Meet the Nurse and Founder - The Enriched Nurse

Why I started The Enriched Nurse and a little about my background, career, and life.

Hello, I’m Dan Richmond RN, BSN, CMSRN.

I’m a Part-Time RN. Every year I work part-time means 600 more hours to do what I please. Every 3 years a part-time nurse has had the equivalent of a year off. What would you do with an extra 600 hours a year?

I graduated from the University of Hawaii twice, in 2006 with an Associates in nursing and then again in 2009 with a BSN. I’ve worked in hospitals since I was 17 years old, first as a CNA, then an LPN, and now as an RN since I was 22. My wife is also a nurse.

I’ve been engaged in entrepreneurial pursuits since I was a kid and bought my first piece of real estate when I was 18. My wife and I are homeowners, have had all of our student loans paid off for years, carry no short-term debt (or at least pay no interest), and have been saving and investing $40k-50k per year for over a decade. We do this while traveling and giving all of our hobbies their due, raising two small children, and working part-time or less as nurses. We have no desire to leave the field and enjoy our work.

I work as a PICC and IV RN covering all Med-Surg and specialty units in the hospital. I’ve primarily worked Float Pool in Med-Surg settings, but I also have a lot of experience in ICU, ER, and House Supervisor roles. I am CMSRN certified and a professional member of the Oregon Nurses Association, American Nurses Association, Academy of Med-Surg Nurses, and Infusion Nurses Society. I spent one year as a full-time hospital Med-Surg Educator. I’ve been an Epic Credentialed Trainer and supported hospitals in onboarding and EMR roll outs. I also have experience as a CPR instructor and training in a variety of specialties from HiFi Code Simulation in the hospital to Wilderness First Aid to teaching “Helping Babies Breathe” in Rwanda.

NOTABLE AWARDS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

I have received multiple awards including the highest nursing honor at my hospital “The Nancy Roberts Award for Nursing Excellence.” You can read the nomination here.

I received two awards from the Oregon Nurses Association for union leadership activities. The “Internal Organizer” award in 2016 and Outstanding Staffing Committee Co-Chair award in 2018.

I successfully wrote and was awarded a $5000 grant from Providence to train Jackson County Search and Rescue Volunteers in Wilderness First Aid.

I renewed and successfully implemented a Safe Patient Handling and Injury Prevention Program which reversed our facility from having the highest injury rates in the state to one of the lowest. The program resulted in practical access to usable equipment, initial new-hire training, and a permanent, dedicated injury prevention position created to continue the work. The program prevented multiple injuries and saved the hospital hundreds of thousands of dollars in costs.

I’ve negotiated multiple union contracts and lead nurses to win three ground breaking, high quality contracts. I lead nurses to successfully picket a hospital in Southern Oregon and served as a media spokesperson in several written and televised local media interviews. JPR Interview. Mail Tribune Article.

PUBLISHED WORKS

I published the following articles in Med-Surg RN Life Magazine: “USGPIV Placement for Med-Surg RNs” and was featured as the cover story with “Get Certified!” I wrote a promotional piece for their networking platform “The Pulse.” You can view the online issues here.

I self-published, performed and wrote the relaxation, classical guitar album “Sounds of Kauai” in 2009. It can be listened to wherever you get your music and purchased on Amazon.

My first Online Nursing Course with ANCC Hours (Central Line Management) can be taken here.

VOLUNTEERISM

I’ve served in several volunteer and leadership roles in the Oregon Nurses Association. I am currently the Chair of ONA Constituent Association 4 where I have overseen tens of thousands of donations to local organizations including Toys for Tots, So Swing Dance Convention, Jefferson Public Radio, and many more over the years. We also host annual dinners and get togethers for local nurses and families. I’ve volunteered hundreds of hours in several Union Bargaining Unit roles as a steward, negotiator, and treasurer. I served on the ONA Political Action Committee and as a delegate to the ANA convention in WA, DC as well as delegate to AFT and several ONA House of Delegate Conventions. You can read more about my CA4 work here.

I served a year as a founding board member of Perinatal Rescue Network and travelled on a medical mission to Rwanda in 2014 to teach local caregivers “Helping Babies Breathe” to improve newborn survival rates. You can read and learn more about PRN and their work here.

I volunteered with Jackson County Search & Rescue for a couple years and assisted on multiple missions and wilderness first aid trainings, though my overall mission participation was limited due to work commitments at the hospital as a nurse.

You can read an ANA article I was featured in “Finding Joy in Volunteering” here.