Nurse of the Week: Rep Underwood Goes to Washington

Nurse of the Week: Rep Underwood Goes to Washington

Some nurses could easily be Nurse of the Week 52 weeks a year, and Lauren Underwood is one of them.

In 2018, Lauren Underwood, BSN, MSN, MPH inspired nurses and women of color everywhere when she became the youngest Black woman to be elected to Congress. Illinois’ 14th District Congressperson had accomplished a great deal prior to her election and has been busy blazing new trails since her swearing-in. Underwood is still a nurse as well, so it was clear from the start that she was not going to be the kind of representative who spends their time vying for social media “Likes.”

The dean of New York University’s Rory Meyers College of Nursing , Eileen Sullivan-Marx, Ph.D., MS, BSN, conducted a lengthy interview with Underwood in August and has generously allowed DailyNurse to share some choice excerpts. Let’s check in with Illinois’ MSN on the Hill…

What Made/Makes Rep Underwood Run?

Underwood first was drawn to public policy as a teen, and in 2009 earned both her MPH and MSN at Johns Hopkins. Already a vocal advocate of the ACA, in 2014 the Obama administration tapped her to join their team as a policy advisor, and she quickly became an MVP in the push to obtain passage of the ACA. After Obama left office, she found a position as Senior Director of Strategy and Regulatory Affairs at Next Level Health and served as an adjunct instructor at the Georgetown University School of Nursing & Health Studies.

But what prompted her to take on the enormous challenge of running for office? As a promising candidate back in 2018, she told Janice Phillips at Minority Nurse that she had been bitterly disappointed by her predecessor during the ACA repeal frenzy after the end of Obama’s term. At a local League of Women Voters meeting, her own representative “said that he was only going to support a version of Obamacare repeal that allowed people with preexisting conditions to keep their coverage.” As Underwood herself has a heart condition – AND had worked hard to get the ACA passed – she felt invested both professionally and personally in the rep’s promise.

“When I walked into a room, even with people who didn’t share my political point of view, they knew that I was very clear on what was going on in our health care system.”

However, “A week to ten days later he went and voted for the American Health Care Act, which is a version of repeal that did the opposite. It made it cost-prohibitive for people like me to get coverage. But, she stressed, “I was upset not at the vote itself, but because he did not have the integrity to be honest the one time he stood before our community…. A representative is supposed to be transparent, accessible, and honest. And we deserve better. I said, ‘you know what, it’s on! I’m running.’”

Early this summer, Sullivan-Marx asked Underwood, “What was one of the drivers as to why you kept leaping forward beyond the usual kind of candidate?”

“Two things,” Underwood responded: “The number one issue in the election was health care and I brought expertise as a nurse. Someone who worked on the ACA. I was working for a provider—a private company. I’ve been a patient and I understood the law as it was, and I had a greater understanding of the ACA than my opponent, the Congressman, and then all my primary opponents— these six guys –they’re great guys—they just did not have the expertise.

When I walked into a room, even with people who didn’t share my political point of view, they knew that I was very clear on what was going on in our health care system. I had many solutions. They knew that I understood the problem and I understood what was going on with their families and that I had been fighting for years to try to solve it… That enabled us to walk into every room and be taken seriously, even if we didn’t agree on anything. People knew that on this issue, which was important to them, that I had credibility. The second thing is that we were willing to show up everywhere in person to engage people and build connections.

The Most Trusted Profession Meets the Most Mistrusted Profession

Sullivan-Marx also asked Underwood to describe her typical day on Capitol Hill:

Underwood: “In this Congress, I am assigned to two committees—the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs (VA). I’m on the Health Subcommittee. The VA is an incredible health care system that has its challenges. I focus pretty exclusively on suicide prevention, mental health, and women’s health care. The VA has this unbelievable responsibility for caring for women veterans across the lifespan. I think folks forget that there are still cadet nurse corps members from World War II that are alive and they’re active and they’re getting care in the VA that has been inconsistent at best.

“I think that nurses take for granted that every elected official knows a nurse or has interacted with nurses. We assume that they know about the work that we do.

In my experience that is completely false. They have no clue what happens at schools of nursing. They have no idea the level of expertise that a BSN graduate brings.”

