you do even outside, even like not with healthcare, even with anything,


17:28


* is a lot of it is stage fright because then you start to kind of like mess up once you know people are watching you.


17:35


* So that part helped me just feel more like confident in like my skills and asking for help


17:39


* and asking questions because those situations make you people like to say these question,


17:45


* these situation help you test you of what you know, what you don't know which is true.


17:52


* You know, I agree. But I think what it helps you learn is to be comfortable admitting what you don't know and asking for help.


17:57


* Cause that's a whole point about like health care.


18:05


* No one expects you to know everything. Like, you're not an encyclopedia. You're not a dictionary.


18:08


* No, No one is expecting, you know that. But people are expecting you to understand what you don't know and asking for help.


18:12


* And the whole experience really taught me like professionalism, like just professional relationships and development.


18:19


* Because from like an Asian background,


18:25


* like you're taught so that you are here and your professor is your boss or whoever is above you is like higher than you.


18:27


* And you can't really talk to them in like an equal way, but rather you request and you're kind of like,


18:35


* do your job and you kind of like put your head down and walk away. Right?


18:40


* But that job taught me to like, work directly with like professors, with professionals who I admire and who I wanted to be in the same career as them.


18:43


* So I it really made me like, come out of my shell to be able to, like, talk to them.


18:52


* And I asked them for like letters of recommendation, ask them for like, like advice on what I should do and just like,


18:57


* really get to know people that that who I probably wouldn't have gotten to know.


19:04


* So I would say that was the most rewarding experience out of it.


19:09


* And the hours were great. I was able to like, continue to come to USF even after I graduated.


19:13


* They gave me like a nice buffer when I was still looking for a job because I was still here doing that.


19:19


* So yeah, I would say I really liked it. If anyone is listening who's a nursing student, definitely get in that job.


19:25


* It's great. Nice plug to the nursing simulation technician.


19:31


* Yeah. You were also involved with the Vietnamese Student Association and culturally focused Clubs Council while at USF.


19:36


* Can you tell us more about that experience in the student associations?


19:45


* Yeah, I loved it. The ME Student Association.


19:50


* I only did it for a couple of semesters.


19:54


* Actually. Did her throughout? No. So I did it for a good amount, but it wasn't very active.


19:57


* But through that, like I got to like see a collected group of people who looked like me in like one space.


20:02


* And I think that was the first time in USF, aside from like, you know,


20:09


* meeting other Vietnamese looking people in a space or I was like, Oh, wow, like this feels like, like I'm in the Bay Area.


20:13


* But for some reason in San Francisco, it makes me feel like I'm not in the Bay Area because there's not a lot of enemies people here.


20:21


* So that was like the first moment where I'm like, Oh wow, like it feels like I'm back at home.


20:27


* So that was like really nice and they're so welcoming. Super, just like, just like super kind.


20:32


* And we had really, like similar experiences talking about, like San Jose, talking about like, you know, like Maple Story and stuff like that.


20:38


* Just like, stuff like that. That would be really just like, fun and grounded.


20:48


* Like, those aren't like crazy similarities, but just being able to have that in a space where like, I was so homesick was, was very like comforting.


20:52


* And then with a culturally focused club, I actually got into it like by chance, cause my friend India, who shadow India.


21:03


* And yeah, I was like, Oh, hey, we're looking for an office here. Do you want to join? I'm like.


21:14


* I was able to go to Chicago and participate in these conferences because of it.


21:19


* And then I just continued to stay and it was so fun.


21:22


* We created like a, like forums and like talks and we really developed the Cultural Council, I guess Cultural Council into like a bigger organization.


21:27


* We put on put out a very successful a talk where we introduce like the idea of prison school to prison pipeline.


21:38


* We did a lot of like fairs, we did a lot of just like forums that just opened a lot of like conversations between different culture and cause.


21:47


* I think about like different cultural clubs in U.S. for just college in general is very like segregated.


21:54


* You know, you have your culture club here, you have this and this, but there's really no like big counter community for them to come together.


22:01


* And I think the whole point of us was to build that collaboration.


22:07


* Like, for example, if you're a newer club, you only have like five members, right?


22:10


* But if you're like paired up and you kind of like talk to people from like bigger clubs,


22:15


* you're able to really like share that knowledge and it's just like it makes it so much


22:18


* more fun because then you have people who know what the process is like who can help you.


