Hey You Wonderful Nurse! Let's connect!

         I'm Nicole Johnson BSN, RN, CCRN, CEP. I'm a human first, nurse second. :)   I live in the beautiful, but often dreary PNW with my husband. 

       As soon as I started nursing, I fell in love with all things critical care. I have over 17 years of nursing experience, having held both ICU staff and leadership positions where I have onboarded, educated, and oriented hundreds of new ICU nurses. Some of the roles I've had while working for the hospital have been STAT nurse, wound nurse, charge, preceptor, assistant nurse manager, and ICU educator.

Don't you love all the variety that is out there in nursing?!

      But alas, I was restless and struggling with my own burnout! I hired a life coach (yes, I really did that) to gain clarity on what I wanted in life. So, I decided to step down from my assistant nurse management position in 2018 to go back to bedside nursing. I found myself delving into the world of stress management and ways to make yourself happier. And eventually, in 2019 (pre-pandemic) I started Unwound Retreats as a way to help nurses battle burnout. My dream was to hold spaces for nurses to come together and actually practice ways to feel better in community with one another. And in my corner of the world, nothing like that existed.

NOW I've hosted over 10 retreats in Mexico, Morocco, and the US with dozens of events locally in Seattle.  Nurse need community and healing!

      I've taken a few courses to help bolster my educational offerings, such as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, a Foundations of Happiness at Work certification course from the University of California at Berkeley, a Psychological First Aid course from Johns Hopkins University, and debriefing facilitator training.  I hold my continuing education provider license through the state of California.

    In the beginning of the pandemic, I started a nursing podcast - Found Down - to hold a space for nurses to have authentic, honest, brutal, and real conversations about all things nursing. #ifyouknowyouknow

     My goal is to help nurses prioritize their well-being and mental health, and more importantly to have healthcare organizations prioritize NURSES' mental heatlh and well-being.

      I hope to make this space worthwhile and meaningful.

Thank you for being here!

Nicole
Founder of Unwound Retreats

P.S. Got a question? Need advice? Drop me a line!