There are countless reasons why some of us fall into nursing. And when we choose this particular professional journey, all types of motivations keep us in the game.
For many of us, a family member who was a nurse inspired us to continue the tradition. For others, it was witnessing the nursing care of a sick or dying loved one that opened our eyes. For still others, nursing seemed like a flexible, well-paying job that could support a family, especially since nurses will always be needed (until the robots take over).
But we all change, as do our lives, and this begs the question: if the nature of your life and your reasons for being a nurse change over the years, how do you continue to find meaning in what you do?
How it all Began
You became a nurse because your grandmother and mother were both nurses. Your grandmother told fascinating stories about being a nurse during World War II, with air raid sirens, soldiers missing limbs, and lives lost and saved all around her. Your mother also had good stories, though maybe not as romantic as grandma’s.
You could have finished high school and gone to nursing school, launching your career at 22. Or your story might involve, like yours truly, spending your twenties doing all sorts of different jobs and arriving at nursing in your early 30s when you had a family to support and a pre-adolescent son to set a good example for. And there are also those who come into nursing after an entirely different career: FBI agent (a true-to-life story I recently heard firsthand), accountant, office manager, etc.
No matter how you find your way, you have a story that includes the motivations that led you there. Maybe you truly felt a calling, or perhaps you just needed a reliable job. Whatever the vehicle, it delivered you to the door. But what happens when that original vehicle eventually pulls out of the parking lot, and you’re left wondering why you’re still here?
When the Sands Shift
The sands of your life can shift for many reasons: having children, getting married or divorced, finding a new passion, aging, getting bored, or moving to a new state or country.
The sands of your career and the healthcare industry can also change. Here are some observations I’ve heard from nurses I’ve spoken with:
Healthcare is becoming more corporatized, and the healthcare business feels more focused on money than human beings.
The bullying and incivility at work is terrible and demoralizing.
Unsafe staffing consistently puts our licenses at risk.
And the list goes on.
What do you do When things change— inside of you, in the world around you, or likely both? If your motivations for being a nurse feel different than they used to, you’re not alone. And if you’ve lost your motivation and passion entirely, how do you continue?
Acknowledging and Accepting Change
For some nurses, when the world shifts around them, they bury their heads in the sand, perhaps doing okay for a while. Others become bitter, burnt out, and resentful, and may themselves become bullies who make the lives of those around them miserable. Either that, or they fall into depression, anxiety, or addiction.
You may also arrive at a place where your kids have left the house, and you have the freedom to explore. You can study massage therapy, learn astrology, write a book, or become a podcaster. It’s all valid, and the world is essentially your oyster.
But the original question remains: how do you continue to find meaning in your actions?
Much of this comes down to your core values. The Barrett Personal Values Assessment and the Schwartz Portrait Values Questionnaire are both valid tools for identifying your values. You can also work with a mentor, faith leader, therapist or counselor, career coach, or other trusted individual to help you uncover what’s currently most important to you.
Aside from your values, you also need to examine the current state of your life:
What are your needs?
How have the nature of your home life and relationships changed?
Do you have more people dependent on you, or are you more independent than ever?
Has your health changed over the years? Do you have less physical stamina? Have you developed chronic illnesses?
Acknowledging the changes in your life, your family structure and relationships, your body, and the world around you is one of the keys to examining what’s currently making you tick and how to continue.
Based on what’s changed over the years, there may be a way for nursing to continue to be a natural fit, but you may also find that nursing no longer offers the fulfillment it used to. Being honest with yourself is an excellent place to begin since a critical assessment of your life and career must start with clarity.
As you examine your values, the current state of your life, the things that feel important to you, and your needs, things will become more apparent.
If you began your nursing career because of grandma’s inspiring stories but now find that the inspiration is no longer there, it’s not shameful to acknowledge the truth and seek other career options. And if nursing is now simply a job and no longer feels like the calling it once was, you may still be able to continue.
However you move forward, keep in mind that change is the only true constant, and the path that you once traveled may need some readjusting. Be patient, have self-compassion, and forge ahead towards whatever the future may hold.
When Socrates famously said, “To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom,” and that the unexamined life is not worth living, he certainly wasn’t thinking about the 21st-century nursing professional. Still, these Socratic axioms’ universality applies to anyone who breathes air.