22:22


* And it was just like a bunch of people hanging out, honestly. Um, so I really enjoyed it and I made a lot of good friendships and rent.


22:27


* I forced all my friends to join and do stuff on it too.


22:34


* So yeah, I would say it really, really shaped me who I am as a person because it got me more into like student activism.


22:37


* I was on the the secretary socially finance person and I really know what it took to like run an organization,


22:45


* quote unquote small, but like, there's a lot of planning, there's a lot of request.


22:52


* You can't just like, buy stuff because you want to you have to like request for it and you have to come up with a project proposal.


22:57


* All this stuff that is in the background that you never really think about.


23:03


* So being able to have that knowledge and then like let other organizations understand that because like, you know what, it's so sad.


23:07


* If you create an organization, you don't have the money, money to like, fund these things and then you,


23:15


* like, disband because that's like representative of like a culture identity that might have never been seen.


23:19


* Right? So just having that knowledge pushed on or passed on to people, whatever it may be, if they took it or not, who knows?


23:24


* But it was it was just nice to like, have that experience.


23:31


* How do you feel that you have been able to express and tap into your Vietnamese-American culture from where you grew up?


23:36


* Actually, when I was younger, I hated being Vietnamese.


23:47


* I hated being Asian because, like, I don't know, I just, like, hated it.


23:51


* I just hate being the other person. Like, granted, I came from a community where everyone looked like me,


23:54


* but there's so much, like, internalized racism that I think it's taught with a lot of,


23:59


* like, minorities about, like hating yourself, about hating like what you like, what you do, where you come from.


24:04


* I never understood why people like, like ketchup are like mayonnaise growing up.


24:11


* I love it now, but like back then I was like, This sucks, but, like, everyone's eating it.


24:15


* So I feel like I have to, like, like it, you know, the typical peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and all that stuff.


24:19


* But growing older, it wasn't until like college where I was like away from my community and like my mom that I was like,


24:24


* man, Vietnamese people like me, food culture, like rocks, like, I should really appreciate it more.


24:32


* And like now I don't I think I still have a little bit of that internalized racism.


24:39


* When people ask me, What's my favorite food? I'm like, Oh, Vietnamese food? Because it's like, okay, well, obviously, but also like, like, who cares?


24:43


* You know, who cares? It tastes good. I like it. I grew up with that.


24:51


* There's a lot of, like, cultural and, like, emotional, like, uh, what's like, significance with it?


24:54


* So it makes me like it more so I definitely feel less embarrassed about it.


25:01


* But there's always, like, these tang of moments where I'm like.


25:05


* You know, it's always there, but it's gone a lot better.


25:11


* You mentioned Vietnamese food being very special to you.


25:14


* What are some favorite dishes? Oh, okay.


25:18


* So, of course y'all know, like fire and all that stuff, But I.


25:22


* I really like. But. So it's.


25:27


* It's like chan fun from, like, a rice paper where they put stuff in there except they put minced pork or me with, like, mushrooms, a wood ear.


25:30


* And then they roll it up into a little roll and then they pour a bunch of like fish sauce down in there with,


25:39


* like vegetables, ham and stuff like that. So I really like food like that.


25:43


* I really like things with a lot of greens in there. But it's so funny.


25:48


* When I eat American food, it has to be like less salty and less like oily.


25:52


* But mayo and it's vitamins with extra salt and some fish sauce make it as pungent as possible.


25:57


* That is also one of my favorites. Oh, really? Good. So yeah.


26:06


* Do you like making it for yourself the way your mom makes it or going out somewhere to buy it?


26:09


* I've actually I've never made it myself because Vietnamese food is so hard to make.


26:15


* It's like a whole process of preparation and it takes like a whole day to do it.


26:18


* So I'm like, Oh God, no.


26:25


* So there's this plays on in Vietnam town car men go on that in like right next to like your into entry and stuff like that that serves it really


26:26


* well it's affordable less than like $15 a portion and yeah like it's accessible it's so good people should go and it's like fairly like,


26:37


* you know. Healthy, you know, just take out you just eat it raw maybe, but healthier than like a lot of the stuff that's out there, I guess.


26:46


* Yeah. Throwing it. Just throw some vegetables or some cucumbers and just a lot of salt, but little less than maybe the last year.


26:57


* Yeah, exactly. Are there specific Vietnamese traditions that you really value?


27:03


* Uh, yes. I think there's two with any cultural background.


27:08


* I love, like the ANI celebration of things. It's so extra.


