When Michaela Aulner found out she was going to be a mom, she began to look for ways she could spend the most time possible with her daughter while still working full-time as a nurse at Madonna.
“For our family, me being a stay-at-home mom was not in the picture, and that was totally fine because I also absolutely love being a nurse,” she said. “I just wanted to kind of find the best balance of work and life.”
For Michaela, a big part of the reason she chose a career in nursing is the work life balance.
“There are so many options within nursing, and I’ve experienced that so much here at Madonna,” Michaela said. “I love working the twelve hour shifts because number one, I love my job, and number two, it allows me have four full days at home with my daughter, which is just time I wouldn’t trade for the world.”
While on maternity leave, Michaela reached out to her supervisors and nursing leadership at Madonna to ask about her options and schedule flexibility. She said from the beginning, she felt she had their support.
“I reached out to Jennifer Howard in nursing leadership and staffing, and just asked, ‘Hey, what are my options?’” Michaela said. “I’m still working three 12-hour days, but I used to pick up a lot of extra shifts. Right now, we’re paying off student loans and that’s one of our biggest priorities financially, so our family wanted to be able to continue to make those goals financially but I didn’t want to be working all of the extra hours, so we found a way that I could change into a little bit of a different position and do a little bit of a different thing, but still be working my three twelve hour days and not have to pick up extra shifts. Within nursing, you’re not ever stuck in one position. I’ve just been grateful to have somebody walk alongside me and help me to see those options.”
Now, Michaela travels between Madonna’s Lincoln and Omaha campuses and is able to float to every unit and both hospital levels of care. She says it makes the most sense for her family, and she enjoys that every day is different.
“This position has helped me to kind of break out of my bubble as a nurse and meet new people and see new things,” she said. “Every day is different and I’m seeing new patients and critically solving problems on a different unit every single day. That’s just a unique opportunity for me to keep exercising my nursing skills.”
Jennifer Howard, Madonna’s director of nurse staffing and development, says every person’s situation is unique, and she wants nurses to feel empowered to come talk to her about work/life balance.
“It has been wonderful to see Michaela’s growth in her nursing profession at Madonna and to also cheer her on as a new mom,” Howard said. “I wanted to provide her with all of the options we had to meet her goals while maintaining her valuable skills at Madonna. Michaela was diligent in her review of the options and ultimately landed in a role that met her goal but also greatly benefits our patients at Madonna. I encourage all nursing employees to reach out me or their nursing leader if they find themselves at a crossroad of work-life balance. We want the opportunity to review available options with them and help guide them on their career path.”
For nurses who are becoming new moms or are looking to start or expand their family, Michaela’s advice is simple.
“Know that it is possible to be an awesome mom and an awesome nurse. You don’t have to pick or choose,” Michaela said. “If you’re wanting more flexibility or you’re wanting a change of pace or you’re wanting to be home more, whatever that might look like for you, know there are always options that you can look into or that you can ask about. Here at Madonna, know you can ask your nursing leadership and they’ll be happy to talk through the options with you because they value their nurses and they want to keep you here in whatever capacity that can be.”