Amid our busy and complicated lives, knowing ourselves can seem like the last thing we want to add to our already crowded to-do lists. However, we need to know ourselves and understand what makes us tick to make the best choices to move our lives in the optimal direction.
Your nursing career may currently feel like it’s on the right track, but when life throws curveballs, and we need to pivot or make adjustments, having the most significant possible level of self-understanding is a means to approach those moments with grace and self-assurance.
Take a Deeper Look
There are many paths to deeper self-knowledge. Some will pursue psychotherapy or counseling, some will attend personal growth workshops, and others will read self-help books, learn to meditate, study T’ai Chi, or join a church or spiritual community. Life coaches, career coaches, and other professionals with specific skill sets can also offer unique tools that could move the needle for you. There’s no right or wrong path to self-knowledge, and your chosen combination of preferred strategies will be unique.
When examining your life in the context of your nursing career, it’s not just your job that tells you something about yourself — it goes much deeper than that. In considering the current state of your nursing career, increased self-knowledge could be a central key to understanding what you want out of life, where you’re headed in your professional journey, and what you might need to do to move things toward your next career and life chapter.
What choices did I make to get me to where I am now?
Have I made any mistakes or miscalculations that have thrown me off course?
What, if anything, would I have done differently if I could go back and try again?
Is the work I’m doing now aligned with my values or philosophy?
How do I see myself as a nurse and healthcare professional?
Have I become the nurse I envisioned when I first entered nursing school?
Is there any way I’ve lost my focus or compromised my values?
Am I living the kind of life I can be proud of?
When we ask ourselves probing questions and answer as honestly as possible, we might be surprised at the answers we receive. Some of us can do this on our own, but many of us might need the help of a counselor, mentor, or coach to guide us in our explorations. No matter how we approach it, compassionate self-assessment should be the cornerstone of this type of inquiry to steer us from going down the road of self-recrimination and regret.
Compassionate Self-Assessment
It’s inevitable that when he admonished his fellow citizens to know themselves, Socrates wasn’t telling his followers to blame and criticize themselves in the interest of self-exploration and self-knowledge. That said, we can probably surmise that he was pushing us to be honest, to take a deep, hard look inside, and to honestly examine and admit to our basest motivations and fears, not to mention our loftiest ideals and aspirations.
Self-compassion is an excellent place to begin if you strive for a life of open self-examination and optimal self-knowledge. We all want to live our very best lives, which means making prudent choices, living as closely as possible according to our personal ideals and values, and hoping that our work reflects the core or essence of who we truly are.
When you arrive at a crossroads, when life seems uncertain, and you have no idea where to turn or what to do next, where can you go for self-reflection and inspiration? Whether it’s the Bible, your therapist, or some other avenue to self-knowledge is beside the point — the critical part is that you’re making a concerted effort to know yourself more fully.
Nursing and healthcare aren’t easy, and we can sometimes lose ourselves amidst the stress of work and the pace of our personal lives. If you can somehow slow down, take a deep breath, find a way to look inside, and dig deep for that core of your true self, you may unlock the door to the next iteration of your life and career.
Whether you’re a nurse who’s one hundred percent thrilled with your job or miserable, self-knowledge will come equally in handy. So, nurse, consider Socrates’ axiom and strive to know yourself, and you never know what magic might happen as your self-knowledge, self-compassion, and self-understanding grow.
When it comes to brain health, nurses talk a good game with their patients, but what about the nurse’s brain? Just like all aspects of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health, nurses must face up to the fact that they’re human beings, too, and their brains and bodies need thoughtful care just like anyone else’s.
How do you take care of your precious nurse’s brain?
Brain Health Basics: Not Just for Patients
Brain health is something we all need to prioritize. Since many nurses like you experience significant levels of on-the-job stress, disturbed sleep, and fatigue, it’s all the more important to consider how to keep your brain healthy and vibrant. After all, brain health isn’t just for your patients.
According to sources like Harvard Health, the Massachusetts Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, and numerous studies and articles, brain health isn’t rocket science. The brain is a sensitive yet resilient organ, and for people like nurses who need their brains functioning optimally, the basics are a great place to begin.