I also serve on a House Committee on Appropriations. The Congress has three core functions: we create programs and we call that authorizing to solve problems. We fund the federal government appropriations, including funding those programs, and then we do Congressional oversight over the executive branch. Within the appropriations committee, I am assigned to the Agriculture Subcommittee, which also has jurisdiction over the Food and Drug Administration. That’s how we fund COVID and tobacco. Trying to make sure that we are curbing the tobacco usage epidemic. And then I serve on the Homeland Security Subcommittee. There we have ICE [U.S. Custom and Immigration Enforcement], immigration, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), cyber security, and the US–Mexico border and the Canadian border. It’s fascinating and then obviously I still do health care work, too.”

Calling all Nurses…

Toward the end of the interview, Sullivan-Marx asked, “What kind of assistance would be great for nursing to give you? How can we be helpful to you?”

The Congresswoman said, “Nurses have been so helpful for us in terms of gathering and presenting evidence. Many of these problems have a local focus and for us in Congress it is very difficult to get that kind of local data. Evaluation type data demonstrating that an intervention is effective. We can build relationships with nurses, either in our communities or folks who’ve been impacted by these problems. Site visits and testimonial stories are very powerful.

“We [nurses] have got to do better about inviting them [members of Congress] in.”

I think that nurses take for granted that every elected official knows a nurse or has interacted with nurses. We assume that they know about the work that we do. In my experience that is completely false. They have no clue what happens at schools of nursing. They have no idea the level of expertise that a BSN graduate brings. They have no idea what APRNs do. They have no idea what practicing to the full extent of our education and training means. We [nurses] have got to do better about inviting them [members of Congress] in. My colleagues are very familiar with physician education. Their whole advocacy strategy is completely different than how nursing engages members of Congress and we’ve got to step it up.”

Yes, let’s step it up! The full interview with Underwood is a great read. If you have an opportunity, check out Policy, Politics, and Nursing Practice, “Eileen Sullivan-Marx Interview of Representative Lauren Underwood (Democrat-Illinois 14th District)” here.

Thanks to Eileen Sullivan-Marx for graciously sharing her interview with DailyNurse.

Will Nurse of the Week Vaughn Mugol Become the First RN Pop Superstar?

Will Nurse of the Week Vaughn Mugol Become the First RN Pop Superstar?

Normally, Beaumont, Texas RN Vaughn Mugol sings to his bedside patients on the Christus St. Elizabeth’s oncology unit. On Monday, though, our Nurse of the Week wowed the likes of Ariana Grande, John Legend, and Kelly Clarkson during his audition for The Voice.

Using vocal chops that have cheered patients since 2017, Mugol performed a moving interpretation of Ed Sheeran’s “The A-Team.” All three judges turned their chairs in support of him, and Mugol chose Grande as his coach. All three judges were also surprised to hear that Mugol’s usual audience is his bedside patients. An admiring Legend remarked, “I feel that what you did required a lot of seasoning that one doesn’t expect from people who haven’t performed on big stages.”

The 27-year-old Mugol has always used his vocal talents on the oncology unit. In his Voice introductory video, he said, “At those vulnerable moments, usually I open up and sing to them when I know that they need it. To be able to help people with the healing process is very rewarding.”

However, John Legend may take some consolation in knowing that the Christus oncology unit has not been Mugol’s sole performance space. Prior to his network debut, Mugol often performed at local parties in Beaumont’s Filipino community – and previous auditors are not surprised that all three Voice judges wanted to be his selected coach. Melanie Lanuza, a family friend who has known Mugol since his childhood, says “We always sing karaoke at our Filipino parties, and I was surprised that he was so young and wanted to sing. None of the other kids were interested, but he wanted to sing. He blew me away even when he was so young.”

Paul Guidroz, chief nursing officer for Christus, proudly says that he spotted Mugol’s talent early. “In their orientation,” he remarked, “I spend time with all the new nurses as they begin their residency program. And in that session… I shared with him that, ‘Hey, I hear that you enjoy singing.’ I said, ‘Don’t lose that passion. You never know where it might take you.’”

Katy Kiser, communications director for Christus Health, cheered on their musical RN, saying of Mugol: “He’s an amazing nurse and he has full Christus support for his courage to go and sing on a national stage… We are all #VoteVaughn over here.”