27:14


* I think that's why I like vitamins. People are so extra.


27:19


* So. With New Year's, um, I don't know if it's, like, a cross-cultural thing, but my mom and I,


27:24


* we make food, vegetarian food, and, like, I think a chicken or something like that.


27:31


* And then we offer it up to, like, our ancestors or like the gods or something like that.


27:36


* Yeah. The day before that New Year's, if New Year's is on the 31st. So that's really fun.


27:42


* And then the next day we go to Temple and Vietnamese Temple.


27:46


* They blow firecrackers. You're just eating vegetarian food. It's a blast.


27:50


* And then the second thing, our enemies weddings, like traditional Vietnamese weddings, it's crazy.


27:54


* They celebrate over like, like 24 hours. You're going to the bride?


27:59


* No, the groom's house. And then you're partying it up there, and then you like it's like a village.


28:04


* I don't know. I guess it's different, the city, but it's like a village thing.


28:11


* So you invite the whole village to the house of the person whose wedding it is.


28:13


* You party people stay there till like 5 a.m. the whole night.


28:18


* The bridal party, the groom's party go to sleep. They wake up at 5 a.m., get ready, go to the bride's house to, like, pick up the bride.


28:22


* It's like 20 people. Stop in these cars driving, bring the bride pack for another party.


28:32


* So yeah, I really like that. So you like to party?


28:40


* Drive around and party? Yeah, because it's this is like, it's so fun.


28:47


* Like you involve, like.


28:51


* Like the village, like the community members, like everyone in your, like you said, like it takes like a whole village to raise someone.


28:52


* I think about like these community members in these, like, like in Vietnam or these like small town areas.


28:59


* Is that like you're all kind of like family and sometimes your family, you know, uncles living nearby.


29:05


* But the nice thing about it is that you feel very like connected to everyone there.


29:10


* So when you have like something good or when you have something bad,


29:14


* it's it's like shared like, you know, those like feelings are like shared with everyone.


29:17


* So it creates a community in that way. Can you walk us through what your career journey has been after Yousef?


29:22


* Hmm. So I worked temporarily at the simulation place for a little bit, and then I got my first job at a sniff scare skills nursing facility.


29:28


* Pretty much where, if you're like. It's kind of like a like an elderly home, Right?


29:39


* That was rough. It was so rough. People there are really, really sick, dying or really, really old.


29:46


* Like, I was so sad. I was like, What am I doing? I went to school for four years to get this job.


29:53


* And it wasn't like I was looking down on the job. I just hated where I was so much that I was like, I don't want to do this anymore.


29:58


* And then I got my first job, quote unquote, real inpatient job at Kaiser in L.A., moved there for a year and then missed home.


30:05


* So then I applied for Stanford. Big Stanford or Adele.


30:15


* Stanford worked in the oncology gynecology unit for two one and a half years and then some really great people.


30:18


* And then I was like. I, I want to do ICU now because when I was in school I wanted to be an ICU and PE or ED and PE, one of the two.


30:29


* I was like, I need to get ICU experience. So then I went to the Children's Hospital.


30:41


* Hospital, see the ICU. So cardiovascular ICU intensive care unit.


30:48


* I did that for a year. I hurt my back. Then I was like, I can't be doing this anymore.


30:52


* Like I pe once every 12 hours if that.


30:58


* I don't eat anything. I can't. I just can't. My body's just breaking down.


31:01


* So then I applied for my current job, which is an outpatient pediatric clinic.


31:06


* You had worked at the Asian Livers Center. You worked as an outreach intern to the Vietnamese community.


31:15


* Can you talk more about the center and how it came about and also your experience doing outreach to the Vietnamese community specifically?


31:21


* Mm hmm. So really fun experience, too.


31:29


* I just saw like a notice on U.S. mail and I'll say, okay, I'll fly.


31:32


* So then I got the position and I worked with five or six other interns in, like, uh, one in college too, right?


31:36


* So we worked literally right next to the hospital.


31:46


* And like, during this time when I was still in school, I was like.


31:51


* You know, the dream is to work at Stanford. This is going to be my way in.


31:55


* This is going to be my way. So I literally jumped on it.


31:59


* So I stayed. Oh, I did it. And it was like your true bread and butter.


32:03


* Like public health. Right. So we would put on these like, like health fairs.


32:08


* And I did one with based off of like a like from what's it called.


32:14


* But it was like a like hepatitis B awareness.