All of the research seems to agree that the following comprise the foundation of brain health:
Exercise
Cardiovascular health
Nutrition
Sleep
Social activity
Novel mental stimulation
Exercise: Exercise contributes to cardiovascular health and muscular strength, of course, and it also supports sleep, mental health, and stress reduction. Making sure you get plenty of exercise (at least 150 minutes per week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) is enough to keep your body moving, tone muscles, and provide significant benefits to your organs, including your awesome brain.
Cardiovascular health: With one American dying every 33 seconds from cardiovascular disease, it’s no wonder it’s the leading cause of death for most of the population.
Nurses work hard and sometimes eat and sleep poorly and fail to exercise, so this isn’t something you can ignore. Night shiftwork is associated with increased risk. Thus, many nurses who work the graveyard shift need to consider how to maintain cardiovascular health.
Nutrition: Nurses are well-versed in biology and understand that brain health depends on the brain’s hungry cells being bathed with nutritional goodness. It’s also no secret that nurses eat poorly when working long shifts without meal breaks. As such, preparing healthy meals quickly goes out the window.
How well do you eat, and how do you feel your nurse’s brain is being fed? It’s an organ you rely on to be a good nurse, and you ignore its nutritional needs at your peril.
Social activity: When we work hard, care for our families, and tend to the needs that modern life demands, our social lives can suffer. However, research demonstrates that increased social activity can lead to higher amounts of grey matter in areas of the brain related explicitly to the development of dementia.
Decreased social isolation, increased mental acuity, and other benefits directly result from your social activity. Thus, hard-working nurses still need to nurture their social lives, friendships, and other connections.
Novel mental stimulation: Research is unambiguous about brain plasticity and the benefits of novel mental activity for brain health. Reading, challenging yourself to do new things, and otherwise engaging your brain are ways to stimulate and keep your brain sharp.
As a nurse, you can read research, study for a certification, or even return to school. You can also read books that interest you, listen to music, take part in brain-stimulating activities like hobbies, and make sure you’re doing things that are cognitively engaging. Lucky for you, nursing itself is generally a very mentally stimulating occupation that requires you to respond to novel situations, interact with others, solve problems, and think critically.
Love Your Brain
Your nurse’s brain is worth much more than its weight in gold. This precious organ is the key to your success, the seat of your brilliant nurse’s mind, and the central organizing powerhouse of all human activity.
Your brain brought you to where you are, including the education, learning, skill-building, life experience, networking, job hunting, and personal and professional growth it took to make you who you are.
Your brain is essential for all bodily processes, as well as the mechanisms of communication, learning, emotion, and the processing of all external stimuli. No matter how stressful life and work, you must prioritize keeping your brain healthy and in optimal condition.
To protect your brain and overall health, you can engage in the practices and habits that will protect against dementia, stroke, heart attack, and other conditions. The rewards are innumerable, and the risks of not doing so are beyond measure. Prioritize your brain, and you’ll reap the dividends for the rest of your days.
In the 21st century, everyone has a personal brand; if they don’t, they want one or are told they need one. From TikTok stars to athletes, the brand seems to be the thing. However, many of us — nurses and healthcare professionals included — have no idea what that means for us.
As a nurse, do you need a brand? Do you already have one and don’t know it? If you have one, what is it? And how do you get one if you don’t have one? And if you truly don’t want one, can you skip it altogether?
What is a Brand?
When we think of brands, most of us will come up with images — specifically logos —like Nike, Coke, Colonel Sanders, and Kentucky Fried Chicken. We may also think of entertainers like Oprah, Britney Spears, or Taylor Swift — do they have brands? They live their brands at every moment.
But what is a brand? Sure, a logo is part of it, but smart people and companies think of it as a feeling generated in others. This means that the brand is born of the experience that someone has when interacting with that person, product, or company.
What’s the experience of trying on your new Nikes for the first time? How do those Nikes make you feel? And what is your relationship with the Nike brand? It may make you feel stylish, happy, powerful, athletic, strong, or just cool.
When your pre-teen interacts with Taylor Swift’s brand, the music, the image, and the merchandise have a lot to do with it, but it’s the feeling they have when interacting with Swift’s universe.
