‘Bedside burnout can wreak havoc on mental health.’ Why this Charlotte nurse left the ER

Back in 2007, Veronica Smith Southerland, affectionately known as “Vee the NP,” was tired of working 12-14 hour hospital shifts as an ER intensive care nurse in Charlotte. When she made the leap to start her own home healthcare business in 2007, she thought she had it made.

And she did, for a while: Her rapid success led to a 9,000-square-foot dream home with her husband and enough money to send their daughter to private school.

But then, Southerland faced bankruptcy, divorce and a severe case of long-haul COVID — one that landed her in the hospital for nine weeks, including two weeks on a ventilator.

One thing that has not been on her agenda — giving up.

How it started

Southerland worked grueling hours while seeing firsthand the inefficiencies of the healthcare system. “The ER system was getting everything under the sun — except what it was set up for. People were using it as their primary care, driving healthcare costs up,” Southerland said.

After five years of experiencing these inefficiencies she decided to launch her own home healthcare business, TriSouth Health Services, in 2007. The business quickly took off, expanding to six locations across North Carolina and South Carolina in just two years. That’s when she and her then-husband built their dream home and enrolled their daughter in private school.

Life was good — until it wasn’t.

The 2008 recession hit Southerland’s businesses hard. Combined with the strain of employee health insurance requirements for small businesses that came about under The Affordable Care Act, it was too much for TriSouth Health Services to overcome. “Here I was a healthcare business, being put out of business by healthcare,” Southerland said of the irony.

She was also facing troubles in her marriage.

“I remember having $25 in my account, living in a 9,000 square-foot house. It was one of those situations where you don’t have any money and don’t know where the next dime is going to come from, but you look the part. People couldn’t see my struggle — I don’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing,” Southerland said.

It was too much for her marriage to overcome as well.

Rebuilding after loss

After filing for bankruptcy and finalizing her divorce, Southerland went back to school to become a nurse practitioner. She did this while still running the two home healthcare locations she had managed to barely keep afloat and working as a traveling nurse. “I was working three jobs, traveling so much I couldn’t remember where I was,” Southerland said.

She was also on medication for the anxiety and depression she was battling. Not liking how she was feeling on that medication, Southerland began exploring the benefits of holistic medicine and came upon IV hydration — a market that was seeing a lot of traction.

After much investigation and success with her own treatment, Southerland decided to once again follow the entrepreneurial spirit inside of her and start an IV hydration clinic. Advanced Practice Care started in 2017, treating patients in their homes. As demand grew, Southerland saw the need in the community for a stand-alone clinic. She opened FLO Hydration & Wellness in the University City area in February 2021 — offering physical, aesthetic and mental health services.

Pulling others up with with her

As she began to see her good fortune return with the help of her IV hydration business, Southerland knew she couldn’t keep it to herself. “I know firsthand how bedside burnout can wreak havoc on mental health,” Southerland said. “I have always been a giver. If I don’t help someone else then the blessings I have will be temporary. Blessings flow through people.”

That was the impetus behind Southerland creating her Watch My FLO IV Hydration Business Start Up Class. This course is designed to give attendees the information needed to start and build a successful IV hydration therapy business. From business basics and developing an LLC, to brand strategy and mindset transformation, Southerland put together a team of experts and compiled a curriculum to help arm attendees with the things she wished she had known before she started her business. So far, more than 1,500 nurses have attended.

Charlotte nurse Rachel Davilla told CharlotteFive that underappreciation of bedside nurses who were risking their lives with COVID was the reason she decided to take the leap and start a new business. “Nurses are realizing that there is a lot more that they can do with their knowledge and can provide a better work/life balance for themselves and their families,” said Davilla, who recently attended one of Southerland’s trainings.

The pattern of burnout, underappreciation and lack of pay is a consistent theme among the nurses attending Southerland’s class. “These nurses are tired of getting a pizza party or donuts for nurses week. Even the nurses who have the guts to do high-paying COVID assignments are doing it with a plan to get out,” Southerland said.

Battling long-haul COVID

Despite her business triumphs, Southerland hit yet another roadblock when she contracted COVID-19 in April 2021. “I was so sick, I couldn’t remember anything — even my name. I was taken to the ER and put on a vent. I was hypoxic and didn’t know it,” Southerland said. After two weeks on the ventilator and nine excruciating weeks in isolation, Southerland was finally able to reunite with her daughter.

Southerland continues to suffer with residual effects of COVID. “It shows up when it wants to,” she said — citing lingering memory loss, heavy breathing and anxiety.

But, like her other life setbacks, that has not stopped her. She is back on the dating scene and watching her daughter finish high school. She has built back her own bank account and continues to teach classes to give others the opportunity to follow their dreams.

Her advice to other COVID long-haulers: “Be an advocate for yourself, even if it’s in small increments, don’t stop asking questions, seeking options for treatment, etc.

“You know your body better than anyone else, so speak up. I use drips and plant-based medicine to control my anxiety. Just because I am no longer financially at a deficit does not mean that sometimes I am not emotionally at one, and the holistic approach to medicine helps me tremendously.”

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