Lyndsey Sidle is an RN from Massachusetts. She’s a mother of five children and wife to a fellow nurse. She got her bachelor’s degree in chemistry and was on her way to graduate school when her life path took a turn…
“About ten years ago, I went through a rough time after graduating from college. My father fell ill. After seeing how the nurses treated him with such compassion, I knew that I wanted to care for families like mine that need it. I chose to forgo graduate school and go to nursing school instead. That was a big decision to make.”
Until recently, Lyndsey worked in upstate New York, focusing on emergency medicine and ICU for her first few years. She worked in Medical Surgery for a while after graduating nursing school for the experience. Even though it was hard, she explains that “the learning experience of working in Med-Surg was invaluable. I’m sure you know this, but you graduate nursing school with a lot of book smarts but not a lot of clinical skills.” The facility she worked at has a plethora of different units, so she’d float around to all sorts of ICUs and notes how lucky she was to be able to do that. Not many people like floating, but Lyndsey says she “was a glutton for punishment” and found other specialties interesting to gain experience in. She then transitioned to education and long-term care and had been doing that until the pandemic hit.
“When COVID-19 happened, my family and I had decided to move back to Cape Cod, Massachusetts. I felt like my skills are most needed at the bedside because of what is going on in the world.”
When she decided to use her skills out on the pandemic’s frontlines, that’s when she decided to become an IntelyPro. Lyndsey’s instinct to put her expertise to use in long-term care was right – nursing facilities desperately needed help. Many facilities accepted patients infected by COVID-19 – and not all staff members were well-equipped to manage infection control at the beginning of the outbreak. Lyndsey knows how to follow her heart in times like these while putting her skills to use where they’re needed most.
“Having grown up with my dad who had lots of health issues, I’ve always had a passion to take care of people. I took care of him a lot when I was growing up because he was disabled and would stay at home with me. So watching him go through his illness throughout my life pushed me to the place I’m at now.”
Family has always been at the heart of her passions whether it’s caring for her father, her patients and their families, or her own. She actually met her husband working together at an ER facility and they have been together ever since. After a while, they both transitioned into long-term care, agreeing that “emergency care isn’t easy. You see a lot that’s unsettling. When you have kids of your own it’s hard to see that kind of stuff.”
After transitioning to IntelyCare, Lyndsey says she could “work a million hours just because of the need for nursing right now. IntelyCare is the most flexible agency I’ve come across and could allow me to work as much or as little as I want. I was pretty impressed by how easy it was to use the app and pick up shifts and make my own schedule instead of having to be tied to working every other weekend.”
The balancing act of taking care of a family while working in high demand during this pandemic has taken a toll on Lyndsey. But she explains that IntelyCare allows her to work as much as she wants to meet the need, and then “take the next week off” to spend time with loved ones.
“I’ve been in situations before where you dread going to work because you know you’re going to get mandated. I work with a lot of nurses who are full-time and it’s hard for them. They really do get burned out because they’re locked into that schedule and there’s nothing they can do about it. And for me, I usually don’t pick up shifts too far in advance because of that. Just look at the app; there’s not really a shortage of available shifts. We all know that nurses are in high demand. It’s just great to be able to meet that demand with a sense of freedom.”
“It’s sad because I see this a lot: I see great nurses get burned out over time, they’re unable to give as much as they can because they aren’t working when and where it’s best for them.” In a time when nurses are needed most, it’s crucial that they achieve some semblance of a work/life balance. It’s the only way they’ll be able to provide the best care possible to patients and residents. For Lyndsey, the flexibility has allowed her to meet the demand for frontline workers while still spending time with her family.
Lyndsey takes a step back and speaks to the advice she wishes she had when she was starting out. “Expect the unexpected,” she says. “I thrive on schedules and consistency”, but knowing how dynamic and unpredictable the nursing industry and life are, she’d tell herself to “be a little more laid back.” She’s glad that she’s rediscovered horseback riding ever since moving back to Massachusetts, saying that her newfound schedule flexibility with IntelyCare has allowed her to rediscover her old hobby.
Nursing professionals with a true sense of duty and compassion inspire us to help them achieve the life they deserve while doing what they live. So we’re honored to provide the freedom and flexibility that a true healthcare hero like Lyndsey deserves. Thank you, Lyndsey!
IntelyCare gives nursing professionals like Lyndsey the ability to transform the way they work. Are you ready to take control of your life? Apply today to get started.