For more details, see the article in the Beaumont Enterprise.

Nursing Side Gigs: Ear Piercing

Nursing Side Gigs: Ear Piercing

This is part of a regular series about side gigs—nurses with interesting side jobs or hobbies. This month, we spotlight a nurse who performs ear piercings.


While many people have gotten their ears pierced at a kiosk at the mall, others are getting theirs done by nurses. Samantha Alvarado, RN, Clinical Nurse Manager at Rowan , took time to answer our questions about her experience. (While Alvarado works at this full-time, it can be a side gig for many nurses.)

How did you get interested in performing ear piercing on the side? How long have you been doing it?  

I have always had a keen interest in piercing ears. For several years, I worked in a pediatrician’s office, and we were receiving requests daily for ear piercings. One of the physicians in the practice knew I did piercings, and we had so many requests by parents, he asked if I would manage the program. Remember, your choice was limited to your pediatrician or [a place] at the mall.

Rowan nurse

How often do you work piercing ears—part-time? If so, how many hours/days a week do you work? Where do you go to do it?  

I work full-time, mostly out of our Upper East Side Location, which opened last August. We are always booked with a line for walk-ins. In addition, we also do in-home piercings and “piercing parties.”  I travel Coast to Coast to onboard and train all of our nurses in-person to make sure we provide the best and most consistent experience.

How did you get into this type of work? Why do you enjoy it?  

For as long as I can remember, I have always been curious about ear piercing. I used to pierce my friends’ ears in high school. When I became a Registered Nurse, I liked to do piercings on the side, as it’s one of the more happy and festive occasions where needles are involved.

I’ve always felt it to be a unique opportunity for people to express and celebrate their individuality. Specific to Rowan, I became involved pretty much from the beginning when we were a company of about four people. A friend introduced me to the founder, Louisa Serene Schneider, and after speaking with her for five minutes I felt so aligned with her vision. Her enthusiasm and her prioritization of “safety and celebration” really hit home for me.

Currently we employ hundreds of nurses nationwide.

If nurses are interested in getting involved in this kind of work, what would you suggest they do? Are Rowan places only located in certain states?    

We are always looking to hire Licensed Practical Nurses. The business has grown considerably over the last year due to Covid. In addition to the stand-alone locations on the Upper East side, and Westport outpost (coming this summer) we have studios across the country in local Target stores.

As an alternative option, we have the capability to send nurses pretty much anywhere to do in-home piercings. Nurses who are interested in learning more about our processes can go directly to heyrowan.com to learn more about the job and apply on our website. In addition to the multiple Target locations we are already in, we anticipate having around 200 locations across the United States this summer. And we are hiring.

What do you get out of it beside the money?

I’d say the satisfaction of knowing that I am providing people with a safe and memorable ear-piercing experience.

Is there anything that is important for our readers to know?   

We are opening multiple new locations in California and are looking to hire hundreds of Licensed Practical Nurses.

It Began with EMR Issues: How Nurse of the Week Alice Kim Became a Software Engineer

It Began with EMR Issues: How Nurse of the Week Alice Kim Became a Software Engineer

Why do nurses seem to be so good at transitioning to successful health care and nursing-adjacent careers? 

Well, even if you have been an RN for only a year or two, between your time in nursing school and on the job, you should be a walking bundle of much sought-after employability skills . Nurses’ training, experience, and natural or acquired abilities make them MVPs in all sorts of settings. They’re known for their communication expertise, leadership and organizational skills, high EQs, aptitude for teamwork, and being problem-solvers who can identify priorities during a crisis and quickly—but calmly—handle them. During every shift you deploy talents that can help you start your own business or become a prized employee at a startup, a health insurer, a hub services provider… or a professional MMA fighter

Among the many nurses who have moved into alternate careers, our Nurse of the Week, California NICU nurse-turned-software engineer Alice Kim is an outstanding example of an occupational reset: Alice now combines her dedication to health care and drive to resolve systemic problems with a growing collection of mad coding skills!

DailyNurse met with Alice to learn how an NICU nurse ended up as a programmer with her own GitHub account and a position helping Trusted Health act as a matchmaker between nurses and nursing job opportunities.

DailyNurse: Let’s flashback to your life before you became enticed by coding and software engineering. You originally worked as an NICU nurse?

