Emily Mazurak was an RN in a busy PICU at a Level I Trauma Center. She was ready for a change and took her talents on the road and because a traveling PICU nurse. Through that experience, and feeling like she didn’t fit in to some of the cliques within the units that she worked in, not having a sense of community, she felt that is where her burn out began. She loved taking care of her pediatric patients and their families, but was spending too much time at work, and not spending enough time taking care of herself. When she realized that she had many of the symptoms of burn out, such as dreading work and not sleeping, she decided to take care of herself and start her Fill Up Your Cup project. 

Emily’s Fill Up Your Cup project is a way to help other nurses find a way to put themselves first. Her first tip is that “No” is a complete sentence. When you are asked to do something but you don’t have the desire or time to do it, like picking up an extra shift at work, the only answer that you need to give is no. 

Emily Mazurak is a second degree, critical care certified nurse with experience in both the inpatient and outpatient settings. After four years of working in high paced, high intensity PICUs around the US, she was forced to come face to face with her own crippling burnout during a job interview. On the car ride home she realized that if she did not make a change, and fast, her career as a nurse would be over just as quickly as it began. She started to put as much emphasis on personal development as she did on professional development and slowly redefined what it meant to be a “real nurse.” Emily, the creator of the Fill Up Your Cup Project, is now helping other nurses reignite their spark and their love of nursing by helping them pour into their own cups before helping everyone else around them so they can live a life they love on and off their shift. 

Links & Notes