Mike and Mary Taccona: Nursing, Travel in the US and Costa Rica

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Mike and Mary Taccona are both registered nurses. Mike works in the Post Surgical Unit, and Mary is in the Emergency Department. Outside of nursing, Mike and Mary are avid travelers. They have traveled throughout the United States and have time abroad while balancing Nursing school and jobs. In this conversation, we look at adapting to their roles as nurses, pulling back the curtain to the type of stress the situation puts on them. From there, we transition to travel. We break down how and why they travel. Finally, we close on an impactful trip to a Field Station in Costa Rica.

Find out more about the Field Station in Costa Rica in this article here.

 

Show Notes:

[00:04:27] - Previous Episodes and Bio

#36 - Marybeth Piltaver: On Becoming a Nurse and Healthcare Behind the Scenes

#19 - Mike Taccona: Set Intentions and Self-Experimentation

[00:05:02] - Registered Nurses at the same hospital. Mike: Post Surgical Unit. Mary: Emergency Room.

[00:05:32] - Mike is excelling in nursing due to the exposure of having multiple people close to him that have health care experience

[00:06:32] - Mike's Frustration in Sports and Getting inside his head.

[00:07:07] - Would Jordan make a good nurse and in general do people that work in other service industries transition well as nurses? (Servers, bartenders, etc.) 

[00:08:17] - Nursing is customer service. 

[00:10:17] - Cosmetology and the overlap with nursing

[00:12:17] - Building relationships 

[00:14:17] - How do you deal with being close to strangers or manage personal space.

[00:15:04] - Hemoglobin

[00:15:17] - Hemoccolt

[00:16:02] - When nursing gets busy.....

[00:16:17] - Heparin 

[00:17:27] - Lingering stigma towards male nurses 

[00:19:27] - Closing the personal space thought: When you're a mechanic, you become desensitized to the car your working on. When you're in work mode as a nurse, you become desensitized to the fact the person in front of you is not used to what your job is. 

[00:20:07] - The most stressful part of nursing: The mental fatigue and emotional stress

[00:22:52] - Do they provide resources to help de-stress?

[00:23:52] - The Emergency Room: Its the patients worst day, but Mary's everyday 

[00:24:42] - ESI Scale 

[00:25:17] - Myocardial Infarction(MI) more commonly known as a heart attack 

[00:27:17] - Both of them don't realize how much information they've accumulated becoming nurses and by sharing their experience and knowledge to the public is a valuable insight. 

[00:28:47] - Travel: How did they fit it in between school and work?

[00:29:37] - How did they pick where to go? 

[00:30:37] - First Trip: Nashville

[00:31:42] - Number one thing to realize is that travel will cost money no matter how well you budget.

[00:33:02] - Sometimes the most fun part of the travel won't be the planned part. 

[00:33:17] - Mike and Mary's Favorite Travel Spot: Mount Sanitas, Colorado  

[00:34:27] - Traveling poor and sleeping the parking lot

[00:35:32] - Sawyer the Westy Mix

[00:37:27] - East driving to Maine. West driving to Vegas

[00:38:17] - Converting the Honda Element 

[00:39:07] - Arches National Park

[00:39:17] - Seeing the stars

[00:41:05] - The scene transforms during the day

[00:42:02] - Mount Washington, New Hampshire

[00:46:07] - Swimming in natural spring

[00:46:47] - Where do they still want to go to the United States? Montana but it's cold

[00:48:07] - Yosemite National Park - Very crowded

[00:49:15] - Black canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Colorado 

[00:50:17] - Back country hiking like Steve Rinella 

[00:51:07] - Field Station in Costa Rica

[00:51:37] - Gustavo owns the Field Station and is a trained Biologist.  

[00:53:07] - Words don't do the field station justice

[00:54:47] - Bell Bird

[00:55:47] - Howler Monkeys and Capuchin Monkeys

[00:58:47] - Fer de lance one of the worlds most venomous snakes 

[01:00:17] - Gustavo loves the rain forest and wants to share that love 

[01:01:57] - They can tell who wants to be there or treat it as a vacation

[01:05:37] - Pura Vida - Costa Rica saying “Pure Life” or “Simple Life”

[01:06:17] - A re-connection to nature and reintegrating nature into modern society. 

[01:08:17] - International Travel - The Philippines 

[01:10:17] - Moped Adventure

[01:14:17] - Honored to be connected to someone like Gustavo and being respected.

[01:17:02] - If you have the itch to travel, then you should do it. You have to go out on a limb.  

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