 About Diane MahoneyÂ
I’m Diane. RN with 30+ years bedside experience.
I’ve worked critical care, pediatric ER, PACU, VIR, pre-op. I’ve held leadership roles, managed an integrative therapy program, done medical-legal consulting, coordinated peer support.
I started a DNP program focused on integrative health and healing. Made it 26 credits in before I withdrew.
Then, after I’d already given notice and left the hospital, I had a seizure while donating blood.
My body was done asking nicely.
Here’s what nobody tells you:
Leaving nursing doesn’t fix burnout if you take your dysregulated nervous system with you.
I withdrew from the DNP. Left the hospital. Started working with my husband in medical-legal nursing at a different location.
I thought I’d solved the problem. But the override pattern came with me:
- The complete loss of purpose
- The insecurity
- The irritabilityÂ
- The strain on my marriage
- The same nervous system dysregulationÂ
Changing your environment doesn’t regulate your nervous system.
I was still in override. Just in a new location.
 What Actually Changed Things
I learned more about nervous system regulation in a 4 days in Sedona than I did in two expensive semesters of a DNP program that was literally designed for integrative health and healing.
Let that sink in.
Four days of actual practice did what two semesters of academic study couldn’t.
And then my mom died.
In her final hours, I witnessed two nurses caring for her. Really caring, not just doing tasks, but fully present. Using touch. Speaking with compassion. Creating safety in the hardest moments.Â
They reminded me why I became a nurse, and they showed me where I belonged.Â
Not because the DNP program was bad. But because you can’t think your way out of dysregulation.Â
I practiced regulation. Consistently. Daily.Â
Then I returned to bedside nursing with tools that actually work.Â
Not because bedside nursing got easier.
Because IÂ show up differently now.
Clinical Experience:
âś“Â 30+ years bedside nursing
âś“Â Critical care, pediatric ER, PACU, VIR, pre-op
âś“Â Integrative therapy program manager
âś“Â Peer support coordinator
âś“Â Medical-legal consulting
Additional Training:
âś“ CISM (Critical Incident Stress Management) certification
âś“Â RYT-200 Yoga Instructor
âś“Â Additional training through Yoga Medicine in Burnout Resilience and Menopause
âś“Â 26 credits toward DNP in integrative health and healing (withdrawn)
âś“Â Extensive study in nervous system regulation, polyvagal theory, and burnout recovery
Life Experience:
âś“Â Built thriving practices 2010-2020, sustaining me through motherhood, nursing, and COVID
✓ Lost them completely in my Override Era
âś“Â Collapsed from burnout (2023) and left healthcare
✓ Escaped to work a "soft" nursing job. Miserable/No Purpose
✓ Found true healing in Sedona and restored purpose through grief
✓ Back at the bedside, practices restored even through life's changes
I know what it’s like to be high-functioning and falling apart at the same time.
I’ve lived the Caregiver → Achiever → Responsibility → Exhaustion cycle.Â
I learned that leaving doesn’t fix burnout if you take your dysregulated nervous system with you.Â
I spent thousands on a DNP program about integrative health and learned more in 4 days of actual practice.
Wellness culture tells burned-out nurses to try harder, rest more, practice self-care...and none of that touches the actual problem.
The actual problem? Nervous system dysregulation.
When you’re in chronic override, your autonomic nervous system loses its flexibility. Your Heart Rate Variability tanks. It becomes harder and harder to downregulate.
The body stays in high alert.Â
You’re not failing.
Your nervous system is responding exactly as it should to an impossible environment.
But you can learn to regulate even in a system designed for override. And you don’t need a DNP program or thousands of dollars to do it.
You need practices that actually work.
That’s what we do at Barely Balanced Nurses.
How It Works
âś—Â Not Wellness Culture
 No bubble baths. No gratitude journals. No “new year, new you” promises.
âś“Â Clinical Tools For Nurses
Nervous system science. Practices that work between patients, in your car, in the middle of the chaos.
âś“Â Direct Communication
I don’t do polished wellness messaging. I do honest talk about what burnout actually is and what to do about it.
âś“Â Sustainable Over Perfect
The goal isn’t to become a different person. It’s to redirect the care you’re already giving and build capacity to sustain.
âś“Â Regulated Over Ripped
HRV matters more than VO2 max. Nervous system flexibility matters more than your resolution list.
âś“Â Practice Over Theory
Four days of doing the work beats two semesters of studying it. I learned that the expensive way so you don’t have to.
What We Practice
Clinical Tools for Healthcare Workers
The AIR
Method
Emergency regulation when you’re already in override.
âś“ Acknowledge: Name where you are without judgment
âś“ Interrupt: Break the pattern with something physical
âś“Â Regulate: Give your nervous system a new signal
The CARE
Framework
Sustainable practice for high-achieving nurses.
âś“ Compassion: for yourself first
âś“ Awareness: of your actual needs
âś“Â Restore: your nervous system
âś“Â Embody: sustainable practice
HRV Education
Why heart rate variability tells you more about burnout than any fitness tracker.
How to support it without fancy devices.
Gentle Restorative Practices
Accessible movement that doesn’t require flexibility, yoga experience, or extra time.
Designed for tired bodies in the middle of shift work.
I practice what I teach, sometimes imperfectly.
I do yoga (not the Instagram kind). I spend time in nature. I have a “Golden Moose” companion who reminds me that regulation doesn’t have to be serious.
I value authentic communication over polish. I’m learning to notice when I’m overcommitting before my body has to force the issue.
I still work full-time bedside because I believe this work is credible when it comes from someone who’s still in it.
My marriage survived my burnout because I finally learned to regulate. That matters.
Getting Started Is Easy
1
Take the Burnout Assessment
Find out where your nervous system actually is (not where you think it should be) and learn the AIR Method you can use today.
2
Join the Coming Up for Air Newsletter for Free
No guru talk. No toxic positivity. Just honest nurse-to-nurse communication about what’s actually working.
3
Coming Home Coaching for Nurses
A 12-week personalized 1:1 coaching program designed specifically for burned-out nurses who aren't ready to leave bedside.