So, for a working healthcare professional, what does this mean for you?
Your Brand Has Meaning
Your personal/professional brand is made up of everything about you as a nurse and healthcare professional, including:
Your “hard” clinical skills
Your “soft” skills (e.g., communication, emotional and relational intelligence, etc.)
How patients and colleagues feel in your presence and how you impact them directly and indirectly
The ways you move in and interact with the world (your resume, cover letters, emails, conversations, relationships, and general way of being)
If your brand is about how people feel around you and your impact on the world, there’s no escaping it — you have one. You don’t have to consider it a brand — perhaps you’d prefer to think of it as your professional persona. And if that persona gets you hired, elevates you into leadership, and opens the doors of opportunity, then it may be worth paying attention to.
Identifying Your Brand or Persona
If you want to identify your brand’s core, your core beliefs and values are the first place to look. Ask yourself these questions:
What do I believe about the world around me?
What motivates me to do the work I do and be the person I am?
How do I interact with the world, and what does that say about me?
If I asked my friends, family, and colleagues to describe me, what would they say?
The Barrett Values Center offers an affordable online values assessment that provides an overview of your core values. Other organizations offer similar surveys.
You can also use career coaching, psychotherapy, mental health counseling, or conversations with a faith leader or mentor to identify your motivations and aspirations.
Finding the words to describe who you are and how you impact the world is crucial in identifying your brand. Your authentic self is the center of your brand — who is that person?
Build Your Brand
Building your brand doesn’t have to be a chore — it just takes conscious awareness. Since you’re building it through your every action, relationship, and conversation, your awareness of how you go about your daily life will help build a brand that will take you far.
To build your brand, you can:
Be conscientious in your work
Thoughtfully tend to your work relationships
Increase your emotional and relational intelligence
Sharpen your communication skills, especially listening
Consider having a positive presence on LinkedIn, the premier website where professionals network
Increase your knowledge, skill, and expertise, whether through education, certification, or independent study
Join professional organizations to network with like-minded colleagues
Find a mentor who can help you grow and evolve
Make sure your resume/CV represents you accurately
Consistently find ways to grow as a nurse and as a person
Be yourself
Be Yourself, and Your Brand Will Follow
If you can focus on being yourself, cultivating relationships, and growing as a professional in the ways that hold meaning for you, then your brand will largely take care of itself.
Being aware of how your actions and words affect others is paramount since how other people feel about their interactions with you and your work is one of the core aspects of your brand or professional persona.
Identifying and cultivating your brand doesn’t need to take a lot of time and work. What it truly takes is awareness, and if you can maintain that positive awareness and focus on being the best version of yourself every day, then your brand will truly represent the wonderful person and nurse you are.
Nurse practitioners have been valuable members of the healthcare ecosystem for decades. As providers with increasing practice autonomy, NPs fill significant healthcare delivery gaps.
With a growing shortage of primary care physicians, the need for NPs could not be more dire. When NPs approach patient care innovatively, everyone benefits from their creativity.
NP Innovation is Here
Coming from a background steeped in nursing’s more holistic view of patient care
, nurse practitioners’ outlook can differ significantly from physicians’ perspectives.
“Nurse Practitioners do what nurses do best — educate and listen to their patients,” states Dr. Mykale Elbe, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, Assistant Dean of Nursing and Associate Professor at the Catherine McAuley School of Nursing of Maryville University. “Patients report that nurse practitioners listen well and educate them more on their disease and treatment plan.”
She affirms that nurses are responding to the needs they perceive.
“Nurses are returning to obtain their NP degree to serve their communities due to the need for more providers. Most nurses write about the need for primary care or mental health services in admissions essays. With nurses being on the front lines and seeing the needs of their patients, they are being motivated to advance their education and make a difference.”
Claire Afua Ellerbrock, DNP, APRN, PMHNP-BC, is a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner who supports other PMHNPs in managing their well-being. She sees the NP’s point of view as key to creating effective provider-patient collaboration.
“Nurse practitioners’ approach to the provider-patient relationship is unique, with its foundation rooted in compassion, collaboration, and trust,” states Dr. Ellerbrock. “As nurses first, NPs excel in building trust with patients, and this trust significantly enhances healthcare delivery.”
