Meet Kayona Moreland: Family Nursing Practitioner and Entrepreneur

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kayona Moreland and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kayona, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I was burnt out from working at the beside as a registered nurse in the intensive care unit. So I figured I’d go back to school to obtain my family nurse practitioner certification as this would alleviate some of the physical labor and give me more autonomy and decision making in the care of my patients. After two years of working as nurse practitioner I realized I only exchange physical exhaustion for mental exhaustion, which was just as hard on the body. I also realized I didn’t have as much autonomy as I thought I would have. I could make a decision and create a plan of care for my patient and my supervising physician could come behind me and change it to his or her plan. I then realized to have true autonomy, full decision making capacity, and determine how much mental and physical labor I put into my career, I would have to become my own boss! That was my drive behind starting my own business.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I have been a registered nurse (RN) for 14 years. I have been a nurse practitioner for six years. As a RN I worked in critical care, with experience in various intensive care units (ICU) including Medical- Surgical, Cardiovascular, Surgical, and Nuerological ICU. I mainly worked as PRN, as needed and a local travel agency nurse. While working in the ICU, I obtained my CCRN certification becoming a certified critical care registered nurse. I worked at the bedside for six years before obtaining my Masters of Science in Nursing degree in Family Nurse Practitioner in 2015. I worked as a nurse practitioner for four years with experience in Pediatrics, Urgent Care, Emergency Care Services, and Cardiology Services before opening my business, My Health Reassurance in 2019. I experienced challenges both as a RN and nurse practitioner (NP).

Out of the 14 years of working in the nursing profession, at least 11 of those years, I worked the night shift. Anyone who has ever worked overnight understands the stressors put on one’s body. I sacrificed my health for my career, not intentionally, but in trying to meet the demands of the job. My career became my life and I would end up with chronic conditions I deal with in the present. I would often have to push or pull on patients with dead weight causing severe spinal injury to my spine. Then there were the challenges of having to become immune to the loss of life. We were taught as nurses to be strong for our patients, consoling family members during the passing of a love one and resultantly, causing us to suppress feelings and emotions one would normally experience with a death. It takes a special person to be able to be a nurturer, caregiver, counselor, and provider in the midst of death. That’s when I realized I was choosen for the profession. This profession taught me humility, compassion, empathy, respect, diligence, and so many other things that shaped the person I am today. By no means was it easy learning these life lessons as a young girl in my early twenties, when I hadn’t really even experienced life. However, because of those experiences I’d often hear from clients “no one has ever taken the time to explain this to me where I could understand it or thank you for listening to me and making me feel valued”.

As a new NP straight out of school without any experience, it was like starting the profession all over. Most employers and institutions wanted experienced workers as it was more cost-effective than a hiring a new graduate. Here I was as a new graduate trying to figure out where I was going to work knowing I only had six months before student loan repayments. Some would say you almost had to settle taking jobs you necessarily didn’t want but something to get your foot in the door to start gaining experience. TThat’s exactly what I did and I found myself negatively experiencing the differences in working for a private employer versus an institution. I now had a hirer degree but was offered the same salary I had as a RN. I wasn’t given an orientation to learn how to perform my new job. I was “thrown to the wolves” and found myself having to rely on my experience as a critical care nurse to appropriately care for patients. My license would often feel unprotected. I didn’t have the support promised to me while making decisions as a new provider in a new role on my career. I will never forget feeling like I had just established a routine working as a new Pediatric nurse practitioner and about three months later, I was let go without any reason or explanation. I quickly realized I had been used to fulfill a temporary position until the physician herself could return back to the job. I was so excited about the opportunity and experience as new graduate and provider, I didn’t even asked about the terms and conditions of the position. I just accepted the position.
I would continue on with finding another job with another private owned employer and again finding myself in the same financial and unstable predicament. My entire first year as a new NP I struggled financially as I wasn’t making enough money to pay all of the debt I accumulated in school. I was constantly mentally and emotionally stressed at the thought of losing my license from the things I was exposed too. I cried more times than one coud imagine, asking God why me?? Why would God choose this path for me when I had been so giving of myself earlier on in my career. However, I didn’t understand all of those challenges were shaping me into the person I am today. It took for me to be fired, struggle financially, and make decisions on my own to learn how to survive some of life’s hardest challenges. Those challenges help shape my personal and professional development. My brand was uniquely built off of my life’s experiences and challenges.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I love experiencing life and enjoying good food and music. I prefer lounges and upscale restaurants over clubs. Any place that could provide good drinks, good music, and atmosphere, would warrant my presence. I love trying foods of different ethnicities and cultures. Some of my favorites would include Poor Calvin’s, South City Kitchen, Two Urban Licks, Atlantic Station, Buttermilk Kitchen, The Sun Dial, Atlanta Fish Market, and Imperial Fez Mediterranean. Other place to visit with include the winery at Chateau Elan, concerts in the city, Skyview Atlanta, shopping at Lenox Square, and Top Golf to name a few.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would say there are life experiences, sacrifices, and choices I’ve made I can attribute to my success. However, there are also a few individuals who help make my business successful. This first individual is my mother. She has been my back bone, my counselor, my prayer warrior, my inspiration, my everything. Anything I have ever wanted to do in life she’s supported me 100% and it was no different when I shared with her I wanted to open my own business. Her name is Linda Clemmons. The next individual gave me the opportunity and the physical location to grow my business as a new and upcoming entrepreneur. Her name is Michelle Foye, owner of Precis Screening. The next individual is the doctor who agreed to be my collaborative physician. Nurse practitioners (NP) in the state of Georgia require a collaborative agreement with a medical doctor to operate a business when any prescriptive authority is involved. Basically, any NP business involving prescribing a prescription requires an agreement with a doctor. His name is Dr. Wasiu Adisa. He was the physician who believed in me and provided that opportunity. The last individual is a person who taught me business marketing 101. Before I met her, I wasn’t making what I would call real money. She helped me financially scale my business to the next level. Her name is Candace Holyfield Parker, also known as the Six Figure Spa Chick.

Website: Myhealthreassurance.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/myhealthreassurance1/

Facebook: Facebook.com/myhealthreassurance/

Image Credits
All images are of me