Nurse of the Week Alice Kim, of Trusted Health.
Alice Kim, of Trusted Health.

AK: I was a nurse for almost a year and a half. I actually went into high school wanting to be a nurse and never thought that I would be doing anything else!

DN: What did you like best about working in the NICU?

AK: Probably my favorite part was seeing babies go home. Or at least preparing the discharge, because I worked the night shift. That’s always a great feeling, seeing the parents be really excited and getting to say, “bye, don’t come back!”

DN: So, when you started working on the NICU, what was the first thing that made you think, “There has to be a better way to do this?”

AK: I saw a lot of issues that just felt like they could be more modern. I think the first time that I said, “you know, we could modernize something,” was when I heard almost all of the nurses complaining about the EMR (electronic medical records), and how it’s confusing. That’s kind of where it kick-started. 

I began to notice different aspects of just working in a hospital that for some reason, haven’t been modernized. And hearing people talk about things also made me aware of problems. A lot of people brushed off the issues, but I kept thinking, “if we could improve on these things, it would be cool to be a part of it.”

DN: So you wanted to get involved in helping to resolve these problems, whether it’s usability issues with the EMR or staffing. You began to learn coding while you were still in the NICU. When did you finally leave nursing?

AK: I left to study coding full-time and went to a coding boot camp, which was about three months long. And I got my first coding job two or three months after that.

DN: Wow, that’s fast! 

AK: Yeah, I got lucky. My first coding job was outside of healthcare, but I had known that I wanted to end up in healthcare at some point to tackle the specific problems that I was noticing. So it’s really cool that I ended up at Trusted because, you know, one of the problems we are tackling is the staffing issue. It’s super cool to be able to be a part of that solution because that’s kind of what I wanted to do from the beginning.

“It is hard to really muster up the confidence to make a big jump. For me, I found that confidence when I decided to trust not in the outcome, but in whatever my strengths were.”

DN: What are you handling at Trusted Health? 

AK: One of the things our team is doing is build out different parts of the experience of matching a nurse with a job. Right now, we’re doing travel nursing, building out the tools that the nurses will use to find a job. There’s a lot of other stuff that happens in the background, but essentially, we’re working on the process of matching up nurses to different types of jobs based on whatever criteria they’re looking for. 

DN: How long have you been at Trusted, now?

AK: I just reached my one-year anniversary. 

DN: Oh, my gosh, you had a baptism by fire! You started at Trusted during the first surge of the pandemic?

AK: Yeah, shelter in place had just started, right when I got the offer. So, by the time I started, we were already seeing these surges, and the hotspots were going everywhere.

DN: So you’ve been working at pandemic speed from day one. Well, anything after this should be cake! What parts of your nursing education and experience are most useful to you now?

AK: I would have to say, adaptability is a big thing. As a nurse, you are required to adapt to all of these fast changes that occur—and it’s the same with engineering—a lot of changes happen, and a lot of new things are constantly coming out.

Another thing is being able to learn something really quickly. That was something that I had started to learn as a nurse, and it got even more solidified as I transitioned into engineering.

“Adaptability is a big thing. As a nurse, you are required to adapt to all of these fast changes that occur—and it’s the same with engineering—a lot of changes happen, and a lot of new things are constantly coming out.”

DN: We’ve long known that many nurses become burned out. So, nurses at all sorts of ages must be thinking, “I can’t do this anymore. But nursing is all I know how to do!” Do you have any advice for nurses in that position? 

AK: I think that it’s always daunting to leave the nursing profession because this is a huge change. Even if it’s going from bedside to a more non-clinical setting, it is a pretty big change. 

I’ve had nurses ask me about this, and I think the first step is to see if there’s anything that really piques your interest. And then, if it does, you just need to kind of grit your teeth, be brave, and find something that will give you confidence—because it is so daunting, and it is hard to really muster up the confidence to make a big jump. For me, I found that confidence when I decided to trust not in the outcome, but in whatever my strengths were. 

“In moving from nursing to a new career, I think the main point is getting started. And attaining that mindset is a key to starting that transition, wherever the transition may be..”

One of the things that I always fall back on is I try and trust my work ethic, and the outcome is not as important to me. If it is a huge failure, as long as you learn something from it or have some sort of takeaway, it’s not really a failure, in my opinion.