Dr. Ellerbrock elaborates on how NPs can provide quality care that matches or exceeds that of physicians. “A 2015 systematic review of ten randomized controlled trials found that NPs ‘demonstrated equal or better outcomes than physician groups for physiologic measures, patient satisfaction, and cost.’ Our ability to foster trust is the cornerstone of these positive outcomes.”
And in terms of innovation, Dr. Ellerbrock is enthused by what she sees.
I’m witnessing exciting innovations in NP entrepreneurship. Nurse practitioners are identifying unmet needs and creatively addressing them, whether it’s through innovative delivery models or educational initiatives for NPs. For example, Justin Allen from The Elite NP has developed a business that assists other NPs in establishing their practices and ensuring high-quality patient care.”
Dr. Ellerbrock continues, “Additionally, my online course business, Stress Free Psych NP, is dedicated to empowering psychiatric and family practice NPs to diagnose and treat mental health patients with greater confidence. I firmly believe that entrepreneurship is the driving force behind advancing healthcare.”
Other NP innovators dot the country with their unique practice models.
Dr. Joanne Patterson, DNP, PMHNP-BC, CIMHP of Atlanta, has created the first-ever tiny house psychiatric clinic on wheels. She can deliver on-site mental health care for businesses, corporations, and schools and reach patients who might otherwise lack the ability to get a fixed office location. Dr. Patterson’s innovation extends to being licensed to treat patients virtually in Maryland, Nevada, Florida, and Washington, D.C., which increases the number of patients who can benefit from her holistic orientation and broadens the market for her business.
Josie Tate, MSN, CRNP, FNP-C, is a nurse practitioner who provides career guidance for other NPs. She feels that NPs are thinking innovatively and creating careers that work for them.
“NPs are leveraging their skills to become intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs within the healthcare industry,” shares Ms. Tate.
“Healthcare organizations benefit from NPs being highly experienced personally and professionally, “adds Ms. Tate. “We’ve created blended and flexible schedules and salary structures that challenge the norms. Whether having two PRN roles, taking locum tenens assignments, or 1099 contract positions, we provide optimal care while living our vision of a liberated life.”
Turning the Tide for a Bright Future
When it comes to the future, many NPs see a limitless horizon. Nurse practitioners can focus on adult gerontology (AGNP), the entire lifespan (FNP), mental health (PMHNP), pediatrics (PNP), midwifery (CNM), and other specialties, and certain roles can be pursued through educational pathways focused on either acute care or primary care. NPs can also earn post-master certificates in other disciplines.
Additionally, full practice authority is slowly growing despite resistance by medical groups who may feel threatened by NPs’ success and growing market share.
Ms. Tate states, “I envision the future for nurse practitioners as the powerhouse of healthcare, especially with an increased number of states gaining full practice authority. Primary care for underserved populations will be accessible thanks largely in part to nurse practitioners.”
Dr. Ellerbrock concurs. “I see the future of the NP role expanding to encompass full practice authority in all states, effectively bridging gaps in primary care and reaching underserved populations.”
She continues, “These gaps in care are not only persisting but also expanding, both in the United States and globally. By 2030, the demand for healthcare workers worldwide is projected to rise to 80 million, while the supply of healthcare workers is expected to reach only 65 million over the same period. Granting NPs the authority to practice to their fullest extent across the country positions us well to meet these growing needs.”
When it comes to embracing this rising tide, Ms. Tate adds, “Nurse practitioners need an empowering mindset to guide and direct their career paths. This mindset will build on their strengths and open opportunities throughout healthcare.”
Dr. Elbe is encouraged by how today’s NPs are being educated. “We’re ensuring that we’re preparing NP students around access to care, understanding social determinants of health, and the role NPs can play in improving outcomes, promoting health, and preventing disease cost-effectively.”
There’s no denying that nurse practitioners are reaping the rewards of decades of hard work, advocacy, and professional advancement. From entrepreneurship and a business mindset to innovative patient care models, NPs will continue to be an essential cornerstone of keeping the American healthcare system serving patients with increased access to care and the compassionate, skilled providers to treat them.