32:19


* That was the whole point of Asian liver center because did you know hepatitis B is one of the leading cause, leading chronic conditions out there?


32:21


* It's just not prevalent here is because we have a lot of vaccines and people are like,


32:30


* you know, fairly healthy, but it's actually very, very prominent in developing countries.


32:35


* Like high up there with like HIV and everything, too. So that was like their main research and that was like what they focused on.


32:39


* And lo and behold, a lot of Asian communities have hepatitis B, like,


32:44


* I'm pretty sure like, you know, someone with hepatitis B whether or not they know or not.


32:51


* So we would do a lot of outreach to get tested and to get vaccinated.


32:55


* So like, you know, pure public health stuff.


32:58


* And that was like another project management job where you had to learn how to like budget finance put on like a show.


33:01


* So that was like really fun. I think the hardest part about it was just like.


33:08


* The older your population is, the harder it is to market to them.


33:14


* And then, like people of color especially, so hard to market because there's a lot of like distrust in the system.


33:18


* Fair, you know, very fair. But you have to be so very particular like because they're not going to like, listen to the radio.


33:26


* 94.9 No, you have to like, find Vietnamese channels to broadcast to.


33:34


* You have to, like, know what they do.


33:39


* And it's a lot of his word of mouth, because if their friends don't know about it, then they're not going, you know.


33:41


* So that was the hardest part. And I think just getting a lot of buy in from communities of color because like, you know, why should they trust you?


33:50


* Right. You can have incentives and stuff like that, but why should they care?


33:57


* You can be like, oh, this is this will prevent you from having liver cancer.


34:00


* This will help you. But they don't care because they don't trust they don't trust the system, you know,


34:04


* So I think that made me a lot more it was a very difficult, like process to get people to want to do these things.


34:09


* And that's what I learned. Not everyone will care. But the best thing about it is that like when you do get by and you're like, Oh my God.


34:17


* Yes. One out of like 20 people actually care about this.


34:26


* And so you just kind of roll with that momentum.


34:30


* And I think that's like the nice thing about health care that I really like because, man, you'll get like 20 patients.


34:32


* You'll tell them, Hey, you need to do this and this and this and this will save your life.


34:38


* They'll be like, No, I don't care. I'm going to keep doing this.


34:42


* I'm going to eat butter, whatever it may be.


34:45


* But then you just get that one person who, like, changes their diet and then you see them in a couple of months and they're like,


34:48


* you know, sugar is lower and their cholesterol's lower. Just one, just one out of like.


34:54


* But Jillian, you're like, Oh my God, yes, I'm doing something.


34:58


* I'm making an impact. So that's like you're like very that's like basically what health care is about.


35:01


* You'll talk to, like, billions of people, but you'll get like one or five percentage of that.


35:09


* But so rewarding. I think that's what keeps you going. Well, thank you.


35:14


* As you've established yourself as a nurse, what lessons have you carried with you from USF?


35:19


* USF is huge on social like advocacy and just like social justice.


35:24


* And I think I've always had the mentality of like, you know, everyone should have like equal access and like, equitable access, selling things, right?


35:30


* But you also have to definitely hone that a lot more.


35:37


* I remember one of my clinical rotation, we went to a clinic in the Tenderloin, like Heart of Tenderloin for LGBTQ Plus and the Trans like.


35:40


* It was also a trans clinic. And where are you going to get that experience?


35:53


* Except San Francisco, right? And I loved it.


35:58


* It was so hard because you're working with populations who have different co-morbidities,


36:02


* different like mental health issues, a bunch of social issues. And I was like a student.


36:07


* So I was teaching them like how to eat healthier, how to, like, do mental health, you know, stuff like that,


36:11


* that in the moment I'm like, this isn't going to change anything, isn't going to change their situation.


36:16


* But being exposed to just like different population and just different communities out there.


36:21


* Courtesy of USF has taught me like the bubble that I'm in.


36:29


* The privilege thiamin is so like, like shielding me from a lot of stuff.


36:33


* Being a Yusef is like in a bubble. You're in like a privilege, like space.


36:38


* But going out to these communities, you're like, Wow. Like everyone's has their own, like struggle.


36:43


* Everyone, like, needs different things in life that you may not be aware about, right?


36:48


* Because when you go in to health care, um, very common for people to view patients as stereotypes sometimes are good, sometimes are bad.


