ANA Healthy Nurse, Healthy Nation® Spotlight: Kimberley McCarthy, RN
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Nurse inspires wellness and joy, even in the face of chronic pain and disease
You never truly know what the people around you are going through. #healthynurse Kimberley McCarthy, RN, knows that better than anyone. She’s spent her adult life balancing a chronic health condition, motherhood, and work.
Kimberley lives with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), which is a chronic inflammatory disease. She also has small nerve fiber neuropathy, which affects the peripheral nervous system. Both conditions are high on the pain scale and affect Kimberley from head to toe. “I wake up each morning not knowing which joint or tendon will give me trouble that day or how bad the pain will be,” Kimberley says.
She has lived with the symptoms of AS her entire life. But the diagnosis didn’t come until 2018. Kimberley was 48 at the time, and as her symptoms worsened, she knew the impact on her mobility would mean making changes to her career. The pain began to make it difficult to focus on charting and she was sustaining injuries — strained tendons and a ruptured Achilles — while performing typical nursing tasks. She had to step back from bedside nursing.
Kimberley still works as a nurse, but her position allows her to work remotely. This way she can help people while working from home, where she can better manage her pain.
“I miss being in the hospital, and there’s a grieving of your independence that occurs with mobility issues,” Kimberley says. “But I remind myself that this is just a different type of nursing. I’m thankful that I’m still able to work with my condition.”
Working Toward Wellness
Working remotely allows Kimberley to manage her pain in the comfort of her own home. It would be easy to live a quiet life, simply focusing on her work and her health needs.
But Kimberley thrives on connecting with others. She knows that wellness is about more than physical health. She cannot control how she feels physically, which is challenging. But she can control her attitude and her effect on others.
Kimberley has a few core beliefs that help boost her wellness and the well-being of those around her.
Sharing Is Caring
Kimberley’s remote work left her missing the human connections that came so easily while working at a hospital. She knew her team members must be feeling the same way.
“Sharing is caring” is a phrase Kimberley loves, and she used it as inspiration when she created a monthly team meeting — affectionately known as “shenanigans.” Kimberley created a virtual bingo board, filled with wellness practices, such as:
- Drinking water
- Exercising for 30 minutes
- Keeping a gratitude journal
- Planning a vacation
- Watching the sunset
The items on the bingo board changed monthly — and now the team uses a wellness app and challenges instead of bingo boards. When the team gathers, they share how they incorporated wellness that month. All participants are entered into a drawing for a prize.
“Our shenanigans meetings are aimed at health, wellness, and team morale, but we also share more than what is on the bingo boards or app,” Kimberley says. “We learn about each other’s worlds outside of work. People share their hobbies, struggles, and recipes, posting pictures in the chat.”
Kimberley relishes the chance to learn something new and sees shenanigans as a way to boost her mood. While people may talk about challenges, the meetings don’t necessarily serve as a place to vent or complain.
“I’ve learned that complaining ruins my spirit,” she says. “I am honest, and I share, but I get more from the laughter and the chance to support someone who has their own struggles. I think we all realize that having a team that cares about what’s going on with you is amazing.”
It’s All Worth Celebrating
When Kimberley worked in the hospital, she loved decorating the floor for holidays and celebrating with her coworkers. Every February, she hung hearts, each with an educational tidbit about cardiovascular disease. She found that celebrating provides feelings of joy and support for everyone involved.
Since Kimberley began working remotely, she’s constantly trying to find ways to celebrate her coworkers. The monthly meetings provide a time for her team to celebrate big and small wins. She encourages her teammates to celebrate their birthdays in a favorite way. They also cheer for each other daily in their Wellbeing chats, celebrating family events and successes such as resuming exercise.
“My mom taught me that it’s important to celebrate,” Kimberley says. “She had 13 back surgeries before passing away at 57 from a brain aneurysm. But she always brought treats for her nurses and medical team. She celebrated whenever she could, and I like to carry that on.”
A Positive Mindset Matters
Staying optimistic and upbeat while managing a chronic condition isn’t always easy. For Kimberley, everything she does is about trying to keep a positive mindset.
To remain in good spirits, Kimberley turns to the things that always bring her joy, such as:
- Faith
- Laughter
- Music
- Self-development
- Time with her husband, children, and grandchildren
“I look for inspiration everywhere,” she says. “My mindset is purposeful. I’m determined not to let my condition define me.”
Finding What Works
In the end, Kimberley’s story is not about how she struggles with pain and mobility issues. It’s about how she uses her health experiences and positive outlook to help others (and herself) maintain wellness.
“I can’t put my pain on a shelf while I work or live my life,” Kimberley says. “But I’ve learned that there are things that I can do to make myself more comfortable. And having good morale and connecting with others is at the top of the list.”
Kimberley McCarthy, RN, is a registered nurse at Humana.
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Blog #healthynurse Spotlight
04/28/2025 10:09am CDT
The #healthynurse Spotlight is a shout out to nurses who are making changes in their lives to improve their health and wellness. You can too! Read their stories for inspiration here.
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