An exclusive interview: The retired emergency nurse advocating for holistic self-care

I have been a registered nurse for 35-plus years, and I'm actually retired. I was at the bedside in critical care, emergency, and ICU. At one point, I worked in the ER and decided I needed to know a little bit more about pre-medicine, so I went and got my paramedic certification. I had all the bells and whistles. I was a flight nurse for a time, and have even gone to the other spectrum. Towards the end of my career I wanted to give back a little bit, so I volunteered with holistic therapies of aromatherapy and many others with hospice patients, and I found that extremely rewarding, too. I've done a variety of things, and I'm currently caring for my mom as she enters the last chapter of her life.

Oddly enough, it was initially a job at a nursing home when I was 16. I went to work in the kitchen of a care center and I just fell in love with the people. I had so many of the residents in this care center say, ‘oh, honey, you should be a nurse,’ so I took their word for it and ran with it. It was a profession I was made for, I was just really comfortable in that role for many years.

Mariah Edgington has been a registered nurse for over 35 years, starting out in critical and emergency care. She worked as a flight nurse, and even got her paramedics certification. Though she was a self-proclaimed adrenaline junkie, she sought more connection with patients and people, so she took up holistic health practices. Though she’s retired from nursing, Edgington works as an integrated holistic mindset coach and an integrated holistic therapist, providing coaching, active listening, and stress reduction through aromatherapy, guided breathing and meditation, mindfulness, and Reiki. She also volunteers her time in hospice, providing holistic therapies to patients and their loved ones.

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