36:55


* And what happens is that, you know, when like a homeless patient comes in, you view them as,


37:05


* okay, they're homeless, they probably are on some kind of I.V. or drug use, right.


37:11


* That obviously they don't have a home, poor nutrition or co-morbidities, X, Y and Z.


37:16


* So those are the stereotypes you have Some of the good I guess I don't know if there's good, but some of the generalization,


37:20


* helpful generalization is like, okay, they're homeless, so they probably don't have access to meals, access to health care.


37:26


* You can't expect them to like, change their wounds four times a day, right?


37:33


* The bad are like they use IV drug use.


37:37


* They don't care about their health. They're X, Y, and Z like that.


37:41


* So it's very common in health care with health care professionals.


37:45


* And it's like really unfortunate because that inhibits you from viewing the person as like a person.


37:50


* And that's a huge push now for health care professionals to view patients as people,


37:58


* not what their conditions are, what their chart, pretty much their chart says.


38:03


* And I didn't realize how lucky I was to have that exposure and have those lessons


38:08


* embedded in a lot of my classes from my U.S. professors until I started working.


38:15


* Because, you know, I've worked in South Bay, I've worked in like really privileged areas like Stanford.


38:21


* I worked in L.A. and you'll meet people who still have a lot of those, like,


38:26


* stereotypes and mentalities that they carry in with their job of seeing the chart.


38:31


* And just this is what you see in the chart is what you think the patient is like.


38:37


* That's not true. But being from UCSF, it kind of like made me realize like, okay, why are they homeless?


38:41


* Why are they using drugs? Why are they experienced these things X, Y, and Z?


38:48


* So it makes you kind of like understand what factors have led to this person here, right?


38:53


* Smoking, for example. Ever. Like a lot of homeless folks smoke a lot of like, individuals who use drugs, smoke.


38:59


* But then you don't realize, like, okay, are they smoking? Because that's less harmful than I.V. drug use.


39:06


* And if that's their best coping mechanisms and yo, let them smoke, you know, like if if this is going to prevent them from like doing something worse.


39:13


* Sure. So just like understanding people and where they're coming from and kind of like working with that, I was it.


39:21


* Yeah, that's the most valuable thing.


39:29


* And it's just I think with health care, I, I really like it because that's like a true, not a true, but that's like for me the most.


39:31


* Concrete way to like to, like, be able to. Give back.


39:42


* I want to say cause like, I kind of question like, when we do things in life, I kind of question like, is there a purpose to this?


39:47


* Like my making an impact, you know? But with health care, like, I feel like you're you really are, at least for me, Like,


39:54


* I really I'm making some kind of impact in some kind of way and having people understand that like


40:00


* prevention and like primary care is great if you can prevent a lot of these things from happening.


40:08


* Like you cut out a lot of the future comorbidities and half.


40:15


* And when you when you talk about prevention, a lot of it is like privilege and background.


40:18


* If you have the money to eat vegetables, healthy food, boom, you prevented high cholesterol, diabetes, right?


40:24


* If you have the time, if you work in like a really from a good high paying job,


40:30


* then of course you can exercise like if you're doing hours of work and you're getting paid like 100 something grant a year,


40:36


* Of course, you have time for Pilates every day, right?


40:41


* So just having people understand that there's like a lot of different things that, like, you can ask people to, like, be healthy and, like, do.


40:43


* Focus on their health and do whatever.


40:52


* If you're not like working with people in like their conditions and just like what they currently have, like you're going to go nowhere.


40:54


* You're going to be talking to a wall because one.


41:00


* You don't respect the person and who they are and to like, they're not going to respect you because they're like, You don't even know who I am.


41:04


* You're not trying to learn who I am. So I think just understanding of that and seeing where people come from.


41:10


* Thank you so much for being here and sharing your story.


41:17


* We really appreciate the experience and stories that you've just shared with us and listeners.


41:20


* And also thank you so much for what you do day to day saving lives and important health care work that you do.


41:27


* Thank you for being here. Yeah, thank you for having me. Thank you again to our guest, Non Bow.


41:33


* It was so great to hear about Nolan's relationship with vitamins, culture and nursing.


41:44


* Thank you to Christine Alarcon, Michael Robinson, Matilda Tavares and Chadwick Woodard for producing.


41:50


* Thanks to Miranda Morris and Kay Yousef. And of course, thank you for listening to the opinion podcast.


41:57


* We hope you tune in to our other wonderful conversations.


42:03


* Go dance. I am.


42:06