Meet Deidra Kindred

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Deidra Kindred. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Deidra below.

Deidra, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
Finding out what my purpose was not an overnight process but took years. When I graduated from high school, I thought I wanted to be a CPA. This stemmed from watching my mother as a single mom of 4 work and attend college at the same time. So, I started attending college to pursue my dream at the time. For me it was boring. So I started skipping classes and having fun. Then I had my son. This geared me to get serious about my future and the future I needed to prepare for him. I went back to school to pursue my degree in physical therapy. Now I was the single parent, working fulltime, and volunteering in a rehab center to fulfill the requirements to enter the physical therapy program I intended to apply for. One time during my volunteer at the physical therapy rehab center, a client told me that “you have such gentle hands, you would make an awesome nurse”. I said to myself I’m not going to be no stinking nurse. Fast forward a few months later I was asked by a physical therapist to give discharge instructions to a different patient and while doing so, the patient said, “you explained that so well, have you thought about being a nurse?” Again, I said I’m not going to be no stinking nurse. The third time is a charm. I was sitting at home working on a paper for class and I had just put my son down for sleep and the phone rang. The gentlemen stated that he was in the Texas Woman’s University program department, and he was reviewing my transcript and would I consider going to nursing school on the Mary I Gourley scholarship. All I had to do was write a 750-word essay on What Education Meant to Me and have it in his office in the morning and they would grant me the scholarship!!! Okay GOD, I’m listening. After graduating Cum Laude in 2001. I went on to work for a hospital that offered a sign-on bonus, and I ended up with NO dept from college. Not only did this particular hospital offered a critical care internship program, but that also gave me extra training and experience in intensive care units.
I eventually became involved in the hospital by training other nurses in recovery of patients that experienced bypass surgery, continuous renal replacement therapy to name a few.

During this time in my life there had always been a something inside me that was telling me I still wasn’t doing enough. This is when I started teaching CPR as a business to other healthcare professionals. I opened up a small residential care home but failed forward. I started a Legal Nurse Consulting business helping attorneys determine if medical malpractice lawsuits were beneficial or not to take to court. Still felt like there was something missing.

In 2019 I started really pursuing my true purpose. Deciding to listen to God and the universe as noted above. I started my independent patient advocacy company. Your Healthcare Nurse Advocates is focused on educating and empowering individuals and families during their healthcare journey. This is my calling and my purpose.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
We are focused on helping people truly understand their medical needs and assisting them with acclimation of reputable resources to assist them during their journeys. Healthcare is the foundation of everything you have. If you don’t have health, you can’t have wealth. We love attending doctors’ appointments with our clients and helping them have effective and efficient visits so that they can be in the driver’s seat when caring for themselves or their loved ones. People need to feel that they are a part of the medical planning process. That starts with education. We have developed programs to help our clients and the community understand how to be their own advocate.
We have a 3-n-1 health and wellness series through our healthcare academy. We will come to your home, place of business or organization, and assist to empower you to learn about your labs, medications, and how to collaborate with your health care team by building your personalized medical binder.
We offer educational programs to teach the community on how to speak up for themselves when working with doctors and other healthcare professionals.
January 2024 we will launch our Patient Advocacy Assistance program for qualified individuals to obtain guidance with navigating their medical journey remotely with the assistance of our nurses that specialize in their most significant area of needs.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Looking back on my personal journey I believe that the skills that I have developed with opening the residential care home, networking experiences, and learning the keys to building collaborative relationships has been extremely beneficial. Being a continuous learner and always searching for the biggest room to be in. The room for improvement.

My advice to people is to ensure that you are not doing something just for the money. Find a need in the marketplace, be creative and pursue it diligently. When you have vision, purpose and focus on making a difference the money will come.

I created a motivational presentation titled “Are You Standing in Your Own Way”. I revisit it several times a year to encourage myself to keep moving forward. Find something or someone who can motivate you to NOT quit.

What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?
The biggest obstacle that I’m facing and so is the industry of private duty patient advocates is educating the hospitals, doctors, assisted living facilities, rehab centers on how we can collaborate to help individuals and families improve their healthcare experience. There is this standoff at times encountered with patients advocates and facility-based healthcare personnel.
We at Your Healthcare Nurse Advocates are now partnering with other patient advocacy organizations to educate other healthcare facilities on the benefits of working together. Spreading knowledge on collaboration efforts is key.
Joined The Care Partner Project, HealthadvocateX, and Greater National Advocates.

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