In moving from nursing to a new career I think the main point is getting started. And attaining that mindset is a key to starting that transition, wherever the transition may be.

DN: What is your favorite part of what you’re doing at Trusted? 

AK: I think the greatest thing is that we have an amazing mission statement, where our mission is to help people everywhere get care. It’s one that really resonates with me, as ultimately, that’s why I wanted to be a nurse. And why I also decided to make the transition. 

So, for me, having a company that is mission-oriented like that, it’s just a good feeling. Because I feel like the work that I am doing on a day-to-day basis is having an impact on something personal as well, as you know, for the company. 

I also really love that we are supporting nurses. Because I know from being a nurse, sometimes you don’t feel that support. We’re very “nurse-first”. And when I was looking into a healthcare startup, or any sort of health care tech company, it was really important to me that they have that sort of culture. So, finding a company like that has been amazing. 

Nursing Side Gigs: TEAS and NCLEX Tutor

Nursing Side Gigs: TEAS and NCLEX Tutor

This is part of a monthly series about side gigs—nurses with interesting side jobs or hobbies. This month, we spotlight a nurse who is also a TEAS and NCLEX tutor.


When Alaina Ross, RN, BSN, was first out of nursing school, she was in her first nursing position, but had a lot of student loans to pay off. Ross, who currently works for Dignity Health in Sacramento, CA and also has 10 years of experience as a PACU nurse, decided to begin working as a tutor for the TEAS and NCLEX tests. She also is a tutor and expert contributor for Test Prep Insight .

Ross took time to answer our questions about her side gig of tutoring for TEAS and NCLEX.

Alaina Ross, RN, BSN

How did you get interested in doing tutoring for TEAS and NCLEX?  

I started tutoring nursing students for the TEAS and NCLEX. The TEAS (Test of Essential Academic Skills) is the standardized, multiple-choice exam that you generally have to take when applying to nursing school. It is meant to test basic academic skills that you will need in nursing school. The NCLEX, on the other hand, is the exam you take as you exit nursing school to get licensed as a nurse. It is meant to test your competency as a working nurse.

I had performed extremely well on both exams before and after nursing school, so I figured I could help other nursing students and make some money along the way.

How do you get connecting with people who need this kind of tutoring? How many students do you tend to tutor during a specific time period? How does the tutoring work? Do you tutor them via email, phone, Zoom?

In terms of how it works, students generally sign up with the tutoring company—which they usually find online—and we get connected through this middleman. Then once we are connected, I usually meet with students once to twice per week over Zoom while they are studying. This is one of the best parts of technology today; I can now tutor students all over the country, and I am not limited to just tutoring students in my area.

My preferred style of tutoring is to start each session by answering any lingering questions or concerns they have. They always have a handful of questions or issues they want to discuss, and we usually spend the first 10-15 minutes covering those. I try to be as efficient as possible with that portion of our time to make sure we get to other items. We then review a practice exam they take prior to the session and walk through all the wrong answer choices together. I cover the reason they got it wrong, what the right answer choice was, and the underlying concept. Then we usually wrap up by giving a little assigned work before the next session and signing off. On average, I tutor 4-5 students per week, for a total of around 7-8 one-hour sessions.  

If nurses are interested in getting involved in this kind of work, what would you suggest they do? What kind of fee can they expect to make for each person they tutor?    

If you’re interested in tutoring nursing students, just Google “TEAS tutoring” or “NCLEX tutoring,” and you’ll see a bunch of companies that provide this service. Email them and ask if they are hiring tutors, or check their job postings board. They are almost always hiring. Expect to make around $20-35/hr depending on your experience, which company you work for, and where you live.  

Why do you enjoy doing this kind of tutoring? What do you get out of it beside the money?

I love, love, love working with nursing students. They are so bright-eyed and eager to start helping people. It reminds me of why I got into nursing. Nursing students are positive and energetic, and I feed off of that. It actually inspires me to be a better nurse when I’m not tutoring.

Is there anything else important for our readers to know?

If you want to tutor on either these nursing exams, you have to really have a solid grasp of the material being tested. Students will pepper you with all kinds of questions and you need to be able to answer almost tall of them without hesitation. So if you yourself struggled with the TEAS or NCLEX, this may not be the best side hustle. That’s not to say you can’t do it, but you have to feel confident teaching the material.

