FertiliTEA with Dr. D

How one nurse found her groove in a fertility clinic after burning out on the COVID floor

Welcome to Nurse Ascent, a twice-weekly newsletter created by nurses, for nurses. This week, one nurse talks about finding a job that helped her regain hope and positivity in health care. We also discuss recent demands for the HHS Secretary to resign, west coast states taking vaccine recommendations into their own hands, and the EU's newest drug to help prevent HIV.

But first, a little behind-the-scenes of the magic of IVF...

Nurse Spotlight: Phoebe Gurrola, RN, BSN

What I do for work
I am an operating room nurse for an IVF (in vitro fertilization) clinic at San Diego Fertility Center. I help take out the eggs for IVF procedures, assist with hysteroscopy, and embryo transfers, or anything else that is needed on the surgical side after a patient has taken their stimulation medications. I follow the same patient from start to finish, providing pre-op care, then I circulate the case in the OR before following them to the recovery room or PACU.

How I got here
I was working PCU (step-down ICU) during the beginning of the COVID pandemic, and I realized it was really hard for me to watch so many people die or be so sick that you know that they are gonna die soon. Since then, I've learned nursing doesn't have to be the absolute most difficult job for you to be a good nurse. Now I really feel that I found my groove and my vibe in nursing. I love fertility care. I have my own fertility issues that brought me to fertility nursing. I also have a podcast now with one of the doctors, called “FertiliTEA with Dr. D”, and have found that I just love talking about all topics related to fertility.

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More on Phoebe Gurrola

A day in my life
I actually don't know my schedule until 36 hours prior because we can’t guarantee the ovaries are gonna be ready or not. So some days I have one surgery, some days there are 18 surgeries. So every day is different and can be kind of a mixed bag because we also have patients who are egg donors, women suffering from infertility, patients doing reciprocal IVF, so you never know what you're gonna get. The youngest patient I've had is 19 and the oldest patient I've had is 56, so it's been interesting to learn how IVF can affect so many people of different ages.

My self-care routine
I absolutely love treating myself to a nice skin care routine. I just went to get a facial today because I had a random day off! I also love spending time with my dog and being at home catching up on the latest episodes of Love Island to rest during my off days.

Headlines in Healthcare

Bowing Out?

More than 1,000 staff of HHS have called for RFK Jr. to resign after he fired the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other actions they say are “compromising the health of the nation.” This letter was originally released after the shooting at the CDC building, however, since then, 800 more people have signed it.

State Lines

Several states have joined forces to make their own vaccine recommendations amid CDC turmoil. The democratic governors of California, Oregon, and Washington were the first to act, followed by Hawaii. They share that they will continue to listen to the voices of trained experts, including the ones who have may been pushed out of their roles with recent HHS firings.

Biannual Shots

The EU has recently approved a new twice-yearly injection in the prevention for HIV. The drug, lenacapavir is a form of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), which works by preventing the virus from replicating and spreading within the body. It reduces the risk of acquiring HIV among both adults and adolescents.

An image of author Katie Scoggins is pictured.

Meet the author:
Katie Scoggins
(RN, BSN & Health Writer)

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