The Mission Behind the Roadmap: Why I Started Don 2 Don Development

I started Don 2 Don Development because I was tired of watching good nurses burn out in leadership roles they were never properly prepared for.

You know the story. A charge nurse who's excellent clinically gets tapped for the DON position. Everyone celebrates. She accepts because it feels like the right next step: more responsibility, better pay, a chance to lead.

Then reality hits.

Sixty days in, she's drowning. The surveyors are circling. Staff is frustrated. Families are calling. Administration wants answers she doesn't have yet. She's working 70-hour weeks and taking the keys home in her head every single night.

By month four, she's either gone or hanging on by a thread.

I've seen it happen dozens of times. And I lived it myself.

Meet the Founder (The Part People Don’t Put in the Job Posting)

I once took a job as an ADON with what sounded like the promise of a lifetime.

The DON was going to school to be an NP. She told me she’d train me for 18 months until I was “extremely solid.”

Eighteen months.

I remember thinking, That sounds too good to be true. Because I already knew how those doors revolve.

Sure enough, she quit on my third day.

So that “18-month plan” turned into a “Day 3 leadership” reality.

Zero support. No runway. Just expectations.

And the building doesn’t care what you were promised.

People still need answers. Staffing still falls apart. Call lights still ring. State still shows up. Families still demand updates. The schedule still has holes. The charting still isn’t done. Someone’s always mad about something.

That was the moment it clicked for me: standard onboarding is not built for this.

A quick tour, a binder, and a “text me if you need anything” won’t save you when the plan disappears on Day 3.

You need a stabilization roadmap.

You need to know what to touch first, what can wait, and how to get your footing fast—without burning yourself out trying to be everywhere at once.

That experience is the core reason I started Don 2 Don Development and built the 90-Day Roadmap.

The Revolving Door Problem

Director of nursing burnout isn't just a personal tragedy. It's a systemic crisis that affects everyone in the building.

When a DON leaves within the first 90 days, the facility loses institutional knowledge. Compliance gaps widen. Staff morale tanks. Families lose trust. And the next person who steps into that role inherits an even messier situation.

It's a revolving door. And nobody wins.

I watched talented nurses with strong clinical backgrounds step into the DON role and struggle: not because they weren't capable, but because no one gave them a roadmap. They were handed keys, a crisis, and a "good luck."

That's not leadership development. That's survival mode.

And survival mode doesn't build strong nursing home leadership. It just creates more burnout.

What I Wish I Had

When I became a DON for the first time, I remember the exact feeling.

Excitement. Pride. Then immediate panic.

I had clinical skills. I knew how to manage a unit. But running an entire building? Navigating surveys, compliance, staffing crises, family dynamics, corporate expectations, and state regulations: all at once?

Nobody prepared me for that.

I spent my first 90 days scrambling. Trying to figure out what fires to put out first. Wondering if I was missing something critical. Losing sleep over whether I was doing it right.

I wished someone had just told me: "Here's what to focus on in week one. Here's what matters in month two. Here's how to stabilize without burning out."

That roadmap didn't exist. So I built it the hard way: through trial, error, and way too many 2 a.m. stress spirals.

Years later, after working with multiple facilities and seeing the same patterns repeat, I realized something: This doesn't have to be so hard.

New DONs don't need to reinvent the wheel. They need structure, clarity, and someone who's been there to show them what actually matters in those first 90 days.

That's why I created Don 2 Don Development.

From Keys in Your Head to Actual Leadership

There's a difference between holding the keys and leading the building.

Holding the keys means you're reacting. You're scrambling. You're the first person everyone calls when something goes wrong, and you're solving problems one crisis at a time.

Leading means you're building systems. You're empowering your team. You're creating a culture where problems get solved before they become emergencies.

That shift doesn't happen overnight. But it absolutely can happen within 90 days: if you know what to prioritize.

The 90-day stabilization roadmap I built focuses on exactly that: moving from chaos to calm, compliant leadership.

It's not about working harder. It's about working smarter. Knowing where to focus your energy. Understanding what regulators actually care about. Building relationships with your team so you're not carrying the entire building on your shoulders.

Because here's the truth: You can't be a great DON if you're drowning.

And the facilities that support their DONs during those critical first 90 days? They see better outcomes across the board. Lower turnover. Stronger compliance. Happier staff. Better resident care.

The Human Element

This work matters because people matter.

Every DON I work with is someone who chose healthcare because they care. They want to make a difference. They want residents to thrive and staff to feel supported.

But when you're buried in compliance paperwork, juggling staffing shortages, and second-guessing every decision, it's hard to remember why you started.

Don 2 Don Development exists to bring that back.

I want every new DON: whether you're stepping into your first leadership role or transitioning to a new facility: to feel equipped. Confident. Supported.

I want you to go home at night knowing you're building something solid, not just surviving.

I want you to have the tools and the structure so you're not winging it or relying on outdated systems that don't actually help.

And I want you to know that you're not alone in this.

What We Do Differently

Don 2 Don Development isn't consulting in the traditional sense. I'm not an outsider flying in to audit your building and hand you a binder full of recommendations.

I'm a DON who's been in your shoes. I know what it's like to walk into a building that's out of compliance and feel the weight of that responsibility. I know what it's like to manage staff conflicts, family complaints, and state surveys all in the same week.

And I know what actually works to stabilize a facility fast.

Our 90-day roadmap is built on real-world experience, not theory. It's designed to meet you where you are: whether you're brand new to the role or stepping into a turnaround situation.

We focus on three things:

1. Clarity. You'll know exactly what to prioritize in your first 90 days. No guessing. No wasted energy on things that don't move the needle.

2. Systems. You'll build the infrastructure that keeps your building stable long after we're gone. This isn't a band-aid. It's a foundation.

3. Support. You'll have a partner who understands nursing home leadership and can help you navigate the tough calls, the compliance questions, and the leadership challenges that come up.

We're not here to do the work for you. We're here to make sure you know how to be a director of nursing who leads with confidence, not chaos.

Why This Matters Now

Healthcare is stretched thin right now. Staffing is tough. Regulations are tighter. Families expect more. And the pressure on nursing home leadership has never been higher.

DONs are leaving the role faster than we can train new ones. And the facilities that are thriving? They're the ones that invest in their leadership from day one.

If we want to fix the revolving door problem, we have to change how we onboard and support new DONs. We have to stop throwing people into the deep end and hoping they figure it out.

We have to give them the roadmap.

That's what Don 2 Don Development is here to do. And that's the mission I'll keep building on: one DON, one facility, one 90-day stabilization at a time.

Because when DONs succeed, everyone wins. Residents get better care. Staff feel supported. Families trust the building. And the DON? They actually get to lead: not just survive.

That's the kind of healthcare leadership we need more of. And that's exactly what we're building.