Nursing Side Gigs: Mental Fitness Coach

Nursing Side Gigs: Mental Fitness Coach

This is part of a monthly series about side gigs—nurses with interesting side jobs or hobbies. This month, we spotlight a nurse who is also a mental fitness coach.


While Lakhila Tellis, RN, works full-time as a night shift nurse for a skilled nursing facility that serves people with a wide variety of co-morbidities—including mental illness—in her free time, she has a side gig as a mental fitness coach.

Although Tellis is busy—she has a book coming out in April called Excuse Your Excuses, she took time to answer our questions about her additional job.

How did you get interested in being a Mental Fitness Coach? What drew you to it? How long have you been doing it?

A year ago, I took a speaker mastery course. I knew I wanted to be a motivational speaker. I then considered staying in the realm of health care. I had a few ideas of what I wanted to do to help others such as being a nurse consultant or simply being a motivational speaker. Either way, I wanted to utilize my skills and knowledge to make an impact in many lives. Yet I had to narrow down what direction I wanted go with my speaking career. I actually discovered my niche while writing my book and confirmed my destiny with my talk show Activities of Daily Living. While developing content for my show, I was led to help people get mentally fit.

Explain to me briefly what a Mental Fitness Coach is. Did you have to get additional training/education to do it?

Do you know how a physical fitness coach or trainer helps to shape up your body and improve your eating habits? They evaluate the whole you to improve your lifestyle. As a mental fitness coach, I use the same process. I evaluate what the problem is for my client, and we work together to create an action plan and implement what needs to be done to improve their mental habits and mental lifestyle. I did not take any specific class to become a coach, but I use my personal experiences and my 20 years of nursing knowledge.

What types of people do you serve? What are they looking for and what do you provide for them?  

Always having a great desire to help women, I decided to use my experience. It was time I helped women overcome past traumas and abuse, to help them live a happier and more fulfilling life. My clients are fed up with feeling sad, depressed, and useless. It is highly likely they may be able to fake happiness, but they are lost, alone, and probably do not understand why they feel the way they do. Their self-esteem is low and they under value themselves because they cannot see or feel their beauty outside or inside their mind and body.

What I do is, I use strategic methods customary to my client to help them release the past hurt and disappointment. I coach clients on shifting their mindset to muscle through their situation. Being aware of many learning needs, I have created a multi-faceted program to serve clients.

Do you find that this is easy to do even while working as a nurse? Do you meet with clients in person (pre-COVID-19)? Do you meet with them virtually now? Or via email? Please explain how it works.  

Being a night shift nurse does make it difficult to run my business full force. I have learned how to use time management to make it work. I use multiple platforms to share my information including my podcast and my talk show Activities of Daily Living. I started my business pre-COVID-19. I pivoted to offer online coaching, which was actually great. It expanded the number of people I could reach nationally.

It is very rewarding knowing the most difficult hardships in my life is now used to inspire others to create a magnificent shift in their life if they are willing and ready. I offer personal sessions via the phone or Zoom calls. I have group masterminds to educate on mental health topics to help clients understand what they are experiencing. I do not meet with anyone in person at this time, but I will be happy when I am able to meet face to face.

What do you like most about working as a Mental Fitness Coach?

If you do something you love, you will never work a day in your life. As I embraced my purpose, I realize this is something I was doing for free for friends and coworkers. I did not mind doing it for free, but I realized I could help others make a difference in their life on a larger scale. I love to see the spark that happens in a client when they gain back the power of controlling their mindset and feelings once they understand it is a choice.

What are your biggest challenges as a Mental Fitness Coach? What are your greatest rewards as one?

The greatest challenge for being a Mental Fitness Coach would be becoming so emotionally involved with the client’s situation. You wish you could just snap your fingers and help them. Another difficult part is wanting the healing more than they do. I know it may sound weird, but sometimes clients want to make a change in their life, but they do not always understand they are the leading factor that makes the change.

My greatest reward is when I serve my purpose and help another woman understand the power they hold to make a difference in their life. I give them the tools they need to genuinely love again, smile, and to treat themselves better than ever.